make america great speech at the un

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General assembly, 21 september 2021, secretary-general’s address to the 76th session of the un general assembly, antónio guterres.

We face a moment of truth. Now is the time to deliver…restore trust… [and] inspire hope. And I do have hope…humanity has shown that we are capable of great things when we work together. That is the raison d’être of our United Nations.

[All-English version; scroll further down for all-French and trilingual as delivered versions]

Mr. President of the General Assembly, Excellencies,

I am here to sound the alarm:  The world must wake up.

We are on the edge of an abyss — and moving in the wrong direction.

Our world has never been more threatened.

Or more divided.

We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has supersized glaring inequalities. 

The climate crisis is pummeling the planet.

Upheaval from Afghanistan to Ethiopia to Yemen and beyond has thwarted peace.

A surge of mistrust and misinformation is polarizing people and paralyzing societies.

Human rights are under fire. 

Science is under assault.  

And economic lifelines for the most vulnerable are coming too little and too late — if they come at all.

Solidarity is missing in action — just when we need it most. 

Perhaps one image tells the tale of our times. 

The picture we have seen from some parts of the world of COVID-19 vaccines … in the garbage.  

Expired and unused.   

On the one hand, we see the vaccines developed in record time — a victory of science and human ingenuity.

On the other hand, we see that triumph undone by the tragedy of a lack of political will, selfishness and mistrust. 

A surplus in some countries.  Empty shelves in others.

A majority of the wealthier world vaccinated.  Over 90 percent of Africans still waiting for their first dose.

This is a moral indictment of the state of our world.

It is an obscenity. 

We passed the science test. 

But we are getting an F in Ethics.

Excellencies,

The climate alarm bells are also ringing at fever pitch.

The recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was a code red for humanity. 

We see the warning signs in every continent and region.

Scorching temperatures.  Shocking biodiversity loss.  Polluted air, water and natural spaces. 

And climate-related disasters at every turn.

As we saw recently, not even this city — the financial capital of the world — is immune. 

Climate scientists tell us it’s not too late to keep alive the 1.5 degree goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. 

But the window is rapidly closing.

We need a 45 per cent cut in emissions by 2030.  Yet a recent UN report made clear that with present national climate commitments, emissions will go up by 16% by 2030. 

That would condemn us to a hellscape of temperature rises of at least 2.7 degrees above pre-industrial levels.  A catastrophe.

Meanwhile, the OECD just reported a gap of at least $20 billion in essential and promised climate finance to developing countries.

We are weeks away from the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow, but seemingly light years away from reaching our targets.

We must get serious.  And we must act fast. 

COVID and the climate crisis have exposed profound fragilities as societies and as a planet. 

Yet instead of humility in the face of these epic challenges, we see hubris. 

Instead of the path of solidarity, we are on a dead end to destruction.

At the same time, another disease is spreading in our world today:  a malady of mistrust.

When people see promises of progress denied by the realities of their harsh daily lives…

When they see their fundamental rights and freedoms curtailed…

When they see petty — as well as grand — corruption around them…

When they see billionaires joyriding to space while millions go hungry on earth…

When parents see a future for their children that looks even bleaker than the struggles of today...

And when young people see no future at all…

The people we serve and represent may lose faith not only in their governments and institutions — but in the values that have animated the work of the United Nations for over 75 years.

Peace.  Human rights.  Dignity for all.  Equality.  Justice.  Solidarity.

Like never before, core values are in the crosshairs. 

A breakdown in trust is leading to a breakdown in values. 

Promises, after all, are worthless if people do not see results in their daily lives. 

Failure to deliver creates space for some of the darkest impulses of humanity.

It provides oxygen for easy fixes, pseudo-solutions and conspiracy theories. 

It is kindling to stoke ancient grievances.  Cultural supremacy.  Ideological dominance.  Violent misogyny.  The targeting of the most vulnerable including refugees and migrants.   

We face a moment of truth.

Now is the time to deliver. 

Now is the time to restore trust. 

Now is the time to inspire hope. 

And I do have hope. 

The problems we have created are problems we can solve.

Humanity has shown that we are capable of great things when we work together. That is the raison d’être of our United Nations. 

But let’s be frank.  Today’s multilateral system is too limited in its instruments and capacities, in relation to what is needed for effective governance of managing global public goods.

It is too fixed on the short-term. 

We need to strengthen global governance.  We need to focus on the future.  We need to renew the social contract.  We need to ensure a United Nations fit for a new era. 

That is why I presented my report on Our Common Agenda in the way I did.

It provides a 360 degree analysis of the state of our world, with 90 specific recommendations that take on the challenges of today and strengthen multilateralism for tomorrow. 

Our Common Agenda builds on the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Climate Agreement.

It is in line with the mandate I was given by the UN75 Declaration to seek a pathway to a better world.  

But to reach that land of our promises, we must bridge Great Divides. 

I see 6 Great Divides — 6 Grand Canyons — that we must bridge now.   

First, we must bridge the peace divide.  

For far too many around the world, peace and stability remain a distant dream. 

In Afghanistan, where we must boost humanitarian assistance and defend human rights, especially of women and girls.

In Ethiopia, where we call on parties to immediately cease hostilities, ensure humanitarian access and create the conditions for the start of an Ethiopian-led political dialogue.

In Myanmar, where we reaffirm unwavering support to the people in their pursuit of democracy, peace, human rights and the rule of law.

In the Sahel, where we are committed to mobilizing international assistance for regional security, development and governance.

In places such as Yemen, Libya and Syria, where we must overcome stalemates and push for peace.   In Israel and Palestine, where we urge leaders to resume a meaningful dialogue,  recognizing the two-State solution as the only pathway to a just and comprehensive peace.

In Haiti and so many other places left behind, where we stand in solidarity through every step out of crisis. 

We are seeing an explosion in seizures of power by force. 

Military coups are back. 

The lack of unity among the international community does not help.

Geopolitical divisions are undermining international cooperation and limiting the capacity of the Security Council to take the necessary decisions.

A sense of impunity is taking hold. 

At the same time, it will be impossible to address dramatic economic and development challenges while the world’s two largest economies are at odds with each other. 

Yet I fear our world is creeping towards two different sets of economic, trade, financial, and technology rules, two divergent approaches in the development of artificial intelligence — and ultimately the risk of two different military and geo-political strategies.

This is a recipe for trouble.  It would be far less predictable than the Cold War. 

To restore trust and inspire hope, we need cooperation.  We need dialogue.  We need understanding. 

We need to invest in prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.  We need progress on nuclear disarmament and in our shared efforts to counter terrorism.

We need actions anchored in respect for human rights.  And we need a new comprehensive Agenda for Peace.

Second, we must bridge the climate divide.  This requires bridging trust between North and South.

It starts by doing all we can now to create the conditions for success in Glasgow. 

We need more ambition from all countries in three key areas — mitigation, finance and adaptation.

More ambition on mitigation — means countries committing to carbon neutrality by mid-century —  and to concrete 2030 emissions reductions targets that will get us there, backed up with credible actions now.

More ambition on finance — means developing nations finally seeing the promised $100 billion dollars a year for climate action, fully mobilizing the resources of both international financial institutions and the private sector, too.

More ambition on adaptation — means developed countries living up to their promise of credible support to developing countries to build resilience to save lives and livelihoods.

This means 50 per cent of all climate finance provided by developed countries and multilateral development banks should be dedicated to adaptation.

The African Development Bank set the bar in 2019 by allocating half of its climate finance to adaptation.

Some donor countries have followed their lead.  All must do so.

My message to every Member State is this:  Don’t wait for others to make the first move.  Do your part.

