“Our world is increasingly multipolar. That is a good thing and must be strengthened.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that to leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday.
The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic and security grouping founded in 2001. It has 10 members, among them China, India, Pakistan, Russia and several Central Asian countries.
Guterres called multipolarity “a condition for justice in global governance and international relations” and “the best support for effective multilateralism.” Power has shifted a great deal since 1945, he noted, yet many international institutions still reflect that year’s realities. He wants the United Nations and the Bretton Woods system reformed so developing countries carry more weight. He also praised the SCO as “an important pillar of multilateralism.”
Wars and ceasefires
On the Middle East, he said agreements and ceasefires keep being broken. “I appeal for maximum restraint and for agreements and international law to be respected,” he said, and he asked for a settlement that protects navigation around the Straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab.
The Gaza ceasefire “must be respected,” he said. He asked for the full implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, an end to obstacles blocking humanitarian aid, and a halt to settler attacks and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. “There will only be peace with a two-State solution,” he said, with Jerusalem/Al Quds as the capital of both states.
On Ukraine, after more than four years of war, “it is high time for a full and immediate ceasefire,” he said, so that talks can begin toward “a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in line with international law.”
Four areas for UN-SCO work
He named four areas where the two bodies could work more closely.
Debt and finance came first. Guterres said the global financial architecture needs reform to address debt “strangling so many developing countries,” and he wants multilateral development banks to be “bigger, better and bolder.”
On climate, he warned the world is on course to pass the 1.5°C limit and asked for deep emissions cuts and a faster shift to renewables. “Climate action requires climate justice,” he said, adding that developing countries need much more financial support. He also urged responsible handling of critical minerals so that producing countries share more of the benefit.
The fourth was artificial intelligence, which he said must work for all countries and not just a few. That would take effective guardrails and more inclusive governance.
Meeting with Pezeshkian
Away from the main session, Guterres met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. A UN spokesperson said the secretary-general voiced concern about the humanitarian and economic damage from the conflict in Iran and beyond. He pressed for dialogue and negotiations that respect international law, including navigation rights in and around the Strait of Hormuz, and repeated the UN’s support for diplomatic efforts toward a lasting solution.
