YouSaid · the spoken record
Emmanuel Macron
On the record 2017–2022
un-general-debate · un-security-council
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“We will work in the G-7 to ensure that the commitments made at the 2015 Climate Change Conference are increased, and if one of our members does not want to move forward, we will move forward anyway by seeking new coalitions and new formats, because the G-7’s mission is to remain a united group of countries committed to democracy. But today it must also contribute to the creation of new coalitions that will make it possible to improve and restructure the collective global system. So let us build new forms of cooperation to make progress and take decisions on those fundamental issues.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Let us make a clear commitment, and let us all be equally clear, concrete and consistent. This is an emergency. So let us honour the commitments we have made. Let us no longer sign trade agreements with Powers that do not respect the Paris Agreement. Let us ensure that our business commitments integrate our environmental and social constraints. Let us work harder to involve sovereign wealth funds and financiers in this low-carbon-policy strategy. France will continue to be a global leader in this fight alongside everyone who wants to join.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“That is what we will do again tomorrow in New York, at the second One Planet Summit. We are told that it is already too late, that we cannot meet the goals. So let us speed up, let us together adopt the rules for implementing the Paris Agreement in December at the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Let us implement the protocol against hydrofluorocarbon gases, which could enable us to reduce the average global temperature by one degree by 2050. Let us set ourselves the goal of concluding an ambitious draft global environmental pact by 2020, and ensuring that the Beijing Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2020 International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress in France will be decisive steps.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“But we will all be held accountable for the disasters that are multiplying before our very eyes, before our peoples and our own children. The proclaimed breakdown of the Paris Climate Change Agreement has been thwarted because we have been able to remain united, despite the decision of the United States to withdraw from it. That strength must continue to support us and help us to ward off all the fatalistic predictions. We are told that solutions exist but that the funding is lacking. So let us go find it, let us innovate. This is what we did last year in Paris, on 12 December, with many of those gathered here, at the One Planet Summit, with concrete commitments and first results. That is what we did at the beginning of the year in Delhi, with the International Solar Alliance.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We will take up the initiative on the fight against counterfeit medicines and will intensify our response to major pandemics. I call on everyone here to mobilize. Lastly, we must fight urgently, body and soul, against environmental inequality. It is unacceptable that 45 per cent of greenhouse-gas emissions are produced by 10 per cent of the planet’s richest inhabitants. As is the case with solar energy, we have an inefficient situation when the countries with the greatest potential and needs have the least access to appropriate technologies. It is unsustainable that 100 million more people will be condemned to extreme poverty by 2030 if we fail to meet our commitments to fighting global warming. Here too we must be united in combat. Some countries represented here are suffering more than others, and we owe them our solidarity.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“It is time for our world to stop victimizing women and finally make a place for them, one that they deserve, one where they can be leaders. We must ensure that they have access to education, health care, employment and economic and political decision-making everywhere, and we must fight all forms of violence against them. France therefore proposes to those Governments that want to move forward with us the creation of a coalition for enacting new legislation on equality between women and men. Fifty per cent of our development assistance will be devoted to projects aimed at reducing gender inequality. We must also mobilize against health inequality at the international level. In Lyon in 2019 we will host the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Replenishment Conference.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Education and health will not only be the pillars of our societies in the twenty-first century, they will be the fundamental building blocks of our economies. We must also fight diligently against gender inequality. In France I have made this the signature issue of my five-year term, and I am launching an appeal here to make it a major global issue. Women and girls are the first of us to be affected by poverty, conflict and the consequences of global warming. They are the primary victims of gender-based and sexual violence, which too often hinders their freedom of movement and their ability to work and have control over their bodies. It is our responsibility in the twenty- first century to put an end to such violence, from street harassment to femicide.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The mobilization of the G-7 already begun under the Canadian presidency should make it possible to go even further. We are at a key moment on this issue that will decide whether or not we are capable of dealing with the challenge we face. Between now and 2030 there will be 620 million more children needing schooling worldwide, including 444 million Africans. Are we going to provide for that? Are we going to give them all that they need for a solid foundation that will enable them to be agents for their own lives, to live as brothers in tomorrow’s world? If not, what kind of world are we creating? That is why I have committed France to this fight and why I insist so much on teacher training, vocational training and gender equality in education. That is why I urge everyone here to join in this great global surge for education.