NEW YORK: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday attended the opening session of the high-level gen-eral debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York. The welcome reception was hosted by UN Secretary General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres.
The reception was held for the heads of states and governments participating in the UNGA, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
During the reception, the prime minister interacted with Prime Minister of New Zealand Jecinda Ardern.
On the sidelines of the event, Shehbaz also met French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed bilateral ties as well as matters of regional and interna-tional importance.
In his opening remarks at the summit yesterday, UN chief Guterres issued a stark warning of an upcoming “winter of global discontent” from rising prices, a warming planet, and deadly conflicts.
“Trust is crumbling, inequalities are exploding, our planet is burning. People are hurting — with the most vulnerable suffering the most.”
With global temperatures rising and a chunk of Pakistan the size of the United Kingdom recently under water, Guterres lashed out at fossil fuel companies and the “suicidal war against nature.”
“Let’s tell it like it is — our world is addicted to fossil fuels. It’s time for an in-tervention. We need to hold fossil fuel companies and their enablers to ac-count,” Guterres said.
He called on all developed economies to tax profits from fossil fuels and dedi-cate the funds both to compensate for damage from climate change and to help people struggling with high prices. “Polluters must pay,” the UN chief added.
On September 23, the prime minister will address the UNGA session, where his speech will focus on challenges faced by Pakistan in wake of the recent cli-mate-induced catastrophic floods in the country.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Infor-mation Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb will accompany the prime minister dur-ing his trip alongside other senior officials.
This year’s general assembly is particularly significant because this will be the first in-person summit of world leaders at the UN since 2019. The 2020 and 2021 sessions were converted into virtual meetings because of the Covid-19 pandemic. –Agencies
