The Secretary-General noted other instances of successful diplomacy this year. He said, “in Ethiopia, efforts by the African Union to broker peace are a reason for hope. A cessation of hostilities and implementation agreements are in place. A pathway to assistance in the northern part of the country is emerging. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, diplomatic efforts led by Angola and the East African Community have created a framework for political dialogue to resolve the crisis in the eastern region of the country. And the truce in Yemen has delivered real dividends for people.”

“And even in the brutal war in Ukraine,” he said, “we have seen the power of determined, discreet diplomacy to help people and tackle unprecedented levels of global food insecurity.”

Despite ongoing challenges, he added, “the Black Sea Grain initiative to facilitate exports of food and fertilizers from Ukraine – and a Memorandum of Understanding for unimpeded exports of Russian food and fertilizers to global markets – are making a difference.”

On Climate change, Guterres said, is an area “where good news can be hard to find.” He said, “the 1.5-degree goal is gasping for breath. National climate plans are falling woefully short. And yet, we are not retreating. We are fighting back. And we are fighting back to help emerging economies shift away from coal and accelerate the renewable energy revolution.”

The Secretary-General said he was “not optimistic about the possibility of effective peace talks in the immediate future” and added, I do believe that the military confrontation will go on. And I think we will have still to wait a moment in which serious negotiations for peace, it will be possible.”

Asked about freedom of expression and the role of Elon Musk at Twitter, Guterres said, “my recommendation to whoever owns any platform is to make sure that the freedom of expression, specialty of journalists, is respected and that hate speech, Neo-Nazism, white supremacy and the other forms of extremism, do not find their way through those social platforms.”

Nothing less than tangible and credible climate action would do, but dispensing with diplomatic niceties, he made it clear that the price of entry for every nation, was “non-negotiable credible, serious and new climate action and nature-based solutions that will move the needle forward and respond to the urgency of the climate crisis.”

Guterres announced a ‘no nonsense’ climate action summit; calling for practical solutions. The UN chief said it would be convened alongside a General Assembly opening-week summit already in the calendar, designed to accelerate action at the halfway point towards the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).