Around the world, we see civil society — led by young people — fully mobilized to tackle the climate crisis.

The private sector is increasingly stepping up. 

Governments must also summon the full force of their fiscal policymaking powers to make the shift to green economies. 

By taxing carbon and pollution instead of people’s income to more easily make the switch to sustainable green jobs.

By ending subsidies to fossil fuels and freeing up resources to invest back into health care, education, renewable energy, sustainable food systems, and social protections for their people.

By committing to no new coal plants.  If all planned coal power plants become operational, we will not only be clearly above 1.5 degrees — we will be well above 2 degrees.   The Paris targets will go up in smoke.

This is a planetary emergency. 

We need coalitions of solidarity -- between countries that still depend heavily on coal, and countries that have the financial and technical resources to support their transition.   We have the opportunity and the obligation to act. 

Third, we must bridge the gap between rich and poor, within and among countries.

That starts by ending the pandemic for everyone, everywhere. 

We urgently need a global vaccination plan to at least double vaccine production and ensure that vaccines reach seventy percent of the world’s population in the first half of 2022.

This plan could be implemented by an emergency Task Force made up of present and potential vaccine producers, the World Health Organization, ACT-Accelerator partners, and international financial institutions, working with pharmaceutical companies.

We have no time to lose.

A lopsided recovery is deepening inequalities. 

Richer countries could reach pre-pandemic growth rates by the end of this year while the impacts may last for years in low-income countries.

Is it any wonder?

Advanced economies are investing nearly 28 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product into economic recovery.

For middle-income countries, that number falls to 6.5 per cent.

And it plummets to 1.8 per cent for the least developed countries — a tiny percentage of a much smaller amount.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the International Monetary Fund projects that cumulative economic growth per capita over the next five years will be 75 percent less than the rest of the world.

Many countries need an urgent injection of liquidity.    I welcome the issuance of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights by the International Monetary Fund.

But these SDRs are largely going to the countries that need them least. 

Advanced economies should reallocate their surplus SDRs to countries in need. 

SDRs are not a silver bullet. 

But they provide space for sustainable recovery and growth.

I renew also my call for a reformed and more equitable international debt architecture. 

The Debt Service Suspension Initiative must be extended to 2022 and should be available to all highly indebted vulnerable and middle-income countries that request it. 

This would be solidarity in action.

Countries shouldn’t have to choose between servicing debt and serving people.

With effective international solidarity, it would be possible at the national level to forge a new social contract that includes universal health coverage and income protection, housing and decent work, quality education for all, and an end to discrimination and violence against women and girls. 

I call on countries to reform their tax systems and finally end tax evasion, money laundering and illicit financial flows.

And as we look ahead, we need a better system of prevention and preparedness for all major global risks.  We must support the recommendations of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. 

I have put forward a number of other proposals in Our Common Agenda — including an emergency platform and a Futures Lab.

Fourth, we must bridge the gender divide. 

COVID-19 exposed and amplified the world’s most enduring injustice: the power imbalance between men and women.

When the pandemic hit, women were the majority of frontline workers, first to lose their jobs, and first to put their careers on hold to care for those close to them.

Girls were disproportionately hit by school closures that limit their development and increase the risk of abuse, violence and child marriage. 

Bridging the gender divide is not only a matter of justice for women and girls.

It’s a game-changer for humanity.

Societies with more equal representation are more stable and peaceful. They have better health systems and more vibrant economies.

Women’s equality is essentially a question of power. We must urgently transform our male-dominated world and shift the balance of power, to solve the most challenging problems of our age.

That means more women leaders in parliaments, cabinets and board rooms. It means women fully represented and making their full contribution, everywhere. 

I urge governments, corporations and other institutions to take bold steps, including benchmarks and quotas, to create gender parity from the leadership down.

At the United Nations, we have achieved this among the Senior Management and our country team leaders. We will keep going until we have parity at every level.

At the same time, we need to push back against regressive laws that institutionalize gender discrimination. Women’s rights are human rights.    

Economic recovery plans should focus on women, including through large-scale investments in the care economy.

And we need an emergency plan to fight gender-based violence in every country.

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and build a better world, we can and we must bridge the gender divide. 

Fifth, restoring trust and inspiring hope means bridging the digital divide.

Half of humanity has no access to the internet.  We must connect everyone by 2030.    This is the vision of my Roadmap for Digital Co-operation — to embrace the promise of digital technology while protecting people from its perils. 

One of the greatest perils we face is the growing reach of digital platforms and the use and abuse of data.

A vast library of information is being assembled about each of us. Yet we don’t even have the keys to that library.

We don’t know how this information has been collected, by whom or for what purposes.

But we do know our data is being used commercially — to boost corporate profits.

Our behavior patterns are being commodified and sold like futures contracts.

Our data is also being used to influence our perceptions and opinions.

Governments and others can exploit it to control or manipulate people’s behaviour, violating human rights of individuals or groups, and undermining democracy.

This is not science fiction.  This is today’s reality. 

And it requires a serious discussion.

So, too, do other dangers in the digital frontier. 

I am certain, for example, that any future major confrontation — and heaven forbid it should ever happen — will start with a massive cyberattack.

Where are the legal frameworks to address this?

Autonomous weapons can today choose targets and kill people without human interference.  They should be banned. 

But there is no consensus on how to regulate those technologies.  

To restore trust and inspire hope, we need to place human rights at the centre of our efforts to ensure a safe, equitable and open digital future for all.

Sixth, and finally, we need to bridge the divide among generations.    Young people will inherit the consequences of our decisions — good and bad.    At the same time, we expect 10.9 billion people to be born by century’s end.    We need their talents, ideas and energies.     Our Common Agenda proposes a Transforming Education Summit next year to address the learning crisis and expand opportunities for today’s 1.8 billion young people.   But young people need more than support.    They need a seat at the table.    For this, I will appoint a Special Envoy for Future Generations and create the United Nations Youth Office.    And the contributions of young people will be central to the Summit of the Future, as set out in Our Common Agenda.

Young people need a vision of hope for the future. 

Recent research showed the majority of young people across ten countries are suffering from high levels of anxiety and distress over the state of our planet.

Some 60 percent of your future voters feel betrayed by their governments. We must prove to children and young people that despite the seriousness of the situation, the world has a plan — and governments are committed to implementing it.

We need to act now to bridge the Great Divides and save humanity and the planet.

With real engagement, we can live up to the promise of a better, more peaceful world.

That is the driving force of our Common Agenda.    The best way to advance the interests of one’s own citizens is by advancing the interests of our common future. 

Interdependence is the logic of the 21st century.

And it is the lodestar of the United Nations. 

This is our time. 

A moment for transformation. 

An era to re-ignite multilateralism.

An age of possibilities. 

Let us restore trust.  Let us inspire hope. 

And let us start right now. 

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[All-French version]

Monsieur le Président, Excellences, Mesdames et Messieurs les représentants,

Je suis ici pour tirer la sonnette d’alarme : le monde doit se réveiller.

Nous sommes au bord du précipice – et nous continuons de nous en approcher.

Jamais notre monde n’a été aussi menacé.

Ou plus divisé.

Nous faisons face à la plus grande avalanche de crises de notre existence.

La pandémie de COVID-19 a amplifié des inégalités déjà flagrantes.

La crise climatique s’abat sur la planète.

De l’Afghanistan à l’Éthiopie en passant par le Yémen et ailleurs, les bouleversements font échec à la paix.

Un embrasement de méfiance et de désinformation polarise les gens et paralyse les sociétés.

Les droits humains sont mis à mal.

La science est vilipendée.

