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What happened on Friday at UNGA: Guterres briefs on Gaza; Asia-Pacific leaders warn of ‘climate catastrophe’; delegates sign major treaties

Gaza is still garnering the most attention, as the Security Council convened a high-level meeting on the crisis in the war-battered enclave. As world leaders continued to deliver national statements in the General Assembly Hall, elsewhere at the UN’s Midtown East campus, delegates discussed harmony among cultures, and wrapped up the annual UNGA treaty event, where a large number of signatures and ratifications went to a year-old treaty known by the shorthand, BBNJ, which aims to protect biodiversity in ocean territory beyond national jurisdiction.

🔵 At the Security Council, Secretary-General António Guterres utterly condemned the “horrific acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups” almost once a year ago.

Yet, since 7 October [2023], relentless Israeli bombardment and hostilities have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. “Let’s be clear, violations by one side cannot be used to justify violations by the other.”  

“We need a ceasefire now,” the UN chief said. Warning that “shockwaves radiating from the unprecedented death and destruction in Gaza now threaten to push the entire region into the abyss”, he said that earlier today “Israeli Defence Forces struck civilian buildings in Beirut [Lebanon], saying they had targeted Hezbollah’s main headquarters located underneath.”  

Find our LIVE coverage of the Security Council briefing here.

Find the Secretary-General’s full remarks here.

There’s more information on the Gaza crisis here.

Find our Middle East In Focus coverage here.

🔵 In the General Assembly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’d come to New York to “set the record straight” after listening to the “lies” levelled against Israel during UNGA by other leaders. “Israel yearns for peace,” he said. “Israel has made peace and will make peace again.”

In what he referred to as “a battle of good against evil”, he said there must be no equivocation. “Ladies and gentlemen, the real war criminals are not in Israel. They’re in Iran. They’re in Gaza, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen. Those of you who stand with these war criminals, who stand with evil against good… should be ashamed of yourselves.”  

Find our coverage here.

More on Friday’s General Assembly debate here.

🔵 The looming “climate catastrophe” was foremost on the minds of many leaders from Asia and the Pacific. In their speeches, they underscored a dire reality: climate change is a clear and present danger for everyone on the Planet, but their countries and peoples are likely to be hardest hit.  

Prime Ministers of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Tuvalu and Tonga implored the global community to heed their warnings and act, not for the sake of only their nations, but for the health of the entire planet.

Find our coverage here.

🔵 The Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), which has become a leading UN platform for intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation, convened its annual high-level meeting to discuss progress on its work to bridge divides and promote harmony among nations, with a view toward preventing conflict and promoting social cohesion.

The meeting was chaired by Miguel Ángel Moratinos, UNAOC High Representative, and featured remarks from: José Manuel Albares Bueno, Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain; Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye; and Paulo Rangel, Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of Portugal.

Watch the event on UN Webcast here.

Learn more about the UNAOC here.

🔵 The international community reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the multilateral treaty framework by undertaking a total of 32 actions at the annual week-long Treaty Event, which wrapped up Friday.

Actions centered on the Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), with 12 additional signatures, as well as five new ratifications.  

“These actions … have brought us closer to the entry into force of [the BBNJ treaty] which is of crucial importance for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of large areas of the ocean and for addressing the triple planetary crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss”, said Stephen Mathias, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel.  

Learn more about the landmark BBNJ treaty here.

Learn more about the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Take a deep dive into the archives of the UN Treaty Collection.

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