Morning Multilateralism
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Shots of confidence: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Chinese president Xi Jinping connected via videolink. According to the Chinese government, Xi emphasized Chinese support for the World Health Organization:
The Chinese side firmly supports the key leadership of the UN system, especially the World Health Organization, in strengthening international cooperation and joint prevention and containment of the pandemic, to jointly build a global community of health for all.
Meanwhile, Russia’s prime minister met with a top World Health Organization official and described the agency’s response to the pandemic as “timely, professional and appropriate.”
As the third day of speeches at the UN General Assembly begins, a few notable items from recent addresses:
Saudi Arabia’s monarch addressed the General Assembly for the first time—and skewered Iran for its policies in the region.
Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte went after China over South China Sea rights, citing the 2016 international tribunal ruling that he has often chosen to downplay.
Multiple world leaders have called for United Nations reform, but the prospects for major change (especially on Security Council membership) are slim.
With Germany in the lead, the European Union is seeking a new plan for dealing with migration. Via the BBC:
European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen called it a "European solution... to restore citizens' confidence".
The recent fires that destroyed the Moria camp in Greece, housing more than 12,500 migrants and refugees, was “a stark reminder we need to find sustainable solutions”, she added.
Details of the EU initiative can be found here.
Israel’s Knesset designates a point person for interactions with the International Criminal Court, which is considering an investigation of several categories of alleged crimes on Palestinian territory. The Knesset member, Michal Cotler-Wunsh, advocates a more engaged Israeli response to the ICC probe:
The battle for public opinion at the International Criminal Court has been waged in absentia. Israel has been not fighting or fighting with two hands behind its back. We don’t have the privilege to not speak the language of international law that our opponents have been speaking.
The G-20 and the International Monetary Fund are discussing whether to extend repayment for some official government debt. Earlier this week, Zambia signaled that it may need to delay payments to bond holders.
The World Bank’s private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation, is discouraging commercial lenders from backing coal-based projects. The Bank itself curtailed funding for coal power plants almost a decade ago.
Pacific island nations grapple with the legal consequences of rising sea levels. The question of what happens to the maritime rights of these countries as sea levels change has become a critical one.