Et l’aide économique destinée aux plus vulnérables, à supposer qu’elle leur parvienne, est insuffisante et arrive trop tard.

La solidarité est portée disparue – au moment même où nous en avons le plus besoin.

Une image résume peut-être ce que nous vivons.

Celle qui nous vient de certains coins du monde, où l’on voit des vaccins contre le COVID-19 ... jetés à la poubelle.

Périmés et inutilisés.

D’un côté, les vaccins sont mis au point en un temps record – une victoire de la science et de l’ingéniosité humaine.

De l’autre, ce triomphe est réduit à néant par le manque tragique de volonté politique, l’égoïsme et la méfiance.

L’abondance pour certains pays. Des étagères vides pour d’autres.

La plupart des habitants des pays riches sont vaccinés. Plus de 90 % des Africains attendent toujours leur première dose.

Nous sommes moralement coupables de l’état du monde dans lequel nous vivons.

La situation est indécente.

Nous avons réussi l’épreuve de sciences.

Mais nous avons un zéro pointé en éthique.

Mesdames et Messieurs les représentants,

La sonnette d’alarme climatique est également assourdissante.

Le récent rapport du Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat est un code rouge pour l’humanité.

Nous voyons les signes d’avertissement sur chaque continent et dans chaque région.

Températures caniculaires. Perte de biodiversité épouvantable. Pollution de l’air, de l’eau et des espaces naturels.

Et à chaque instant des catastrophes liées au climat.

Comme nous l’avons vu récemment, même la ville où nous sommes – la capitale financière du monde – n’est pas à l’abri.

Les climatologues nous disent qu’il n’est pas trop tard pour respecter l’objectif de 1,5 degré fixé dans l’Accord de Paris sur le climat.

Mais la fenêtre pour le faire se ferme rapidement.

Nous devons réduire nos émissions de 45 % d’ici à 2030. Pourtant, un récent rapport de l’ONU a clairement montré que, compte tenu des engagements nationaux en matière de climat, d’ici à 2030, les émissions augmenteront de 16 %.

Cela nous condamnerait à une situation infernale où la température augmenterait d’au moins 2,7 degrés par rapport aux niveaux préindustriels. Une catastrophe.

Dans le même temps, l’OCDE vient de signaler un déficit d’au moins 20 milliards de dollars dans le financement essentiel de l’action climatique promis aux pays en développement.

Nous sommes à quelques semaines de la Conférence des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques qui se tiendra à Glasgow, mais nous sommes à des années-lumière de nos objectifs.

Nous devons nous y mettre sérieusement. Et vite.

Le COVID-19 et la crise climatique ont mis en évidence de profondes fragilités, dans nos sociétés et pour notre planète.

Pourtant, ces défis formidables ne suscitent pas l’humilité, mais l’arrogance.

Au lieu de suivre la voie de la solidarité, nous sommes dans une impasse qui mène à la destruction.

Dans le même temps, une autre maladie se propage aujourd’hui dans le monde : le fléau de la méfiance.

Quand les gens voient les promesses de progrès anéanties par les réalités d’un quotidien éprouvant...

Quand ils voient leurs droits fondamentaux et leurs libertés restreints...

Quand ils voient autour d’eux la petite – et la grande – corruption...

Quand ils voient des milliardaires se balader dans l’espace alors que des millions de personnes sur terre ont faim...

Quand les parents voient pour leurs enfants des lendemains plus sombres encore que l’adversité à laquelle ils sont confrontés aujourd’hui...

Et quand les jeunes ne voient aucun lendemain...

Les personnes pour lesquelles nous œuvrons et que nous représentons pourraient perdre la foi non seulement dans leurs gouvernements et leurs institutions, mais aussi dans les valeurs qui animent le travail de l’ONU depuis plus de 75 ans.

Paix. Droits humains. Dignité de toutes et tous. Égalité. Justice. Solidarité.

Jamais auparavant les valeurs fondamentales n’ont été aussi menacées.

Une rupture de la confiance entraîne une rupture des valeurs.

À quoi bon des promesses si les gens ne voient pas de résultats dans leur vie quotidienne.

Quand le résultat n’est pas au rendez-vous, place est faite à certaines des pulsions les plus sinistres de l’humanité.

Cela alimente les solutions faciles, les pseudo-solutions et les théories du complot.

Cela attise les griefs anciens. La suprématie culturelle. La domination idéologique. La misogynie violente. La mise en joue des personnes les plus vulnérables, notamment les réfugiés et les migrants.

L’heure de vérité a sonné.

Le moment est venu d’agir.

Le moment est venu de redonner confiance.

Le moment est venu de raviver l’espoir.

Et de l’espoir, j’en ai !

Les problèmes que nous avons créés sont des problèmes que nous pouvons résoudre.

L’humanité a montré que rien ne l’arrêtait quand tout le monde travaillait main dans la main.

C’est la raison d’être des Nations Unies.

Mais soyons francs. Le système multilatéral actuel a ses limites : ses instruments et ses capacités ne suffisent pas pour assurer l’efficacité de la gouvernance des biens publics mondiaux.

Ce système est trop axé sur le court terme.

Nous devons renforcer la gouvernance mondiale. Nous devons nous concentrer sur l’avenir. Nous devons renouveler le contrat social. Nous devons adapter l’ONU à une nouvelle ère.

C’est pourquoi j’ai présenté comme je l’ai fait mon rapport sur Notre Programme commun.

Ce programme offre une analyse à 360 degrés de l’état de notre monde, accompagnée de 90 recommandations concrètes visant à relever les défis d’aujourd’hui et à renforcer le multilatéralisme de demain.

Notre Programme commun s’appuie sur la Charte des Nations Unies, la Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme, le Programme de développement durable à l’horizon 2030 et l’Accord de Paris sur le climat.

Il s’inscrit dans le droit fil du mandat qui m’a été confié dans la Déclaration faite à l’occasion de la célébration du soixante-quinzième anniversaire de l’ONU : chercher une voie vers un monde meilleur.

Mais pour atteindre cette terre de promesses, nous devons combler de grands fossés.

Excellences, Mesdames et Messieurs les représentants,

Pour moi, il y a 6 grands fossés – 6 Grands canyons – que nous devons combler maintenant.

Premièrement, nous devons combler le fossé qui nous sépare de la paix.

Pour bien trop de personnes, partout dans le monde, la paix et la stabilité restent un rêve lointain.

En Afghanistan, où nous devons redonner de l’élan à l’aide humanitaire et défendre les droits humains, en particulier ceux des femmes et des filles.

En Éthiopie, où nous demandons à toutes les parties de cesser immédiatement les hostilités, de garantir l’accès humanitaire et de créer les conditions nécessaires à l’ouverture d’un dialogue politique conduit par les Éthiopiennes et les Éthiopiens.

Au Myanmar, où nous réaffirmons notre soutien indéfectible au peuple, qui aspire à la démocratie, à la paix, aux droits humains et à l’état de droit.

Au Sahel, où nous nous sommes engagés à mobiliser l’aide internationale en faveur de la sécurité, du développement et de la gouvernance de la région.

Ailleurs encore, comme au Yémen, en Libye et en Syrie, où nous devons sortir de l’impasse et tout faire pour que la paix soit instaurée.   En Israël et en Palestine, où nous exhortons les dirigeants à reprendre un dialogue constructif et à reconnaître que la solution des deux États est la seule voie pouvant conduire à une paix juste et globale.

En Haïti et dans tant d’autres pays laissés pour compte, où nous sommes solidaires à chaque mesure prise pour sortir de la crise.

Nous assistons à une flambée des prises de pouvoir par la force.