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We must tackle modern inequalities today because they are at the root of the evil that I denounced at the beginning of my statement. We must address inequalities of opportunity, which are a moral aberration and an unsustainable reality. We cannot accept a world in which people do not have the same opportunities because of the country where they were born, or cannot go to school in certain countries because they are women, or do not have access to basic services. We kept the commitment made here last year with the President of Senegal. The Global Partnership for Education Financing Conference, held in February in Dakar, raised $2.5 billion to increase access to education around the world. That is a historic amount. France has increased its contribution tenfold.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“After Canada, whose leadership I applaud, France will assume the G-7’s next presidency. I would like to have a major reconsideration of its format in order to improve its association with various other Powers and devise new ways to coordinate. I also wanted it to be at the United Nations that I made the first announcement that the inequality agenda will be at the centre of the next G-7, and also that I intend to report on the results of the Biarritz G-7 next September, because the time when a club of rich countries could define the balances of power in the world by itself has long since passed and because it is impossible to separate the fate of each of its members from that of all the States members of the Assembly.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We have made great progress in reducing inequalities among our countries, and we have created the framework for that in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, but the fight is not behind us. It is far from over. Wealth per capita is 50 times higher in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development than in low- income countries. Do we think that we can sustainably increase stability and balance in this state of affairs? No, we must take action. That is why, as I announced here last year (see A/72/PV.4), I have decided to increase France’s official development assistance by €1 billion starting in 2019. Our humanitarian funding will increase by 40 per cent. But it is also why the fight against inequality will be the priority of the French presidency of the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in 2019.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We owe a response to the 783 million people living below the poverty line, to those suffering from hunger or chronic malnutrition and to those who do not have access to basic health care. We owe a response to the aspirations of the most important generation of young people in history — our own young people — amounting to nearly 2 billion people who are now between the ages of 10 and 24, and 90 per cent of whom live in developing countries. We owe a response to all those who look to us because their destiny depends on what we are or are not able to do here together in the Assembly. And those who forget that we owe an answer to all those people are wrong because they are sowing the seeds for tomorrow’s crises and because they will leave their children and ours in a much worse situation than we are in today.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We owe a response to the 265 million children who do not have access to school, more than half of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa, and to the young girls who have equal access to education in less than 40 per cent of countries. We owe a response to the 700 million children who live in the regions most exposed to the consequences of climate change — the victims of floods, droughts, rising sea levels and the depletion of resources. We owe a response to the 200 million women who do not have access to contraception, to the more than 1 billion women who are not protected by law if they are victims of violence in their homes, and to all women whose global average pay is 23 per cent less than men and up to 40 per cent in rural areas.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“In my view, that is the heart of our problem today. What awakens nationalism? What gives rise to doubt in our Assembly? What gives rise crises everywhere? It is those deep inequalities that we have failed to address. Ten years ago, when the international financial crisis hit, we took emergency action, but we did not solve the root cause. We did not curb the trend of hyperconcentration of wealth on our planet, and we did not truly provide a response to all those left behind by globalization. All those who were marginalized now hold a grudge because of the humiliations they suffered or have been plunged into despair, for which we are now collectively paying the price. We owe all those people a response.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“That is the reality, and I will in no way leave the principle of the sovereignty of peoples in the hands of nationalists or those who today, before the international community, advocate withdrawal and wish to exploit the sovereignty of peoples to challenge the universality and strength of our values, thanks to which we are all gathered here together in this Hall. All of us here, even those who criticize it, have benefited from the structuring of the international order that has accompanied globalization. We have enjoyed a period of humanism and have all played a role in making it happen. Today, we must tackle the root causes of our imbalances. Together, we must face the weaknesses of our international order and, beyond the crises I have just mentioned, consider the deep inequalities that have taken root.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We will win that fight in the twenty- first century only by restoring a robust multilateralism that is truly capable not only of resolving conflicts pragmatically but, also and more broadly, of addressing their causes. To tell the truth, I do not believe in one great globalized people. That is an illusion. It does not exist. But I do believe in universal values, and on that point we must not compromise. It is not the same thing. I believe in the non-negotiable defence of our values: human rights, the dignity of individuals and gender equality. I believe in our ability to strike a balance that respects peoples and cultures by refusing to negotiate those universal values.