Ban Ki-moon: Seven billion and five must add up

Late next month, a child will be born – the seven billionth citizen of planet Earth. We will never know the circumstances into which he or she will be born.

We do know that the baby will enter a world of vast and unpredictable change – environmental, economic, geopolitical, technological, and demographic.

The world’s population has tripled since the United Nations was created in 1945. Our numbers keep growing, with corresponding pressures on land, energy, food, and water. The global economy is generating pressures as well: rising joblessness, widening social inequalities, and the emergence of new economic powers.

No nation alone can solve the great global challenges of the 21st century. International co-operation is a universal need.

To help create this future, I am focusing my second term as secretary-general on five global imperatives.

The first and greatest of these is sustainable development. We all must understand that saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, and advancing economic growth are one and the same fight. We must join the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, food security, and women’s empowerment. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.

In the next five years, we need to create an economic vision for sustainable development and forge global consensus on a binding climate change agreement. Fostering economic growth, realising the Millennium Development Goals, and combatting climate change will all depend on creating a new energy system for the 21st century and extending it to every person on the planet.

Prevention as a framework for international co-operation is a second opportunity. This year, the UN peacekeeping budget will total $8 billion. Think of what we could save by avoiding conflicts, by deploying political mediation missions, for example, rather than troops. We know how to do this. Our record proves it – in Guinea, Kenya, and Kyrgyzstan.

A third imperative is building a safer world. In this effort, we must be courageous in standing up for democracy, human rights, and peace. This year was one of signature achievements in restoring and securing peace – in Côte d’Ivoire, Darfur, Egypt, and elsewhere. But hatred and bloodshed still stand in the way of our vision for peace.

In the Middle East, we must break the stalemate. Palestinians deserve a state. Israel needs security. Both want peace. A negotiated settlement can produce these outcomes, and the UN is a platform for forging such a peace.

So, too, will we continue our efforts to foster democratic governance in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone. And, in the name of all of humanity, we will continue to push forward on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, in service of realising a world free of nuclear weapons.

The fourth big opportunity is supporting countries in transition. This year’s dramatic events in North Africa and the Middle East inspired people around the globe. Let us help make the Arab Spring a true season of hope for all.

Last, but not least, is the imperative of working with and for women and young people.

We need their full engagement – in government, business, and civil society. The UN has placed a high priority on promoting women at all levels of the organisation and this year, for the first time, UN Women is operating to promote the interests and rights of women all over the world.

Seven billion people now look toward the United Nations for solutions to the world’s great global challenges. Our global future depends on bringing these individual talents and universal rights together in common cause. Let our common agenda begin.

l Ban Ki-moon is Secretary-General of the United Nations.