Les coups d’État militaires reprennent.

Et la désunion de la communauté internationale n’aide pas.

Les clivages géopolitiques sapent la coopération internationale et empêchent le Conseil de sécurité de prendre les décisions qui s’imposent.

Un sentiment d’impunité s’installe.

Et pourtant, il sera impossible de relever les prodigieux défis de l’économie et du développement tant que les deux plus grandes économies du monde seront en désaccord l’une avec l’autre.

Hélas, je crains fort que notre monde ne s’achemine vers deux ensembles de règles économiques, commerciales, financières et technologiques bien distincts, deux conceptions opposées du développement de l’intelligence artificielle – et finalement deux stratégies militaires et géopolitiques différentes.

Ce serait la garantie de problèmes à venir. Bien moins prévisibles que la guerre froide.

Pour redonner confiance et raviver l’espoir, nous avons besoin de coopération. Nous avons besoin de dialogue. Nous devons nous entendre.

Nous devons investir dans la prévention des conflits et le maintien et la consolidation de la paix. Nous devons faire avancer le désarmement nucléaire et l’action que nous menons ensemble contre le terrorisme.

Nous devons agir dans le profond respect des droits humains. Et nous devons nous munir d’un nouvel Agenda pour la paix.

Deuxièmement, nous devons combler le fossé climatique. Pour ce faire, il faut rétablir la confiance entre Nord et Sud.

Et cela commence en faisant tout ce que nous pouvons dès maintenant pour assurer le succès de la Conférence de Glasgow.

Il faut que tous les pays se montrent plus ambitieux dans trois grands domaines d’action : l’atténuation, le financement et l’adaptation.

Plus d’ambition en matière d’atténuation, cela veut dire que les pays s’engagent à atteindre la neutralité carbone d’ici le milieu du siècle et à se fixer des objectifs concrets de réduction des émissions pour 2030 qui nous permettent d’y parvenir, et qui s’appuient sur des mesures réalisables dans l’immédiat.

Plus d’ambition en matière de financement – cela veut dire que les pays en développement reçoivent les 100 milliards de dollars par an qui leur ont été promis pour l’action climatique, en mobilisant pleinement les ressources des institutions financières internationales et aussi celles du secteur privé.

Plus d’ambition en matière d’adaptation – cela veut dire que les pays développés tiennent la promesse qu’ils ont faite d’apporter un soutien crédible aux pays en développement afin de renforcer la résilience et de sauver des vies et des moyens de subsistance.

Cela veut dire que 50 % de tous les financements climatiques fournis par les pays développés et les banques multilatérales de développement devraient être consacrés à l’adaptation.

La Banque africaine de développement a montré la voie en 2019 en allouant la moitié de ses financements climatiques à l’adaptation.

Certains pays donateurs ont suivi son exemple. Il faut que tous en fassent autant.

Le message que j’adresse à chaque État Membre est le suivant : n’attendez pas que d’autres fassent le premier pas. Faites votre part.

Partout dans le monde, nous constatons que la société civile – menée par les jeunes – est pleinement mobilisée pour faire face à la crise climatique.

Le secteur privé s’engage de plus en plus.

Il faut que les gouvernements aussi mobilisent tous leurs pouvoirs en matière de politique financière pour faire la transition vers l’économie verte.

En imposant les émissions de carbone et la pollution plutôt que le revenu des ménages, afin de faciliter le passage à des emplois verts durables.

En arrêtant de subventionner les combustibles fossiles et en dégageant des ressources à réinvestir dans la santé, l’éducation, les énergies renouvelables, les systèmes alimentaires durables et la protection sociale.

En s’engageant à ne pas construire de nouvelles centrales à charbon. Si toutes celles qu’il est prévu d’ouvrir entrent en service, non seulement nous dépasserons nettement 1,5 degré, mais nous serons bien au-dessus de 2 degrés.

Les objectifs de Paris partiront en fumée.

Nous sommes face à une urgence planétaire.

Nous avons besoin de coalitions de solidarité – entre les pays qui sont encore fortement tributaires du charbon et ceux qui ont les moyens financiers et techniques de financer leur transition.

Nous pouvons et nous devons agir.

Troisièmement, nous devons combler le fossé entre riches et pauvres, dans les pays et d’un pays à l’autre.

Cela commence par mettre fin à la pandémie, partout et pour tout le monde.

Nous avons besoin de toute urgence d’un plan de vaccination mondial permettant de faire au moins doubler la production et d’acheminer des vaccins à 70 % de la population au premier semestre 2022.

Ce plan pourrait être exécuté par une équipe spéciale d’urgence composée de producteurs actuels et potentiels de vaccins, de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé, de partenaires du dispositif Accélérateur ACT et des institutions financières internationales, en collaboration avec les sociétés pharmaceutiques.

Nous n’avons pas de temps à perdre.

Une reprise asymétrique creuse les inégalités.

Les pays riches pourraient retrouver les taux de croissance d’avant la pandémie d’ici la fin de l’année, tandis que les retombées de la crise sanitaire pourraient se faire sentir pendant des années dans les pays à faible revenu.

Est-ce bien étonnant ?

Les économies avancées investissent près de 28 % de leur produit intérieur brut dans la reprise économique.

Pour les pays à revenu intermédiaire, ce chiffre tombe à 6,5 %.

Et il chute à 1,8 % pour les pays les moins avancés – un pourcentage infime d’un montant très inférieur.

En Afrique subsaharienne, le Fonds monétaire international prévoit que la croissance économique cumulée par habitant pour les cinq prochaines années devrait être égale au quart de ce qu’elle est dans le reste du monde.

De nombreux pays ont besoin d’injections d’urgence de liquidités.   Je me réjouis que le Fonds monétaire international ait émis 650 milliards de dollars de Droits de tirage spéciaux.

Mais ces droits vont en grande partie aux pays qui en ont le moins besoin.

Les économies avancées devraient réaffecter l’excédent de leurs DTS aux pays qui en ont vraiment besoin.

Les DTS ne sont pas la panacée.

Mais ils permettent une reprise et une croissance durables.

Je renouvelle aussi mon appel en faveur d’une réforme de l’architecture de la dette internationale, qui doit être plus équitable.

L’Initiative de suspension du service de la dette doit être prolongée jusqu’en 2022 et devrait être accessible à tous les pays vulnérables et à tous les pays à revenu intermédiaire très endettés qui le demandent.

C’est ça, la solidarité en action.

Les États ne devraient pas avoir à choisir entre assurer le service de la dette et être au service de la population.

Une véritable solidarité internationale permettrait d’établir à l’échelle nationale un nouveau contrat social prévoyant une couverture sanitaire universelle et la protection du revenu, d’offrir à toutes et à tous un logement, un travail décent et une éducation de qualité pour toutes et tous et d’éliminer la discrimination et la violence contre les femmes et les filles.

J’engage les pays à procéder à des réformes fiscales et à mettre enfin un terme à la fraude fiscale, au blanchiment d’argent et aux flux financiers illicites.

Et pour l’avenir, face aux grands risques mondiaux, nous devons nous doter d’un meilleur système de prévention et de préparation ; nous devons suivre les recommandations du Groupe indépendant sur la préparation et la riposte à la pandémie.

J’ai fait de nombreuses autres propositions dans Notre Programme commun, parmi lesquelles une plateforme d’urgence et un laboratoire pour l’avenir.

Quatrièmement, nous devons combler le fossé entre les genres.

Le COVID-19 a mis à nu et exacerbé la plus vieille injustice du monde : le déséquilibre de pouvoir entre les hommes et les femmes.

