T he challenges that history has placed before us are manifold and multiform: climate change, social and economic inequalities, humanitarian and health crises, transnational crime, and armed conflicts – starting with Russia’s unacceptable war of aggression on the sovereign nation of Ukraine – that make international security increasingly precarious. Faced with such a complex scenario, we have no choice but to act … We all know that no State can effectively master current challenges on its own, and that is why Italy is a committed supporter of multilateralism and of its most representative institution, the United Nations – the forum where each and every voice is heard, where we are called to learn, to understand each other and to respect each other. A reform makes sense if performed for everyone and not just for some. We are not interested in creating new hierarchies, and we do not believe there are Class A Nations and Class B Nations. There are simply Nations, with their own histories, specificities, and citizens, who all have the same rights, because individuals are born free and equal. This also means we must think about cooperation between Nations in a new way. Italy has done so, for example, with the Mattei Plan for Africa, an investment plan designed to cooperate with African Nations through an approach that is neither paternalistic nor charitable or predatory, but based on respect and the right for each one of us to compete on equal terms. It is our recipe to promote the development of a continent too often undervalued, build its stability, and finally guarantee one right that until now has been denied to too many young people – the right not to have to emigrate. Of course, any organisation is effective if its rules are fair and mutually agreed. That is why we are convinced that any reform of the UN governance, particularly regarding its Security Council, cannot disregard the principles of equality, democracy, and representativeness. Giorgia Meloni Prime Minister, Italy
The … West is in danger of becoming a less credible interlocutor. The so-called Global South is demanding more influence. Developing nations that are by now largely established are autonomously collaborating among themselves. Autocracies are gaining ground on democracies, and we risk looking more and more like a closed and self-referential fortress. In Italy, to reverse this course, we decided to launch for example the Mattei Plan for Africa, a model of cooperation based on an equal footing to build a new, long-term partnership with African countries … We know how to face the impossible challenges that this era confronts us with only when we learn from because we remember that, centuries ago, we fought to abolish slavery. We defend nature and humankind, because we know that without the responsible work of humans it is not possible to build a more sustainable future. As we develop artificial intelligence, we attempt to govern its risks because we fought to be free and we do not intend to trade our freedom in exchange for greater comfort. We know how to read these phenomena because our civilisation has given us the tools. The time we live in requires us to choose what we want to be and what path we want to take. We can continue to fuel the idea of the decline of the West, we can surrender to the idea that our civilisation has nothing more to say, no more routes to chart. Or we can remember who we are, learn also from our mistakes, add our own piece of the story to this extraordinary walk, and govern what the lessons of the past. We defend Ukraine for we have known the chaos of a world in which the law of the strongest prevails. We fight human traffickers happens around us, to leave our children a better world. Which is exactly my choice. Speech at the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Awards, 23 September 2024
Global unity, equal voices
And when talking about development, we cannot fail to address the new frontiers of technological innovation, starting with generative artificial intelligence – a phenomenon on which, I am afraid, there is still insufficient awareness. Artificial intelligence is, first and foremost, a great multiplier. But the question we need to answer is: what do we want to multiply? To put it bluntly, if this multiplier were used to cure still incurable diseases, then it would contribute to the common good. But if, on the other hand, that multiplier were to be used to further upset global balances, then the resulting scenarios would be potentially catastrophic. Machines will not answer these questions. We can do it; politics must do it. And it is politics that must guarantee that artificial intelligence remains human-controlled and human-centric. These are all issues … that Italy placed at the core of the agenda of its G7 Presidency this year. Speech at the Summit of the Future, New York, 23 September 2024
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globalgovernanceproject.org G20 BRAZIL: THE RIO SUMMIT — 2024
2024 — G20 BRAZIL: THE RIO SUMMIT globalgovernanceproject.org
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