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DAVOS / GUTERRES WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
STORY: DAVOS / GUTERRES WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
TRT: 02:37
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 JANUARY 2022, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
17 JANUARY 2022, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The world is emerging from the depths of a paralyzing economic crisis. But recovery remains fragile and uneven amid the lingering pandemic, persistent labour market challenges, ongoing supply-chain disruptions, rising inflation and looming debt traps, not to mention the geopolitical divide.”
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
3. Close up, UN flag
17 JANUARY 2022, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The last two years have demonstrated a simple but brutal truth – if we leave anyone behind, in the end, we leave everyone behind. If we fail to vaccinate every person, we give rise to new variants that spread across borders and bring daily life and economies to a grinding halt.”
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
5. Close up, UN flag
17 JANUARY 2022, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We need to confront the pandemic with equity and fairness. Last fall, the World Health Organization unveiled a strategy to vaccinate 40 per cent of people in all countries by the end of last year, and 70 per cent by the middle of this year. We are nowhere near these targets.”
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
7. Close up, UN flag
17 JANUARY 2022, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Health, education, decent work and social protection are not only human rights.
They collectively represent a country’s economic engine. And in developing countries right now, this engine is stalled with dire consequences for people’s livelihoods, especially for women and youth. The global financial system has failed them when they need it most. And global solidarity is missing in action.”
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
9. Close up, UN flag
17 JANUARY 2022, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“A number of countries have pledged to make meaningful emissions reductions in the 2020s. Other countries face enormous structural obstacles. They have an energy mix that relies on heavy dependence on coal. That stands in the way of progress for us all. They need assistance. Let’s not go into a blame and shame. Let’s assist, help key emerging economies accelerate the transition, I’m calling for the creation of coalitions of countries, public and private financial institutions, investment funds, and companies that have the technological know-how to provide targeted financial and technical support for every country that needs assistance.”
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
11. Close up, UN flag
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today (17 Jan) said the global economic recovery remains fragile, adding “the last two years have demonstrated a simple but brutal truth — if we leave anyone behind, we leave everyone behind.”
Briefing the Davos, Switzerland Forum via teleconference, the Secretary-General said “the world is emerging from the depths of a paralyzing economic crisis. But recovery remains fragile and uneven amid the lingering pandemic, persistent labour market challenges, ongoing supply-chain disruptions, rising inflation and looming debt traps, not to mention the geopolitical divide.”
He then urged all participants in the Forum to focus on three urgent areas. The first one, he explained, is to confront the pandemic with equity and fairness.
Guterres said, “if we fail to vaccinate every person, we give rise to new variants that spread across borders and bring daily life and economies to a grinding halt,” and stressed the need “to confront the pandemic with equity and fairness.”
He recalled that “we are nowhere near” achieving the World Health Organization (WHO) target of vaccinating 40 percent of people by the end of last year, and 70 percent by the middle of this year.
The second area in need of urgent action, the Secretary-General said, “is the global financial system,” noting that “health, education, decent work and social protection are not only human rights. They collectively represent a country’s economic engine.”
He said that in developing countries “this engine is stalled with dire consequences for people’s livelihoods, especially for women and youth.”
Guterres added that “the global financial system has failed them when they need it most. And global solidarity is missing in action.”
He asked for urgent debt restructuring, reforms of the long-term debt architecture, and an expansion of the Common Framework for Debt Treatment to middle-income countries.
The third, and last, area highlighted by the Secretary-General was climate action in developing countries.
The UN chief called on the world’s wealthiest economies to assist emerging economies that have a heavy dependence on coal to “accelerate the transition” to cleaner energy sources.
According to UN-backed research, the world needs a 45 per cent reduction in global emissions this decade, but they are set to increase by 14 per cent by 2030.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the second year in a row, the Forum scrapped its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for a series of online plenaries and discussions over the year ahead, under the banner of The Davos Agenda.
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