Lorsque la pandémie a frappé, les femmes représentaient la majorité des travailleurs de première ligne. Elles ont été les premières à perdre leur emploi et les premières à mettre leurs carrières en suspens pour s’occuper de leurs proches.

Les fermetures d’écoles ont touché les filles de manière disproportionnée, freinant leurs parcours et augmentant les risques d'abus, de violence et de mariage d’enfants.

Combler le fossé entre les femmes et les hommes n’est pas seulement une question de justice pour les femmes et les filles.

Cela change la donne pour l’humanité tout entière.

Les sociétés plus égalitaires sont aussi plus stables et plus pacifiques. Elles ont de meilleurs systèmes de santé et des économies plus dynamiques.

L'égalité des femmes est essentiellement une question de pouvoir. Si nous voulons résoudre les problèmes les plus difficiles de notre époque, nous devons de toute urgence transformer notre monde dominé par les hommes et changer l'équilibre du pouvoir.

Cela requiert plus de femmes dirigeantes dans les parlements, les cabinets ministériels et les conseils d’administration. Cela exige que les femmes soient pleinement représentées et puissent apporter leur pleine contribution partout.  

J’exhorte les gouvernements, les entreprises et les autres organisations à prendre des mesures audacieuses, y compris des critères de référence et des quotas, pour établir la parité hommes-femmes à tous les niveaux de la hiérarchie.

A l’Organisation des Nations Unies, nous avons atteint cela au sein de l’équipe dirigeante et parmi les responsables de bureaux de pays. Nous continuerons jusqu’à ce que nous parvenions à la parité à tous les niveaux.

Dans le même temps, nous devons nous opposer aux lois régressives qui institutionnalisent la discrimination de genre. Les droits des femmes sont des droits humains.

Les plans de relance économique devraient accorder une place centrale aux femmes, notamment par des investissements à grande échelle dans l’économie des soins.

Et nous devons adopter un plan d’urgence pour lutter contre la violence de genre dans chaque pays.

Pour atteindre les Objectifs de développement durable et bâtir un monde meilleur, nous pouvons et nous devons combler le fossé entre les femmes et les hommes.

Mesdames et Messieurs les représentants,   Cinquièmement, pour redonner confiance et raviver l’espoir, nous devons réduire la fracture numérique.

La moitié de l’humanité n’a pas accès à l’Internet. Nous devons faire en sorte que tout le monde soit connecté d’ici à 2030.   Telle est la vision de mon Plan d’action de coopération numérique : saisir les promesses du numérique tout en se prémunissant contre ses dangers.

L’un des plus grands périls auxquels nous sommes confrontés, c’est le pouvoir croissant des plateformes numériques et l’utilisation des données à des fins néfastes.

Une vaste bibliothèque d’informations est en train d’être constituée sur chacun d’entre nous. Et nous n’y avons même pas accès.

Nous ne savons pas comment ces informations ont été recueillies, par qui, ni dans quels buts.

Mais nous savons que nos données sont utilisées à des fins commerciales, pour augmenter encore les profits.

Nos comportements et habitudes deviennent des produits qui sont vendus comme des contrats à terme.

Nos données sont également utilisées pour influencer nos perceptions et nos opinions.

Les gouvernements – et d’autres entités – peuvent les exploiter pour contrôler ou manipuler le comportement des citoyens, bafouant ainsi les droits humains des individus ou groupes et sapant la démocratie.

Ce n’est pas de la science-fiction. C’est notre réalité d’aujourd’hui.

Et cela exige un débat sérieux.

Il en va de même pour d’autres dangers de l’ère numérique. 

Je suis par exemple certain que toute future confrontation majeure – et j’espère évidemment qu’une telle confrontation n’aura jamais lieu – commencera par une cyberattaque massive.

Quels cadres juridiques nous permettraient de faire face à une telle situation ?

Aujourd’hui, des armes autonomes peuvent prendre pour cible des personnes et les tuer sans intervention humaine. De telles armes devraient être interdites.

Mais il n’y a pas de consensus sur la manière de réglementer ces technologies.

Afin de rétablir la confiance et raviver l’espoir, nous devons placer les droits humains au cœur de nos efforts pour que l’avenir numérique de tous soit sûr, équitable et ouvert.

Sixièmement, enfin, nous devons combler le fossé entre les générations.

Les jeunes devront vivre avec les conséquences de nos décisions – bonnes et mauvaises.

Dans le même temps, à la fin du siècle, il devrait y avoir 10,9 milliards de personnes sur la planète.

Nous avons besoin de leurs talents, de leurs idées et de leur énergie.

Notre Programme commun propose qu’un sommet sur la Transformation de l’éducation soit organisé l’an prochain pour faire face à la crise de l’enseignement et offrir davantage de possibilités aux 1,8 milliard de personnes que compte la jeunesse d’aujourd’hui.

Mais les jeunes ont besoin de plus.

Ils doivent être assis à la table de négociations.

Je compte nommer un Envoyé spécial pour les générations futures et créer un bureau des Nations Unies pour la jeunesse.

Et les contributions des jeunes seront essentielles pour le Sommet sur le futur proposé dans Notre Programme commun.

Les jeunes ont besoin d’un projet porteur d’espoir pour l’avenir.

Des études récentes menées dans une dizaine de pays ont montré que l’état de notre planète plongeait la plupart des jeunes dans une angoisse et une détresse profondes.

Environ 60 % de votre futur électorat se sent trahi par son gouvernement.

Nous devons prouver aux enfants et aux jeunes que, malgré la gravité de la situation, le monde a un plan – et que les gouvernements s’engagent à le concrétiser.

Nous devons agir maintenant combler ces grands fossés et sauver l’humanité et la planète.

Si la mobilisation est réelle, nous pourrons tenir notre promesse d’un monde meilleur, plus pacifique.

C’est la force motrice de Notre Programme commun.

Le meilleur moyen pour un gouvernement de défendre les intérêts de ses propres citoyens, c’est de défendre notre avenir commun.

L’interdépendance est la logique du XXIe siècle.

C’est l’idée qui guide l’Organisation des Nations Unies.

L’heure est venue d’agir.

C’est une ère de transformation qui s’ouvre.

L’ère du renouveau du multilatéralisme.

Une ère de possibilités.

Ensemble, nous devons redonner confiance. Nous devons raviver l’espoir.

Sans plus attendre.

Je vous remercie.

**************************************************************************************************************

[Trilingual, as delivered version] 

A surge of mistrust and misinformation is polarizing people and paralyzing societies, and human rights are under fire. 

Climate scientists tell us it is not too late to keep alive the 1.5 degree goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. 

We need a 45 per cent cut in emissions by 2030.  Yet a recent UN report made clear that with present national climate commitments,  emissions will go up by 16% by 2030. 

That would condemn us to a hellscape of temperature rises of at least 2.7 degrees above pre-industrial levels – a catastrophe.

COVID-19 and the climate crisis have exposed profound fragilities as societies and as a planet. 

It provides oxygen for easy-fixes, pseudo-solutions and conspiracy theories. 

It is kindling to stoke ancient grievances.  Cultural  supremacy.  Ideological dominance.  Violent misogyny.  The targeting of the most vulnerable including refugees and migrants.   

Humanity has shown that we are capable of great things when we work together.

That is the raison d’être of our United Nations. 

And the lack of unity among the international community does not help.

Yet I fear our world is creeping towards two different sets of economic, trade, financial, and technology rules, two divergent approaches in the development of artificial intelligence — and ultimately the risk of two different military and geo-political strategies, and this is a recipe for trouble.  It would be far less predictable than the Cold War. 

