the assembly will hear an address by his Excellency Kier starmer prime minister and first first Lord of the treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Northern Ireland I request protocol to escort his Excellency and invite him to address the assembly Mr President your excellencies ladies and gentlemen I address the general assembly today as someone with a deep belief in the principles of this body and the value of international cooperation I remember reading the universal Declaration of Human Rights as a student it had a profound impact on me I spent my career as
a lawyer working to protect those rights and the Declaration still inspires me now as prime minister because it speaks about our inherent dignity the very essence of what it is to be human of equal and inalienable rights based on a foundation of Freedom just Justice and peace in the world yet as we meet here today that can feel like a distant hope conflict touches more countries now than at any time in the history of this assembly around the world more fires are breaking out and burning with ever greater intensity exacting a terrible toll in Gaza
Lebanon Ukraine Sudan Myanmar Yemen and Beyond the vast majority of humanitarian need in the world today is driven by conflict after 20 years of gains in tackling poverty disease and in health war is one of the main regions that progress has stalled that is a catastrophe made by human hands it has weakened the cause of cooperation so political division between North and South and turned the geopolitical dial away from the rule of law towards brute force and aggression and this matters to us all it matters to the British people my government was elected to change
Britain to deliver National missions on higher growth safer streets cleaner energy more opportunity and a healthier Society but behind every one of these missions sits another Insight something that used to be unspoken but now needs to be said that we recognize that our success in Britain can never be separated from events beyond our Shores Global challenges rebound on us at home and to Grapple only with the effects of War poverty climate change pandemics or irregular migration when they arrive on our doorstep is to set ourselves up to fail we must work with others to solve
these problems at root to tackle the causes Britain is stronger when we do so so we are changing our approach on the global stage two my message today is this we are turning the UK to responsible Global Leadership because I think the International System can be better we need it to be better people talk about an age of polarization impunity instability and unraveling of the UN Charter and I fear that a sense of fatalism has taken hold well our task is to say no we won't accept this slide into greater and greater conflict instability and
Injustice instead we will do all we can to change it this is the moment to reassert fundamental principles and our willingness to defend them to recommit to the UN to internationalism to the rule of law to work together for peace progress and equality because it is right yes absolutely but also because it is plainly in our self-interest so we are ready to step up in a spirit of respect and equal partnership I don't claim that solving these problems is easy but there are positive practical things that we can do together this starts with addressing the
rising tide of conflict and preventing a regional War in the Middle East I call on Israel and hisbah stop the violence step back from the brink we need to see an immediate ceasefire to provide space for a diplomatic settlement and we are working with all Partners to that end because further escalation serves no one it offers nothing but more suffering for innocent people on all Ides and the prospect of a wider war that no one can control and with consequences that none of us can foresee this is intimately linked with the situation in Gaza where
again we need to see an immediate ceasefire it shames us all that the suffering in Gaza continues to grow the answer is diplomacy the release of all the hostages and the fed flow of Aid to those in need that is the only way to break this devastating cycle of violence and begin the journey towards a political solution for the long term which delivers the long promised Palestinian State alongside a safe and secure Israel we must also work together for peace in Sudan and a proper response to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today we
need to see greater action to deliver Aid and to deliver peace the world cannot look away and we must stand up for international law and that's why we are so Resolute in our support for Ukraine they are exercising their right to self-defense as provided for under the UN Charter and recognized by 140 1 members of this assembly we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes because the alternative would be to confirm the worst claims about this place that international law is merely a paper tiger and that aggressors can do what they will
we will never let that happen because it is our duty to respond to a more dangerous world with strength to keep our people safe but alone that's not enough that's not the limit of our responsibility we must also work together to make the world less dangerous and so we have to face some hard truths the institutions of Peace are struggling underfunded under pressure and overp politicized the entire framework of Arms Control and counter proliferation painstakingly constructed after decades has begun to fall away Iran continues to expand its nuclear activity in violation of its International commitments
