Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken addressed the Summit of the Future at the UN Headquarters in New York City on September 23, 2024. During his remarks, Blinken emphasized the urgent need for support, reform, and revitalization to fulfill the United Nations' crucial purpose.
"At this summit, Secretary-General Guterres and many world leaders have argued powerfully that to fulfill the crucial purpose of the United Nations, we urgently need support, reform, and revitalization. The United States fully agrees," said Blinken.
The United States has committed to a range of priorities under the Pact for the Future. These include forging a Digital Global Compact and signing onto the Declaration on Future Generations. The aim is to enable international institutions to better respond to crises such as pandemics and natural disasters exacerbated by climate change.
"We're addressing growing and diverse threats to international peace and security on land, sea, air, outer space, and cyberspace; ensuring that universal human rights are respected equally online and offline; empowering women and girls across the UN’s efforts; reforming the UN Security Council to better represent the developing world," Blinken stated.
Blinken outlined specific reforms proposed by the United States for the UN Security Council. "The United States believes that this should include two permanent seats for Africa, one rotating seat for Small Island Developing States, permanent representation for Latin America and the Caribbean," he said. He also reiterated support for Germany, Japan, and India as permanent members.
"The Pact for the Future does not include every priority... but it is a significant step toward strengthening and evolving this institution that every member-state should get behind," Blinken noted.
The U.S. is also pursuing reforms in other international institutions as well as domestically. This includes supporting African Union membership in G20 discussions and leading efforts to strengthen multilateral development banks' ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.
"We’re making the biggest investments of any country ever to accelerate transition to clean energy at home while dedicating billions to help people in developing countries adapt... We are forging new partnerships across public and private sectors," said Blinken.
Despite these steps forward, Blinken emphasized that more needs to be done: "Simply preserving status quo is not an option."
Blinken also expressed strong opposition against revisionism within UN principles: "We will not accept efforts to tear down or fundamentally alter core principles of UN Charter – sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence."
He concluded with a call for collective effort: "We know that we’re stronger when we’re all working together in common purpose... It needs a strong multilateral system if it is going meet goals... Thank you very much."
(Applause.)