More ambition on finance — means developing nations finally seeing the promised US$100 billion dollars a year for climate action, fully mobilizing the resources of both international financial institutions and the private sector too.

Many countries need an urgent injection of liquidity.    I welcome the issuance of US $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights by the International Monetary Fund.

I renew also my call for a reformed, and more equitable international debt architecture. 

And as we look ahead, we need a better system of prevention and preparedness for all major global risks. We must support the recommendations of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. 

Excelencias,

En sexto lugar, y por último, tenemos que salvar la brecha entre generaciones.    Los jóvenes heredarán las consecuencias de nuestras decisiones, buenas y malas.

Al mismo tiempo, se espera que nazcan 10.900 millones de personas antes de que termine el siglo.

Necesitamos sus talentos, ideas y energías.

Nuestra Agenda Común propone la celebración, el año que viene, de una Cumbre para la Transformación de la Educación con el fin de abordar la crisis del aprendizaje y ampliar las oportunidades al alcance de los 1.800 millones de jóvenes de hoy.

Los jóvenes necesitan algo más que apoyo.

Necesitan tener un asiento en la mesa.

Por ello, nombraré un Enviado Especial para las Generaciones Futuras y crearé la Oficina de la Juventud de las Naciones Unidas.

Y las contribuciones de los jóvenes serán fundamentales en la Cumbre del Futuro, tal y como queda recogido en Nuestra Agenda Común.

La juventud necesita una visión de esperanza para el futuro. 

Una investigación realizada recientemente en diez países ha demostrado que la mayoría de los jóvenes sufre altos niveles de ansiedad y angustia por el estado de nuestro planeta.

Un 60% de sus futuros votantes se sienten traicionados por sus gobiernos.

Debemos demostrar a los niños y niñas, a los y las jóvenes, que, a pesar de la gravedad de la situación, el mundo tiene un plan – y que los gobiernos están comprometidos con su aplicación.

Tenemos que actuar ahora para superar las Grandes Divisiones y salvar a la humanidad y al planeta.   Excellencies,

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Full transcript: Biden addresses 76th UN General Assembly

The president encouraged countries to act together to fight COVID-19.

President Joe Biden delivered his first United Nations General Assembly speech on Tuesday morning, encouraging countries to "work together as never before" as the world stands together "at an inflection point in history" in its fight against COVID-19 .

MORE: Biden challenges UN to act together on pandemic, climate change

The full transcript of Biden's speech is below:

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, my fellow delegates, to all those who dedicate themselves to this noble mission of this institution: It's my honor to speak to you for the first time as president of the United States.

We meet this year in a moment of — intermingled with great pain and extraordinary possibility. We've lost so much to this devastating pandemic that continues to claim lives around the world and impact so much on our existence.

We're mourning more than 4.5 million people — people of every nation from every background. Each death is an individual heartbreak. But our shared grief is a poignant reminder that our collective future will hinge on our ability to recognize our common humanity and to act together.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the clear and urgent choice that we face here at the dawning of what must be a decisive decade for our world — a decade that will quite literally determine our futures.

As a global community, we're challenged by urgent and looming crises wherein lie enormous opportunities if — if — we can summon the will and resolve to seize these opportunities.

Will we work together to save lives, defeat COVID-19 everywhere and take the necessary steps to prepare ourselves for the next pandemic? For there will be another one. Or will we fail to harness the tools at our disposal as the more virulent and dangerous variants take hold?

Will we meet the threat of challenging climate — the challenging climate we're all feeling already ravaging every part of our world with extreme weather? Or will we suffer the merciless march of ever-worsening droughts and floods, more intense fires and hurricanes, longer heatwaves and rising seas?

Will we affirm and uphold the human dignity and human rights under which nations in common cause, more than seven decades ago, formed this institution?

Will we apply and strengthen the core tenets of the international system, including the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as we seek to shape the emergence of new technologies and deter new threats? Or will we allow those universal principles to be trampled and twisted in the pursuit of naked political power?

In my view, how we answer these questions in this moment — whether we choose to fight for our shared future or not — will reverberate for generations yet to come.

Simply put: We stand, in my view, at an inflection point in history. And I'm here today to share with you how the United States intends to work with partners and allies to answer these questions and the commitment of my new administration to help lead the world toward a more peaceful, prosperous future for all people.

Instead of continuing to fight the wars of the past, we are fixing our eyes on devoting our resources to the challenges that hold the keys to our collective future: ending this pandemic; addressing the climate crisis; managing the shifts in global power dynamics; shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber and emerging technologies; and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today.

We've ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan. And as we close this period of relentless war, we're opening a new era of relentless diplomacy; of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world; of renewing and defending democracy; of proving that no matter how challenging or how complex the problems we're going to face, government by and for the people is still the best way to deliver for all of our people.

And as the United States turns our focus to the priorities and the regions of the world, like the Indo-Pacific, that are most consequential today and tomorrow, we'll do so with our allies and partners, through cooperation at multilateral institutions like the United Nations, to amplify our collective strength and speed, our progress toward dealing with these global challenges.

There's a fundamental truth of the 21st century within each of our own countries and as a global community that our own success is bound up in others succeeding as well.

To deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world.

To ensure that our own future, we must work together with other partners — our partners — toward a shared future.

Our security, our prosperity and our very freedoms are interconnected, in my view, as never before. And so, I believe we must work together as never before.

Over the last eight months, I have prioritized rebuilding our alliances, revitalizing our partnerships and recognizing they're essential and central to America's enduring security and prosperity.

We have reaffirmed our sacred NATO Alliance to Article 5 commitment. We're working with our allies toward a new strategic concept that will help our alliance better take on evolving threats of today and tomorrow.

We renewed our engagement with the European Union, a fundamental partner in tackling the full range of significant issues facing our world today.

We elevated the Quad partnership among Australia, India, Japan and the United States to take on challenges ranging from health security to climate to emerging technologies.

We're engaging with regional institutions — from ASEAN to the African Union to the Organization of American States — to focus on people's urgent needs for better health and better economic outcomes.

We're back at the table in international forums, especially the United Nations, to focus attention and to spur global action on shared challenges.

We are reengaged at the World Health Organization and working in close partnership with COVAX to deliver lifesaving vaccines around the world.

We rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, and we're running to retake a seat on the Human Rights Council next year at the U.N.

And as the United States seeks to rally the world to action, we will lead not just with the example of our power but, God willing, with the power of our example.

Make no mistake: The United States will continue to defend ourselves, our allies and our interests against attack, including terrorist threats, as we prepare to use force if any is necessary, but — to defend our vital U.S. national interests including against ongoing and imminent threats.

But the mission must be clear and achievable, undertaken with the informed consent of the American people and, whenever possible, in partnership with our allies.

U.S. military power must be our tool of last resort, not our first, and it should not be used as an answer to every problem we see around the world.

Indeed, today, many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed through the force of arms. Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants.

To fight this pandemic, we need a collective act of science and political will. We need to act now to get shots in arms as fast as possible and to expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments to save lives around the world.

And for the future, we need to create a new mechanism to finance global health security that builds on our existing development assistance, and a Global Health Threat Council that is armed with the tools we need to monitor and identify emerging pandemics so that we can take immediate action.

Already, the United States has put more than $15 billion toward global COVID response. We've shipped more than 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries. This includes 130 million doses from our own supply and the first tranches of the half a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine we purchased to donate through COVAX.

Planes carrying vaccines from the United States have already landed in 100 countries, bringing people all over the world a little "dose of hope," as one American nurse termed it to me. A "dose of hope," direct from the American people — and, importantly, no strings attached.

