G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting during the United Nations General Assembly

Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, dear colleagues,

Allow me to begin by expressing my deepest appreciation to Brazil, not only for their generous gesture in proposing this ministerial meeting, but also for their wisdom in opening it up to the entire UN membership. 

This act exemplifies the open, inclusive, and farsighted approach that Brazilian diplomacy brings to the world stage, qualities we should all strive to emulate.

We gather here today, in the heart of the United Nations General Assembly, at a time of profound global transformation.

The world is shifting towards a multipolar reality, where regional dynamics and alliances play an increasingly significant role in shaping international relations.

This reality presents many challenges but also offers us an opportunity to reshape the global order into one that is more just, equitable and inclusive.

However, this will not happen automatically.

Multipolarity can reinforce multilateralism, but it can also contradict it. It can lead to fragmentation, or inclusion.

Taking the right path requires a new mindset, a new openness, a new courage.

Multipolarity is not a choice, it is a fact. What is a choice is multilateralism.

Your excellencies,

Choosing multilateralism, means also choosing reform.

The institutions of global governance, including the United Nations and its Security Council, the Bretton Woods Institution, and the WTO, must evolve to reflect the realities of the 21st century. 

Let me congratulate the G20 Presidency and its members for the call to action adopted today for its clear focus and constructive proposals representing an important support for a renewed multilateralism. 

We must seize the political momentum generated by the Pact of the Future to drive this transformation. 

This is no longer a matter of justice; it is a matter of self-preservation.
 

Your excellencies,

Vinicius de Moraes, the great Brazilian poet, once said:  A vida é arte do encontro, embora haja tanto desencontro pela vida –“Life is the art of encounter, although there is so much discord in the encounter”. 

We will not always agree on everything. But we at least agree to never stop trying. 

The adoption of the Pact of the Future, the Global Digital Compact, and the Declaration of Future Generations, as well as the Declaration of this G20 meeting are steps in the right direction.  

I thank you.