“As guardians of the common good, we also have a duty to promote and support a reformed, reinvigorated and strengthened multilateral system,” said the Secretary-General, addressing the annual gathering of world leaders at UN Headquarters on Tuesday.

“We need commitment to a rules-based order, with the United Nations at its centre and with the different institutions and treaties that bring the Charter to life … There is no way forward but collective, common-sense action for the common good.”

Guterres’ annual opening message, which draws from his yearly report on the work of the Organization, also highlighted the persisting challenges facing the people and the planet, including the seemingly unending conflicts in Syria and Yemen, the suffering of the Rohingya people and the threat of terrorism, non-proliferation and the use of chemical weapons.

He also drew attention to increasing inequality and the “discrimination and demagoguery” faced by migrants and refugees, in the context of clearly insufficient international cooperation, as well as cautioned against widening inequalities, tensions over trade and pressures on human rights around the world.

“It is our common duty to reverse these trends and resolve these challenges. We need to move ahead based on facts, not fear – on reason, not illusion. Prevention must be at the centre of all we do,” stressed Guterres.

“This session of the General Assembly is a real opportunity for progress.”

‘Two epochal challenges’

In his speech, Guterres made particular reference to climate change and the risks associated with advances in technology, referring to these two problems as “epochal challenges.”

Noting scientific evidence that the planet is getting hotter, increasing concentration of carbon dioxide, Guterres underscored: “Climate change is moving faster than we are – and its speed has provoked a sonic boom SOS across our world.”

“If we do not change course in the next two years, we risk runaway climate change … We need greater ambition and a greater sense of urgency,” he said.

He also announced that he will convene a Climate Summit next September, to bring together countries and cities, as well as political, business and civil society leaders, “to focus on the heart of the problem.”Underscoring the need to ensure full implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, Guterres urged world leaders to make maximum use of upcoming such as the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP24, in Poland in December to strengthen global resolve against the threat.

Turning to new technologies, Secretary-General Guterres highlighted the benefits offered by such advances, including to further the sustainable development agenda, but added that alongside the advances, considerable perils are also present.

“There are many mutually beneficial solutions for digital challenges. We need urgently to find the way to apply them,” he said, calling on the global community to use the United Nations as a platform to draw attention to the risks and benefits of technological advances and to nurture a digital future that is safe and beneficial for all.