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Even those who have challenged that reality suffer its consequences like everyone else. Extreme weather events are now a daily occurrence. And by weakening collective action, some only expose themselves further. As for the great digital transformation, here too our duty is to stand together to build modern rules that will allow us to reconcile the development of artificial intelligence with our ethical rules in order to support the digital transformation of our societies. I firmly believe in the sovereignty of peoples, which today is strong and demanded by all our peoples in the international arena. It also enjoys enhanced cooperation in many forms and a renewed legitimacy of international commitment. The great fight of our elders was achieving peace, and this remains one of our responsibilities.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The only effective way to manage the migratory flows affecting all our continents in an organized and controlled manner is to create the conditions for elective rather than forced international mobility, to work together — countries of origin, transit and destination — to address the root causes of migration, especially for its victims, to dismantle trafficking networks that are the worst scourge of this phenomenon, and to protect our borders in a respectful manner while ensuring compliance with international law and, in particular, the unconditional protection of those who are entitled to asylum. That is what we have decided to do together through the United Nations pact that is to be adopted in Marrakech in December, which I support. With regard to climate change, too, there are no free rides or easy solutions either.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Confronted with the great challenges posed by migration, I do not believe in talk of unconditional openness, which only sparks concern and stokes intolerance. Nor do I believe in the misleading speeches of those who claim, for example, in Europe as elsewhere, that they will be safer behind the protection of a closed border. That is not true.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Some $7.5 billion has already been committed to 500 projects defined jointly with all the States concerned and the partners of the Alliance for the Sahel. We must consolidate those initial results. As is evident from each of these crises, the answer has not been to leave States alone, to act for them or to proclaim from here the law or solution to be applied, but to know how to conscientiously articulate the principles of the sovereignty of peoples, regional cooperation and the real commitment of the international community. Those three principles form the basis for modern solutions. Only collective action can preserve the sovereignty and equality of the peoples that have given us a mandate. We also need collective action in the face of the demographic, climate and digital challenges before us, which none of us can face alone.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“That was also the essence of the process launched by the African Union to better assume its responsibilities by deploying African peacekeeping operations. That is the essence of the initiatives undertaken in the Lake Chad region, together with Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, with the support of the African Union. That is why we must support the African Union’s initiative and push for better coordination between the African Union and the United Nations. I hope that, by the end of the year, a resolution can be adopted to that effect. We are strong in the face of terrorism when we take joint responsibility to fight all its forms of financing, and when, as we do in the Alliance for the Sahel, we act together for development, agriculture and education, and against the root causes of despair that have allowed terrorists to win hearts and minds.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Those commitments must be fulfilled under the auspices of the United Nations and in close cooperation with the African Union. Yesterday, an important step was taken that I wish to commend here. It is in the interests of Libyans, their neighbours, Europeans and the international community, who must be united around those objectives to move forward in that way. We are all strong together in the face of terrorism when States are able to count on their own forces to ensure their security and when such security is based on regional and international solutions, in accordance with the principle I have justset out. That is the decision taken by the States of the Sahel, acting together in the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“It is neither a substitute for the Syrian people in deciding who should be their leader nor an agreement to cover all crimes by accepting that this leader will remain until the end of time, considering that all principles and, ultimately, all law have been cast aside. In Libya, too, it is that new method that should enable us to achieve a lasting solution. The current status quo allows militias and traffickers to gain ground, which destabilizes the entire region. We will not give the Libyans a way out of the crisis if we remain divided and if Libya becomes a stage, as it still is too often, for confrontations among foreign influences. In Paris, the Libyans recently pledged to hold early elections, which will make it possible to reunify State institutions.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We cannot decide for the Syrian people, but we must rather build the ways and means of the method that I have just defined and thereby build a solution supported not only by the Astana guarantors, but also by other States of the region and the international community through the Small Group on Syria, under the coordination of the United Nations and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, in order to create the means both to resolve the humanitarian crisis and to build an inclusive, lasting political solution through constitutional reform and the holding of free elections. That is what it means to truly respect Syrian sovereignty.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The third is the provision of more robust international guarantees or safeguards. It is through that method, and on the basis of those three principles, that we must manage contemporary crisis situations. In Syria, we are pursuing the fight against Islamist terrorism. The military engagements of some countries have allowed the regime to recover at the expense of crimes for which those responsible will one day have to account. The Syrian people have, tragically, paid the price, and there will be no winners in a Syria in ruins. What is needed now is to win peace under the auspices of the United Nations.