United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned, in an Associated Press interview four days before the General Assembly, that the world faces at least three existential problems: runaway artificial intelligence, galloping climate change and widening inequality, which he sees as a driver of instability and conflict.

Guterres, who leaves office at year’s end after nearly a decade, said he still sees a way forward if governments cooperate to curb conflict, reduce inequality and manage the rise of artificial intelligence. “I’m determined to fight to make those things happen,” he said.

He called for coordination and safety guardrails for AI, which he described as “a universal problem”. Countries with greater capacity should, in his view, exchange information, build transparency, put safeguards in place and help create a multilateral mechanism to limit risks. Competition among states and companies may speed the technology but can weaken standards.

The secretary-general tied reform of the institutions built by the Second World War victors — the UN, especially the Security Council, plus the IMF and World Bank — to 21st-century realities and emerging economies. He described the Security Council as paralysed and spoke of an environment of impunity in which powerful countries flout international law.

He cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US attacks on Iran, both veto-wielding members, as examples. “Many countries say, ‘If superpowers can violate the law, why can’t we?’” The UN, he added, has serious financial problems, largely because of American arrears, but has avoided a meltdown.

Guterres commands no army and has little money. The powers he claims are to speak on global issues and to convene states. His comments are an assessment, not a new agreement. Turning them into policy would require negotiations, funding and enforcement rules.

The interview does not replace decisions by member states. The General Assembly timetable and a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump remain diplomatic settings, not a guarantee of outcomes.

Image: António Guterres at COP30, Belém / Xuthoria / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. A climate conference, not the AP interview. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Preparing to leave office, with world beset by problems, UN chief talks of a way forward | AP; United Nations Secretary-General.