United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that the agreement reached in the Turkish city of Istanbul regarding the shipment of grain to Ukraine has led to a gradual reduction in the prices of grain and fertilizer.
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This came in the session of the General Assembly currently held at the United Nations Permanent Headquarters in New York to discuss the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Our Common Plan”.
“The agreements reached in Istanbul last month led to a gradual decrease in the prices of food products and fertilizers, to some extent approaching their pre-war levels in Ukraine,” Guterres added in his speech at the session.
On July 22, under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Guterres, a signing ceremony took place in Istanbul for the “Document on the Initiative for the Safe Shipping of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports” between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations.
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The agreement included securing exports of grain stuck in the Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea (Eastern Europe) to the world.
In his speech, the Secretary-General warned against “the triple risks contained in the report on “climate change, air pollution and biodiversity loss”.
“Half of humanity is now in the danger zone from droughts, heat waves, floods, wildfires and extreme weather conditions,” he said.
Guterres also warned that “without finding resources to invest in the recovery from the Corona pandemic and dealing with the effects of the war in Ukraine, the global economic prospects are very dangerous (..) Four countries (not identified) have already defaulted on their debts and many countries face the risk of default payment”.
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And he added, “Every day we are waiting for leads us to approach a global collapse – physical and political,” noting that “the danger of nuclear confrontation has become more acute with the intensification of geopolitical competition.”
He stressed “the importance of reaching an international instrument on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the arms race in outer space, common principles for managing outer space activities, and measures to expedite agreement on the removal of space debris and the coordination of space traffic.”
He continued, “Although the problems facing us are unprecedented, they are not insurmountable, and our common agenda seeks to correct our course, guided by the Charter of the United Nations, in order to build a safer, resilient and inclusive world.”
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Guterres considered that “the report of our common agenda provides a framework and an opportunity to unite the international community around solutions. It is a wake-up call to promote sustainable growth and resilience, and we must ask ourselves: Are we awake?”
The report “Our Common Plan” looks forward to the next twenty-five years and represents the Secretary-General’s vision on the future of global cooperation and the strengthening of multilateralism on the basis of inclusiveness, communication and effectiveness.
