UN resident coordinator in China: It's crucial to revive spirit of multilateralism

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee has told CGTN that it's crucial to revive the spirit of multilateralism to address current and future global challenges and conflicts. 

Chatterjee said the UN Summit of the Future, which is scheduled to be held this September at the UN Headquarters in New York, is a key opportunity for all UN members.

He made the comment during an event hosted by the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in China and the Joint Council of China International Cooperation Center (ICC) on May 14 in Changsha, capital city of central China's Hunan Province. 

Urgent need to address interlocking crisis together

Speaking on the Summit of the Future, Chatterjee said the entire world is seeing "interlocking crises" – the pandemic, climate change, energy shortages, financing problems and 70 ongoing conflicts across the world.

"There are approximately 800 million people going to bed hungry every night and over 120 million people have been displaced because of conflicts, because of climate change, because of instability, and because of poverty," he said.

"That is precisely why the UN secretary-general has launched the Summit of the Future – simply to revive the spirit of multilateralism and address the key issue of getting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implemented," Chatterjee said.

He stressed that this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and the UN needs to have a convergence of views among the 193 member states. 

China shares experiences for SDG goals

China has made commendable achievements in sustainable development and actively works with other countries, especially developing countries, the UN envoy said. 

"I want to commend China on the achievement of cleaning up the air in Beijing. Now when I look at China, over 60 percent of the vehicles are electric. I've been to a place called Kubuqi in Inner Mongolia where the seventh largest desert in China has been converted into an agricultural wonderland," he said.

"So, in many ways, China has shown the way as to what can be done, what is feasible. And today, with the amount of knowledge China has gained, I see the role of the United Nations, I see the role of the members coming together to share some of these best practices with the rest of the developing world – on what we can do with the climate agenda," he said.

Multilateralism and international cooperation

Chatterjee said humanity is threatened by interlocking crises. For example, a microscopic virus could affect the entire world, set economies back so much that it even rivals the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

"That is why renewing the spirit of multilateralism becomes crucial. The secretary-general is driving home the point that he wants to make sure that the UN is repositioned, that the UN is fit for the purpose. And the UN matches the expectation of those 1.8 billion young people who are looking forward to the UN's leadership," he said.

The UN coordinator said the world needs to make sure that young people and future generations are in focus. 

"What kind of climate, what kind of an environment, what kind of a society will they inherit? What kind of jobs will they have with the advent of artificial intelligence – which is probably taking up a lot of the jobs that they could be doing," he asked.

"And we have to focus on the whole issue of science, technology and innovation. So, these are the big overlying areas around which the Summit of the Future is being designed," Chatterjee said.