And tomorrow, at the U.S.-hosted COVID-19 Summit, I'll be announcing additional commitments as we seek to advance the fight against COVID-19 and hold ourselves accountable around specific targets on three key challenges: saving lives now, vaccinating the world and building back better.

MORE: 'We grieve together,' Pelosi says at COVID-19 flags memorial

This year has also brought widespread death and devastation from the borderless climate crisis. The extreme weather events that we have seen in every part of the world — and you all know it and feel it — represent what the Secretary-General has rightly called "code red for humanity." And the scientists and experts are telling us that we're fast approaching a "point of no return," in the literal sense.

To keep within our reach the vital goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, every nation needs to bring their highest-possible ambitions to the table when we meet in Glasgow for COP26 and then to have to keep raising our collective ambition over time.

In April, I announced the United States' ambitious new goal under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the United States by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, as we work toward achieving a clean-energy economy with net-zero emissions by 2050.

And my administration is working closely with our Congress to make critical investments in green infrastructure and electric vehicles that will help us lock in progress at home toward our climate goals.

And the best part is: Making these ambitious investments isn't just good climate policy, it's a chance for each of our countries to invest in ourselves and our own future. It's an enormous opportunity to create good-paying jobs for workers in each of our countries and to spur long-term economic growth that will improve the quality of life for all of our people.

We also have to support the countries and people that will be hit hardest and that have the fewest resources to help them adapt.

In April, I announced the United States will double our public international financing to help developing nations tackle the climate crisis. And today, I'm proud to announce that we'll work with the Congress to double that number again, including for adaptation efforts.

This will make the United States a leader in public climate finance. And with our added support, together with increased private capital from other donors, we'll be able to meet the goal of mobilizing $100 billion to support climate action in developing nations.

As we deal with these crises, we're also encountering a new era — an era of new technologies and possibilities that have the potential to release and reshape every aspect of human existence. And it's up to all of us to determine whether these technologies are a force to empower people or to deepen repression.

As new technologies continue to evolve, we'll work together with our democratic partners to ensure that new advances in areas from biotechnology, to quantum computing, 5G, artificial intelligence and more are used to lift people up, to solve problems and advance human freedom — not to suppress dissent or target minority communities.

And the United States intends to make a profound investment in research and innovation, working with countries at all stages of economic development to develop new tools and technologies to help us tackle the challenges of this second quarter of the 21st century and beyond.

We're hardening our critical infrastructure against cyberattacks, disrupting ransomware networks and working to establish clear rules of the road for all nations as it relates to cyberspace.

We reserve the right to respond decisively to cyberattacks that threaten our people, our allies or our interests.

We will pursue new rules of global trade and economic growth that strive to level the playing field so that it's not artificially tipped in favor of any one country at the expense of others and every nation has a right and the opportunity to compete fairly.

We will strive to ensure that basic labor rights, environmental safeguards, and intellectual property are protected and that the benefits of globalization are shared broadly throughout all our societies.

We'll continue to uphold the longstanding rules and norms that have formed the guardrails of international engagement for decades that have been essential to the development of nations around the world — bedrock commitments like freedom of navigation, adherence to international laws and treaties, support for arms control measures that reduce the risk and enhance transparency.

Our approach is firmly grounded and fully consistent with the United Nations' mission and the values we've agreed to when we drafted this charter. These are commitments we all made and that we're all bound to uphold.

And as we strive to deal with these urgent challenges, whether they're longstanding or newly emerging, we must also deal with one another.

All the major powers of the world have a duty, in my view, to carefully manage their relationships so they do not tip from responsible competition to conflict.

The United States will compete, and will compete vigorously, and lead with our values and our strength.

We'll stand up for our allies and our friends and oppose attempts by stronger countries to dominate weaker ones, whether through changes to territory by force, economic coercion, technological exploitation or disinformation.

But we're not seeking — I'll say it again — we are not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs.

The United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to shared challenges, even if we have intense disagreements in other areas — because we'll all suffer the consequences of our failure if we do not come together to address the urgent threats like COVID-19 and climate change or enduring threats like nuclear proliferation.

The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. We are working with the P5+1 to engage Iran diplomatically and seek a return to the JCPOA. We're prepared to return to full compliance if Iran does the same.

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Similarly, we seek serious and sustained diplomacy to pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

We seek concrete progress toward an available plan with tangible commitments that would increase stability on the Peninsula and in the region, as well as improve the lives of the people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

We must also remain vigilant to the threat that terrorism poses to all our nations, whether emanating from distant regions of the world or in our own backyards.

We know the the bitter sting of terrorism real, and we've almost all experienced it.

Last month, we lost 13 American heroes and almost 200 innocent Afghan civilians in the heinous terrorist attack at the Kabul airport.

MORE: Afghanistan updates: 4th evacuation flight leaves Kabul for Qatar, Americans on board

Those who commit acts of terrorism against us will continue to find a determined enemy in the United States.

The world today is not the world of 2001, though, and the United States is not the same country we were when we were attacked on 9/11, 20 years ago.

Today, we're better equipped to detect and prevent terrorist threats, and we are more resilient in our ability to repel them and to respond.

We know how to build effective partnerships to dismantle terrorist networks by targeting their financing and support systems, countering their propaganda, preventing their travel, as well as disrupting imminent attacks.

MORE: Muslim Americans confront legacy of 9/11 Islamophobia: 'Unspoken tragedy'

We'll meet terrorist threats that arise today and in the future with a full range of tools available to us, including working in cooperation with local partners so that we need not be so reliant on large-scale military deployments.

One of the most important ways we can effectively enhance security and reduce violence is by seeking to improve the lives of the people all over the world who see that their governments are not serving their needs.

Corruption fuels inequality, siphons off a nation's resources, spreads across borders and generates human suffering. It is nothing less than a national security threat in the 21st century.

Around the world, we're increasingly seeing citizens demonstrate their discontent seeing the wealthy and well-connected grow richer and richer, taking payoffs and bribes, operating above the law while the vast majority of the people struggle to find a job or put food on the table or to get their business off the ground or simply send their children to school.

People have taken to the streets in every region to demand that their governments address peoples' basic needs, give everyone a fair shot to succeed, and protect their God-given rights.

And in that chorus of voices across languages and continents, we hear a common cry: a cry for dignity — simple dignity. As leaders, it is our duty to answer that call, not to silence it.

The United States is committed to using our resources and our international platform to support these voices, listen to them, partner with them to find ways to respond that advance human dignity around the world.

For example, there is an enormous need for infrastructure in developing countries, but infrastructure that is low-quality or that feeds corruption or exacerbates environmental degradation may only end up contributing to greater challenges for countries over time.

Done the right way, however, with transparent, sustainable investment in projects that respond to the country's needs and engage their local workers to maintain high labor and environmental standards, infrastructure can be a strong foundation that allows societies in low- and middle-income countries to grow and to prosper.

That's the idea behind the Build Back Better World."

And together with the private sector and our G7 partners, we aim to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.

We'll also continue to be the world's largest contributor to humanitarian assistance, bringing food, water, shelter, emergency healthcare and other vital, lifesaving aid to millions of people in need.

When the earthquake strikes, a typhoon rages or a disaster anywhere in the world, the United States shows up. We'll be ready to help.

And at a time when nearly one in three people globally do not have access to adequate food — adequate food, just last year — the United States is committing to rallying our partners to address immediate malnutrition and to ensure that we can sustainably feed the world for decades to come.

To that end, the United States is making a $10 billion commitment to end hunger and invest in food systems at home and abroad.