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“I believe that there is a third possible path ahead of us, probably the most difficult and the most demanding, which requires us to forge a new model and to find a new global balance together. After the Second World War, a balance was built bloc by bloc over the course of decades. Then there was the emergence of a model based on hyperpower. For several years now, we have witnessed a new global instability characterized by the return of multiple centres of power. The new balance that we must create must be based on new forms of regional and international cooperation and will, in my opinion, be structured around three principles. The first is respect for sovereignty, which is at the very heart of the Charter of the United Nations. The second is the strengthening of our regional cooperation.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Israel knows that France is unwavering in its friendship, and it is in the name of that friendship that I call for a quick end to the policy of faits accomplis that threaten the very possibility of reaching a peace agreement. Continuing along that path would be a mistake. On that issue, I am ready, and we must all stand ready, to move beyond dogmas and historical positions in order to take new initiatives, on the condition that it leads to positive changes on the ground. There too, the law of the strongest will only exacerbate frustration and violence. As the Assembly has seen, in the face of contemporary imbalances, I do not believe in the law of the strongest, even if it is masked in a form of legitimacy where it has actually lost all claims to legality.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
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“We must do so through dialogue and multilateralism, without naivety or complacency, but also without posturing, which would be pointless. The problem of trade imbalances and their consequences for our societies will be solved by common rules adapted to today’s reality that make it possible to ensure fair competition on an equal footing, and under no circumstances will a bilateral approach to all our trade disputes or new protectionism do so. What will resolve the crisis between Israel and Palestine is definitely not unilateral initiatives, or ignoring Palestinians’ legitimate right to lasting peace, or underestimating Israelis’ legitimate right to their security. There is no credible alternative to two States living side by side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as their capital.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The responsibility for peace cannot be delegated; it cannot be refused; it cannot be pre-empted. It must be exercised collectively. The law of the strongest does not protect any people from any threat, be it chemical or nuclear. What will truly resolve the situation in Iran and what has already begun to stabilize it? Was it the law of the strongest, the pressure of one individual? No. We know that Iran was on the path to military nuclear power, but what stopped it was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed in Vienna in 2015. Today, as I said a year ago (see A/72/PV.4), we must not exacerbate regional tensions, but rather put forth a broader agenda that addresses all the nuclear, ballistic and regional concerns caused by Iranian policies.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
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“The first path is to think that this is just a passing moment, a historical parenthesis before we return to life as normal. I do not believe that to be the case. I do not believe it because we are going through a crisis of effectiveness and principles in our contemporary world order, which will not be able to restore its previous landmarks and modes of functioning. This moment in time is not a parenthesis; it is a manifestation of our own failures of the past. The second path would be that of the law of the strongest. Everyone is tempted to follow their own law. That path — the path of unilateralism — leads directly to isolation and conflict, to widespread clashes with everyone pitted against each other, to the detriment of all, even ultimately those who believe themselves to be the strongest.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Secondly, it is because our collective capacity to respond to crises too often continues to be hindered by divisions within the Security Council. Our Organization is too often reduced to deploring the violations of rights that it has pledged to guarantee. Seventy years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly in Paris, a cultural, historical and religious relativism is now challenging the foundations of their universality. Born of hope, the United Nations can become, like the League of Nations that preceded it, the symbol of powerlessness. We need not look far to see who is responsible for that crime. They are in this Assembly Hall. They are speaking today. We, the leaders, are responsible. On that basis, I see three main paths for us to follow.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“All of us here are heirs to the great hope to save future generations from the scourge of war, to build an international order based on law and respect for one’s word, and to lead humankind towards economic, social and moral progress in increasingly secure freedom. We have seen results. The enjoyment of human rights has spread, trade and prosperity have grown, and poverty has declined. That has been our achievement of the past several decades. We must, however, look honestly at the moment in which we are living. We are experiencing today a deep crisis in the liberal Westphalian international order, which we have known. First, that is because, in part, it has failed to regulate itself, and to date no solution commensurate with the task of meeting its economic, financial, environmental and climatic failures has been found.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2018Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
