Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Secretary-General/Angola
– Secretary-General/COP30
– Secretary-General/G20
– Security Council
– Lebanon
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Ukraine
– Central African Republic
– Sudan
– South Sudan
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Trafficking in Persons
– Jamaica
– World Conjoined Twins Day
– Guests Tomorrow
– Financial Contribution
SECRETARY-GENERAL/ANGOLA
And today, in an official visit to Angola, the Secretary-General addressed the 7th Annual African Union – European Union Summit, which is taking place in the capital Luanda. He pointed out that that right now, the world is changing at a radical rate. He noted that technology barrels ahead, climate chaos reigns, and inequalities deepen.
The Secretary-General said that we are moving towards a multipolar world, with global power in flux. Against the risks of division of the world into two blocs, led by two big powers, he stressed that we need an interconnected multipolarity, with an inclusive network of intense relations on trade, development, financial institutions, and with increasing political coordination.
The Secretary-General said that together, the AU and the EU make up 40 per cent of UN Member States.
He underscored that the AU and EU have the power to uphold the Charter, broker agreements, and steer the world towards a more stable, more inclusive reality – where international law prevails and injustices and inequalities are progressively eliminated.
Today, he also spoke at a National Assembly Special Session held to hear an address by the Secretary-General. Speaking to the media afterwards, he emphasized that we need a profound reform of the global financial architecture that reflects today’s world, that provides accessible and predictable financing rather than penalizing the victims of crises they did not cause. He added that we also need to give African countries their rightful place in every international institution, including financial institutions and the United Nations Security Council.
Also this morning, the Secretary-General met the President of the Republic of Angola, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/COP30
As you have seen, COP30 closed this weekend in Belém, Brazil, with the Parties reaching an agreement.
In a statement, the Secretary-General said that the COP agreement shows that multilateralism is alive, and that nations can still come together to confront the defining challenges no country can solve alone.
The Secretary-General noted that COP30 has delivered progress – including a call to triple adaptation finance by 2035 as a first step towards closing the adaptation gap, a Just Transition Mechanism, a new dialogue aimed at enhancing international cooperation on trade and the recognition that we are now heading for a temporary overshoot above 1.5 degrees Celsius. He also mentioned the launch of a Global Implementation Accelerator and a recognition to take forward the outcomes of the UAE Consensus, which includes a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.
But COPs are consensus-based, the Secretary-General said, and in a period of geopolitical divides, consensus is ever harder to reach. He added that he cannot pretend that COP30 has delivered everything that is needed.
The Secretary-General pointed out that the gap between where we are and what science demands remains dangerously wide, and he understands many may feel disappointed, especially young people, Indigenous Peoples and those living through climate chaos. He said that COP30 is over, but our work is not, and he will continue pushing for higher ambition and greater solidarity.
To all those who marched, negotiated, advised, reported and mobilized, the Secretary-General said, do not give up. He told them: History is on your side, and so is the United Nations.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-24