UNGA 2023 - Day 1

I was very politely chastised over the weekend by a former colleague turned U.N. official for referring to this week as ‘U.N. Leaders Week’. It is, I’m reminded, officially called ‘High-level Week 2023’, which is just as well given how many world leaders are skipping the festivities this week in favour of… checks notes… a visit from King Charles II of England.

So with our nomenclature corrected, UN credentials around our neck, plenty of coffee, and sensible shoes, the Intrigue team and I are ready to bring you all the action from the UN General Assembly (UNGA) this week.

The main event today (Monday) is the Sustainable Development Goals Summit (more on that below). We’ll also be at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting to hear from Pope Francis and Secretary Yellen. And Intrigue co-founder Helen is speaking tonight at an invite-only roundtable hosted by Goldman Sachs and the Atlantic Council. I’ll be sure to get the goss for the rest of us who weren’t invited.

P.S. Thank you to the many people who emailed kind words after the first instalment of this pop-up newsletter. They were very much appreciated.

News

Climate protests set the tone. Tens of thousands of protestors jammed midtown Manhattan yesterday (Sunday) to demand a stop to oil and gas drilling. The timing was designed to seize the narrative from other big issues facing the UN this week. With that said, I admit to feeling conflicted about the pleasingly ominous drone display declaring ‘THE WORLD BURNS’. (@luckytran, New York Times $)

Elon’s in town. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Elon Musk (and child) yesterday to discuss EV batteries and space technologies. Space X has been helping Turkey’s space program launch communications satellites. It’s a weird world we live in where an eccentric billionaire helps sovereign nations develop space programs, build electric cars, and in Ukraine’s case, fight wars. (Bloomberg $, @ragipsoylu )

Sensitive much? China’s Mission to the UN sent a robust letter to all countries urging them not to attend an event on Tuesday examining the human rights situation in Xinjiang, China. The event is co-hosted by Amnesty International, Atlantic Council and Human Rights Watch, groups the letter called “notoriously anti-China… obsessed with fabricating lies and spreading malicious disinformation”. If the goal was to increase interest in the event, then job done. (National Review)

Uncle Sam’s plans. President Biden will meet Brazilian President Lula and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York. It will be the first Biden-Netanyahu meeting since the Israeli PM returned to power late last year. President Biden might also attend the special meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Ukraine on Wednesday. That would be a big win for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who will meet Biden in the White House on Thursday. (Politico)

A permanent Security Council seat for Africa and Latin America? US Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said President Biden continued to support reforming the permanent membership of the Security Council. Perhaps the time is right after the G20 gave a permanent seat to the African Union last weekend. (UN press conference, VOA)

Bibi the victim of a pretty good pun. Protestors projected “Don’t believe Crime Minister Netanyahu. Protect Israeli Democracy” on to the side of the U.N. building late last night. I look forward to finding out how these protestors managed to execute this, given the security around the building. (@nevzlin)

Turkey-Greece thaw continues. In addition to Elon Musk, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in July and agreed to a fresh start for their bilateral relations. Turkey and Greece have been at each other’s throats on and off for the best part of two centuries. (Al-Monitor)

Iran’s president touches down in New York. Iran left it until the last minute to confirm that President Ebrahim Raisi will attend this year’s UNGA. He’ll deliver his country’s speech on Tuesday but I’m more interested in who he plans to meet while he’s here. Stay tuned! (Tasnim News)

One big question

How close are we to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals?

Simple answer, we’re not close

Guterres isn’t exaggerating. Only 15% of the SDGs and their targets are on track to be met by 2030, and a U.N. report from earlier this year actually showed a significant reversal of progress on child vaccination rates and income inequality between countries.

The UN’s 2023 progress report makes for grim reading.

Should we adjust our expectations?

The SDGs were agreed in 2015 - a far more optimistic time for global cooperation. But looking at the SDGs and their targets now, they seem designed as ambitious statements of purpose rather than realistically achievable goals.

The world is a different place now after an explosion of populism, the rise of a more assertive China, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Covid-19. Given all that rapid change, surely our expectations for global cooperation must be adjusted.

And yet, much of the messaging from UN officials, diplomats, NGOs and opinion-makers remains tethered to that 2015 world.

The doom narrative risks undermining the UN itself

Constantly painting a catastrophic picture (as accurate as that may be) to spur and/or shame us into action might actually be fuelling collective apathy. I’ve found that doomscrolling rarely inspires the scroller to effect positive change.

But even more worryingly, by focusing the narrative so squarely on the failures, the U.N. is arguably convincing the casual observer that it is the U.N. itself that is failing (this may well be the case, but I’ll tackle that question tomorrow!).

I promise it’s not all bad news…

There is some good SDG news, I promise. Here are just some of the targets that are tracking well according to the UN’s metrics:

• Reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.

• Raise investment in energy infrastructure to achieve affordable and clean energy.

• Provide universal and affordable access to the internet in least developed countries.

• Increase international cooperation on science and technology.

So when you read tomorrow that ‘none of the UN SDGs will be achieved by 2030’ (sadly true), remember that even in that (small) list of wins above, millions of lives are better than they otherwise would have been. That’s not nothing.

Some intriguing events

• “Climate Change and Chefs” with Food Tank and The James Beard Foundation (wine and light food will be provided; free and open to the public.)

• Opportunities in Africa Summit. An unmissable event for African decision-makers looking for capital or technical partners, and for American and international investors interested in investment opportunities in Africa.

• Financing our net zero future: The next frontier: Brookfield Asset Management and Temasek are hosting an event to discuss whether current systems (such as carbon pricing) work, and what a disruptive change would look like.

• Goldman Sachs x Atlantic Council - “The AI Revolution: The New Frontier of Opportunities and Geopolitical Risks” (featuring Intrigue co-founder Helen Zhang).

For a comprehensive list of events, check out UNGA Guide 2023.

Tweeting par excellence

By the way Elon, I still call them ‘tweets’. See you tomorrow!

Trivia answers: 1) South Sudan, 2011; 2) 193; 3) 26; 4) English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Russian and Chinese; 5) Central Hall Westminster, London; 6) Indian representative V.K. Krishna Menon