World leaders address Covid, climate crisis at UNGA summit

UN General Assembly meeting continues on the second day with leaders in attendance for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zeljko Komsic speaks at UNGA in New York, US, on September 22, 2021. (Reuters)

Leaders of several countries are speaking, in person and on screen, on the second day of the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level meeting with racism, climate crisis, and worsening divisions among nations and cultures top on the agenda.

Leaders from developing countries, including many from Africa, are expected to call for more access to vaccines against Covid-19 and greater funding to tackle the climate crisis in Wednesday’s session.

Zeljko Komsic of Bosnia and Herzegovina raises several issues at #UNGA including brain drain affecting sustainability in his country pic.twitter.com/dn14KuDpfE

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) September 22, 2021

Climate crisis ‘no longer a warning situation’

In his speech on Wednesday, Zeljko Komsic, Chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina presidency told UNGA that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world and that the climate crisis is no longer a warning situation.

Komsic raised several issues at the UNGA meeting, including brain drain affecting sustainability in his country. 

On Tuesday, the United Nations chief warned global leaders that the world has never been more threatened and divided and “we face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetime.”

Secretary General Antonio Guterres rang the alarm in his annual state of the world speech before leaders and diplomats of UNGA’s 193 member nations.

“We are on the edge of an abyss — and moving in the wrong direction,” he said.

Saudi King Salman tells #UNGA:

– Yemen’s Houthis reject peaceful means to end conflict
– Kingdom will defend itself from Houthi drones and missiles
– Mideast should be free of weapons of mass destruction

More here: https://t.co/rCckbW2A4Z pic.twitter.com/znq83TkaKE

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) September 22, 2021

Saudi worked with OPEC+ and allies to stabilise oil market

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz told the United Nations General Assembly that his government worked with OPEC+ and its allies to stabilise the oil market.

In a pre-recorded video address, he also said Yemen’s Houthis were rejecting peaceful initiatives to end the war and that the kingdom would defend itself against ballistic missiles and armed drones.

He also called for a “durable solution” to the Mideast conflict with the establishment of an independent Palestine state based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

World leaders address Covid, climate crisis at UNGA summit
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