incredible new technologies like AI are being deployed for military use without agreed rules these are difficult challenges to grip and too urgent to ignore that that's why the new pact for the future is so important we must put new energy and creativity into conflict resolution and conflict prevention reverse the trend towards ever greater violence make the institutions of Peace fit for purpose and hold members to their commitments under the UN Charter but again reducing conflict is not the limit of our responsibility other global challenges impact us too so we must work to get the stgs
back on track so Mr President under my leadership the UK will lead again tackling climate change at home and internationally and restoring our commitment to International Development like many of you in a few weeks time I will be traveling to s for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting where a generation of children are having to contemplate fleeing their island of their birth for good the threat of climate change is existential and it's happening in the here and now so we have to reset Britain's approach we have lifted the deao ban on onshore wind in England
ended new oil and gas licenses and created Great British energy as we become the first major economy to transition to clean Power by 2030 and I'm pleased to tell you that yes we will meet our Net Zero Target backed up with an ambitious NDC at cop 29 consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 Dees and will support others to do the same I know that finan is at the heart of this so the UK will continue to be a leading contributor to International climate finance that includes supporting nature and forests because this is vital for biodiversity
and reducing emissions and it includes funding for climate adaptation because those who did not cause this crisis should not be left to cope with the consequences and the UK will also continue to be a leading contributor to development committed to returning to 0.7% when fiscal circumstances allow but let's be frank Public Finance will never fully meet the needs so we must use it as a multiplier to unlock much greater levels of private investment and we have already started this work I can announce today that we're creating a new facility the British International Investment which will
work with the city of London to mobilize billions in pension and insurance funds to invest in boosting development and fighting climate change this is a great British Innovation and if we're going to deliver in each of the areas I've talked about today with all the benefits that we'll bring then this is the kind of approach that we need to take innovating thinking differently moving faster and being ready to change how we do things in three key areas first we must change the International Financial system to deliver a fairer deal for developing countries we will use
our seat on the boards of the IMF and the World Bank to argue for a bolder approach to tackle unsustainable debt which is compounding poverty and inequality depriving the sick of Health Care and children of Education we must tackle the barriers to investment which choke off the flow of private finance and we must put a price on the true cost of emissions through a new levy on global Shipping with the proceeds going to tackle climate change and cut emissions even further crucially we need to accelerate reform of the multilateral development Banks so that they shoulder
more risk unlocking hundreds of billions more to help the poorest and build a low-carbon global economy a critical milestone in the fight against poverty is approaching with the replenishment of the International Development Association this is the chance for everyone to show greater ambition so the Ida can be a bigger and better helping more people especially those in fragile States and conflict zones on that basis we will be ambitious too we will increase our pledge and play our part in seizing the potential of this moment second if we want the syst system to deliver for the
poorest and most vulnerable then their voices must be heard we need to make the system more representative and more responsive to those who need it most so we will make the case not just for fairer outcomes but fairer representation in how we reach them and this also applies to the security Council it has to change to become a more representative body willing to act not paralyzed by politics we want to see permanent African representation on the council Brazil India Japan and Germany as permanent members and more seats for elected members as well finally to support
this we will also change how the UK does things moving from the paternalism of the past towards partnership for the future listening a lot more speaking a bit less offering gamechanging British expertise and working together in the spirit of equal respect joining the Paris pack for people and Planet pursuing a new Global clean power allowance standing for the new term on the Human Rights Council and joining forces to tackle the toughest challenges like antimicrobial resistance preparedness for the next pandemic and outbreaks of deadly diseases like empo we are ready to work with all UN members
because the scale of the challenges we Face demands it and our prosperity and security depends on it I say it again all this matters to Britain Mr President by tackling conflict making progress in the fight against climate change and poverty and reforming the International System so that it's fit for the 21st century we can realize the hope and the promise that shine through the founding documents of this organization together in all our interests we can change direction from the dangerous destructive path we find ourselves on and turn instead towards the rule of law towards cooperation
responsibility and progress towards peace thank you thank [Applause] you on behalf of the assembly I wish to thank the Prime Minister and first Lord of the treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
