UN chief stresses importance of cooperation in turbulent world

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday emphasized the importance of cooperation in today's turbulent world.



"In a world of shared dangers, cooperation is not naivete. It is the clearest-eyed realism there is," Guterres said at an informal meeting of the General Assembly to mark UN Charter Day.



"A world where the rules apply only to some is not a world of order. It is a world of uncertainty, injustice and impunity. Some tell us the answer to this turbulence is to retreat -- behind walls, behind borders, behind the comforting fiction that any nation can weather the storms of our age alone," he said.



"They are wrong. Retreat is not safety. It is surrender. No border can hold back a warming planet. No country can govern artificial intelligence alone, end a pandemic alone, or shield its people from global shocks alone," he said.



Guterres cautioned that cooperation only works when it is grounded in rules.



"I've said it before: the Charter is not an a la carte menu. Its principles are not optional, and they are not negotiable," said the UN chief.