Tunisia announced on Tuesday that the country had experienced its warmest summer on record, becoming the latest in a long line of countries to record temperatures this year.
And one reason for that is the actions of the big oil companies (“Big Oil”), said António Guterres in his opening speech.
We know that those with interests in fossil fuels are not willing to step aside. For decades, Big Oil has treated the atmosphere like an open drain, and reaped the benefits of its consequences.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, five major Western oil companies have made nearly half a trillion dollars. At the same time, ordinary people are paying more for energy, food and insurance, Guterres said, urging oil companies to do much more to repair the damage they are causing.
Lula first out of the leaders
In his speech, he also called on China and the United States to cooperate against the dangers of AI and repeated warnings from the UN human rights office from earlier this year that illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank “raise the threat of ethnic cleansing.”
After Guterres, who will step down at the New Year, traditionally followed the president of Brazil, in this case Lula da Silva, and after the president of the host country - Donald Trump.
"I am going to the UN meeting to have a conversation with Trump and tell him not to interfere in Brazil's elections," Lula da Silva said last week, according to AFP.
Brazil is going to elections in October and Trump has expressed support for Lula's opponent, the right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, who is the son of the country's former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump meets Zelensky
At 7:15 p.m. Swedish time, Trump will participate in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the meeting, the American is expected to press for Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has also traveled to New York and is expected to speak on Wednesday. He is the highest-ranking Iranian representative to visit the United States since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