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“We must be constantly aware that we must work to reconcile our interests and our values. Our security is the common good of our planet. Our generation has no choice. It must speak for today and for tomorrow.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We will be watching fires burn that history will blow back on our own children tomorrow. Today, more than ever, those shared benefits, our common goods, represent our shared interests. Our security is their security, and there are no sides, no division between those who believe in the rule of law and multilateralism and those who believe in a pragmatic unilateralism. That is a false notion. Our real effectiveness is playing out in this struggle right here. That is why I want to join with everyone here today, united in a belief in a strong, responsible multilateralism. That is our generation’s responsibility, if we do not want to abandon ourselves to fatalism. There is only one kind of courage we need, which is to listen to those voices and not to deviate from the mark we wish to leave on history.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“A refusal to listen to those who call for help means believing that walls and borders will protect us. But it is not walls that protect us, it is our willingness to act and to change the course of history and our refusal to allow history to be written without us even as we imagine we are safe. It is our sovereignty and our sovereign use of force in the service of progress that protects us. A nation’s independence lies in its interdependence. A refusal to listen to those voices would mean believing that their despair is not ours, that we will always enjoy benefits that they can only dream of. But what if those benefits are our whole planet — what if they are peace, justice and freedom? Do we believe that we are the only ones who should enjoy them, tucked away in some corner? If we do not defend those shared benefits, we will all be doomed.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“In conclusion, I would like to say that it is only in a stronghold such as this that the forgotten voices that I wanted to bring here today can be heard, a stronghold where there is a place for everyone and where everyone can be heard even by those who do not wish to hear. To them I say that a refusal to listen to the oppressed, to victims, allows their miseries to grow and prosper until the day when they overwhelm all the rest of us as well. A refusal to listen means forgetting that at one time or another in our history, we were the oppressed, and others heard our voices. It means forgetting that our safety and security is theirs too, that their lives are connected to ours, and we cannot remain unscathed in a world that is going up in flames.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We need to get out of our offices and away from meetings with States and Governments and to seek new resources, so that we can see the world as it really is and reconsider some of the dogmas to which we have sometimes clung. We need a Security Council that can make effective decisions, without walling itself off through its right to the veto when mass atrocities are being committed. We need better representation for everyone here and for every continent. We need to coordinate crisis management better with the European Union, the African Union and the key subregional organizations. That is why France will stand beside the United Nations as it implements reform.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Today we need multilateralism more than ever, not because it is a comforting notion, and not because it is somewhere for thinking people to take shelter, but because it is about the rule of law, about interaction between peoples and about equality for us all. It is what will enable us to achieve peace and overcome our challenges. And the United Nations is indeed the Organization that can act in full legitimacy to preserve global equilibrium. That is why I want a more responsible, effective and agile United Nations, and why I fully support the Secretary-General’s plans for the Organization and his ambition and commitment to making it equal to the challenges facing our world.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Every time we give up on an idea — for example, that the situation of women concerns some people in parts of the world but not others, or that equality is an issue for one civilization but not others — we are abandoning the universality of the values that have brought us together in this Organization. In some countries we have already ceded the race to the strong. And that is because, every time, the great Powers, seated around the Security Council table, have ceded the race to the strong and to unilateralism, and have failed to live up to agreements they signed themselves. They have failed to uphold the glue that keeps multilateralism together — the rule of law. That is what has got us this far and can build sustainable peace.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The challenge that our generation faces today is to be able to get our faith back and to show that in today’s world, nothing is more effective than multilateralism. And why? Because every one of our challenges is global — terrorism, immigration, climate change, the regulation of the digital world. They all have to be addressed multilaterally and on a global scale. Every time we turn away from multilateralism, the loudest voice wins. But it is only through multilateralism that we can achieve our vision of the world, because it is universal, not regional.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Because we have allowed the idea to take root that multilateralism is a kind of convenient game for diplomats around a table, a tool of the weak. That has gone on for years, because we let ourselves believe that our efforts were stronger and more convincing when we acted unilaterally. But it is not true. Because, sometimes out of cynicism, we let ourselves believe that multilateralism could not fix everything, and so we let deregulation of the world take over. We have been slow to address climate change and the new inequalities that unregulated capitalism creates. We have let the voices of discord shout the loudest. And in that game, the loudest voices win. Time and fading memory have made us forget the history that moulded us and allowed the belief to take root that we are stronger without multilateralism.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“What I want for all of us is a world where dialogue, controls and multilateralism provide us with effective, useful weapons. I do not know whether, 70 years from now, a future successor of mine will have the privilege of addressing the Assembly. Will multilateralism survive the time of doubt and change that we are going through? The fact is that we should be remembering the state that the world was in 70 years ago, shattered by war and stunned by genocides. Right now we need to rediscover the optimism, ambition and courage with which we met those reasons to doubt and the faith in what unites us. We must restore our trust in the universal founding principles of the United Nations, which protect all of us and guarantee our dignity, all over the world. But why have we ended up where we are?”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“To denounce that now without proposing anything in its place would be a serious mistake, and failing to uphold it would be irresponsible, because it is a helpful agreement that is vital to keeping the peace at a time when the risk of a collapse into a death spiral is genuine. That is what I told the United States and Iran yesterday. For my part, I hope that we will be able to fulfil the agreement, by working to contain Iran’s ballistic activity and manage the situation after 2020, which the 2015 agreement does not cover. Let us by all means be more demanding, but certainly not by unwinding the results that previous agreements have already achieved. Look at the mess we are in today. Has the lack of dialogue done anything to contain the situation in North Korea for even a moment?”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Our responsibility, together with all of our partners, including China and Russia, is, through resolve, to bring North Korea to the negotiating table for a political settlement to this conflict. France rejects escalation and will not close any door to dialogue, provided that the conditions are met for such a dialogue to promote peace. It is that same goal that impels me to defend the nuclear agreement with Iran. Our commitment to nuclear non-proliferation enabled us to reach a solid, robust and verifiable agreement on 14 July 2015 and to ensure that Iran will not be able to acquire nuclear weapons.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We must give no ground to the dictatorial trends that we see today. In Ukraine, too, we must tirelessly work to ensure the upholding of the commitments undertaken, bring about an effective ceasefire and work together with our partners, particularly Germany, to ensure that the parties to the conflict respect international law and end the conflict. Multilateralism is facing the challenge of nuclear proliferation, unable to ward off threats that we believed to be past but that have re-emerged today. Pyongyang has crossed a major threshold in terms of military escalation. This is an urgent, collective existential threat. North Korea has not to date given any sign of wishing to negotiate. Its authorities are determined to raise the stakes.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Our collective action is coming up against obstacles stemming from State instability. In Libya, six years after the military intervention there, I acknowledge, before the Assembly, France’s particular responsibility to ensure that the country regains its stability. The meeting held in La Celle-Saint-Cloud on 25 July enabled us to make progress on the reconciliation necessary for the success of the political process under the auspices of the United Nations. Together with the Secretary-General and his Special Representative, we must succeed in 2018 in organizing elections that will mark the restoration of effective State authority. I will do my utmost to achieve that. Concerning Venezuela, collective action must enable the upholding of democracy and respect for all political movements.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Our duty of solidarity and humanity will continue. Behind every one of our decisions are the voices and lives of the invisible masses whom we must defend, because we in turn were defended in the past. Why do we not heed those voices? Why are we not focusing on what 70 years ago gave humankind the strength to believe in itself: planetary responsibility, the desire for mutual assistance and faith in progress? When I speak of Bana, Ousman, Kouamé and Jules, I speak about all my compatriots and everyone else’s compatriots, because our security is their security. We are inextricably linked in a community of fate, today and tomorrow. Global balances have changed radically in recent years and the world has become multipolar once again, so we must learn anew the complexity of dialogue as well as the riches it can bring to us.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We will build such a world right now by making our national contributions, as France has done by adopting its climate plan, which places us on the road to carbon neutrality. On 12 December, we will be meeting in Paris with those who wish to move forward with real solutions by mobilizing public and private funding. Here I confirm that France will play its full role in this respect by allocating €5 billion per year to climate action between now and 2020. Our unfolding ambition is reflected in the fact that this very afternoon we will be introducing a global pact for the environment aimed at shaping international law for the coming century, with the support of the United Nations agencies. At a time when some would wish us to stop, we must continue to advance, because climate change and extreme weather events will not stop.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“That we did and signed it in this very Hall. That agreement is not up for renegotiation. It binds us and rallies us together. To take it apart would mean unraveling a pact not just between States but also between generations. It can be improved; we can have new contributions and fresh input, but we will not backtrack. I fully respect the decision of the United States. The door will always be open to it. However, we will continue our work, along with all Governments, local governments, cities, businesses, non-governmental organizations and citizens of the world. We have the strength of pioneers, endurance and the certainty and energy of those who wish to build a better world. That better world will lead to innovation and job creation, despite the beliefs of those who see the future only in terms of the past.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“I am thinking of his house, which lies in ruins, and of his fear that this may happen again because of climate change, which is leading to an increasing number of disasters. The future of the world is that of our planet, which is now taking revenge for the folly of humankind. Nature is calling us to task to shoulder our responsibility of humanity and solidarity. It will not negotiate with us, and humankind must defend itself by protecting it. Extreme weather events are exploding the traditional differences between the North and the South. The most fragile are always the principal victims, swept up in a whirlwind of injustice. We are all affected by climatic changes, from China to the Caribbean, in Russia and in the Horn of Africa. My country promised, before the Assembly, that we would achieve a universal agreement in Paris.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2017Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.