Since 2000, the United States government has provided more than $140 billion to advance health and strengthen health systems, and we will continue our leadership to drive these vital investments to make peoples' lives better every single day. Just give them a little breathing room.

And as we strive to make lives better, we must work with renewed purpose to end the conflicts that are driving so much pain and hurt around the world.

We must redouble our diplomacy and commit to political negotiations, not violence, as the tool of first resort to manage tensions around the world.

We must seek a future of greater peace and security for all the people of the Middle East.

The commitment of the United States to Israel's security is without question. And our support for an independent, Jewish state is unequivocal.

But I continue to believe that a two-state solution is the best way to ensure Israel's future as a Jewish, democratic state living in peace alongside a viable, sovereign and democratic Palestinian state.

We're a long way from that goal at this moment, but we must never allow ourselves to give up on the possibility of progress.

We cannot give up on solving raging civil conflicts, including in Ethiopia and Yemen, where fighting between warring parties is driving famine, horrific violence, human rights violations against civilians, including the unconscionable use of rape as a weapon of war.

We will continue to work with the international community to press for peace and bring an end to this suffering.

As we pursue diplomacy across the board, the United States will champion the democratic values that go to the very heart of who we are as a nation and a people: freedom, equality, opportunity and a belief in the universal rights of all people.

It's stamped into our DNA as a nation. And critically, it's stamped into the DNA of this institution — the United States [Nations]. We sometimes forget.

I quote the opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, quote: "The equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world."

The founding ethos of the United Nations places the rights of individuals at the center of our system, and that clarity and vision must not be ignored or misinterpreted.

The United States will do our part, but we will be more successful and more impactful if all of our nations are working toward the full mission to which we are called.

That's why more than 100 nations united around a shared statement and the Security Council adopted a resolution outlining how we'll support the people of Afghanistan moving forward, laying out the expectations to which we will hold the Taliban when it comes to respecting universal human rights.

We all must advocate for the rights of women and girls to use their full talents to contribute economically, politically and socially and pursue their dreams free of violence and intimidation — from Central America to the Middle East, to Africa, to Afghanistan — wherever it appears in the world.

We all must call out and condemn the targeting and oppression of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities when it occurs in — whether it occurs in Xinjiang or northern Ethiopia or anywhere in the world.

We all must defend the rights of LGBTQI individuals so they can live and love openly without fear, whether it's Chechnya or Cameroon or anywhere.

As we steer our — steer our nations toward this inflection point and work to meet today's fast-moving, cross-cutting challenges, let me be clear: I am not agnostic about the future we want for the world.

The future will belong to those who embrace human dignity, not trample it.

The future will belong to those who unleash the potential of their people, not those who stifle it.

The future will belong to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand.

Authoritarianism — the authoritarianism of the world may seek to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they're wrong.

The truth is: The democratic world is everywhere. It lives in the anti-corruption activists, the human rights defenders, the journalists, the peace protestors on the frontlines of this struggle in Belarus, Burma, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela and everywhere in between.

It lives in the brave women of Sudan who withstood violence and oppression to push a genocidal dictator from power and who keep working every day to defend their democratic progress.

It lives in the proud Moldovans who helped deliver a landslide victory for the forces of democracy, with a mandate to fight graft, to build a more inclusive economy.

It lives in the young people of Zambia who harnessed the power of their vote for the first time, turning out in record numbers to denounce corruption and chart a new path for their country.

And while no democracy is perfect, including the United States — who will continue to struggle to live up to the highest ideals to heal our divisions, and we face down violence and insurrection — democracy remains the best tool we have to unleash our full human potential.

My fellow leaders, this is a moment where we must prove ourselves the equals of those who have come before us, who with vision and values and determined faith in our collective future built our United Nations, broke the cycle of war and destruction and laid the foundations for more than seven decades of relative peace and growing global prosperity.

Now, we must again come together to affirm the inherent humanity that unites us is much greater than any outward divisions or disagreements.

We must choose to do more than we think we can do alone so that we accomplish what we must, together: ending this pandemic and making sure we're better prepared for the next one; staving off climactic climate change and increasing our resilience to the impacts we already are seeing; ensuring a future where technologies are a vital tool to solving human challenges and empowering human potential, not a source of greater strife and repression.

These are the challenges that will determine what the world looks like for our children and our grandchildren, and what they'll inherit. We can only meet them by looking to the future.

I stand here today, for the first time in 20 years, with the United States not at war. We've turned the page.

All the unmatched strength, energy, commitment, will and resources of our nation are now fully and squarely focused on what's ahead of us, not what was behind.

I know this: As we look ahead, we will lead. We will lead on all the greatest challenges of our time — from COVID to climate, peace and security, human dignity and human rights. But we will not go it alone.

We will lead together with our allies and partners and in cooperation with all those who believe, as we do, that this is within our power to meet these challenges, to build a future that lifts all of our people and preserves this planet.

But none of this is inevitable; it's a choice. And I can tell you where America stands: We will choose to build a better future. We — you and I — we have the will and capacity to make it better.

Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to waste any more time. Let's get to work. Let's make our better future now.

We can do this. It's within our power and capacity.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

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The full text of Donald Trump's inauguration speech

The president spoke of ‘American carnage’ and painted a dark picture of the US, and calls for ‘total allegiance to the United States of America’

• Trump’s speech – what you need to know

Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans, and people of the world: thank you.

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people.

Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come.

We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done.

Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you.

Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington DC and giving it back to you, the people.

For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.

Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.

Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.

It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America.

This is your day. This is your celebration.

And this, the United States of America, is your country.

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

January 20, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.

The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

Everyone is listening to you now.

You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.

At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens.

Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.

These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public.

But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.

The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.

For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; we’ve defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own; and spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.

We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.

One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind.

The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.

But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.

We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.

From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.

From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first.

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families.

We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.

I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.

America will start winning again, winning like never before.

We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.

We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.

We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.

We will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American.

We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.

We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.

We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth.

At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.

When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.

The Bible tells us: “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”

We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.

When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.

There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.

We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God.

Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger.

In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving.

We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.

The time for empty talk is over.

Now arrives the hour of action.

Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.

We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again.

We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.

A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights, and heal our divisions.

It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag.

And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.

So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words:

You will never be ignored again.

Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.

Together, we will make America strong again.

We will make America wealthy again.

We will make America proud again.

We will make America safe again.

And, yes, together, we will make America great again. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

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UN General Assembly kicks off in New York City

By Meg Wagner , Melissa Macaya, Melissa Mahtani and Veronica Rocha , CNN

Here's a preview of Biden's first UNGA speech as President, according to the White House

From CNN's Maegan Vazquez

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday offered a broad preview of President Biden’s upcoming speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Psaki was asked by CNN how the President plans to restore credibility at the UN this week.

She said the audience will hear him "lay out the case for why the next decade will determine our future, not just for the United States, but for the global community. And he will talk – and this will be a central part of his remarks – about the importance of reestablishing our alliances over the last several years,” Psaki said.

She argued that reestablishing those alliances “doesn’t mean that you won’t have disagreements.”

The goal of reestablishing those alliances, Psaki added, is “increasing the prospect of security and diminishing the prospect of war.”

“He’ll also make clear that for many of the greatest concerns we have, they cannot be solved or even addressed with the force of arms, whether that is preparing for the next pandemic … addressing the threat of climate change … leveling the economic playing field, fighting for democracy at home and abroad, and against threats ranging from cyber security to emerging technologies to terrorism. Finally, he will also reaffirm that the United States is not turning inward,” she continued, specifically pointing to the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. 

Psaki added that the President “will talk about his objective of turning our focus and our resources to the priorities in regions of the world that are most consequential.”

Responding to CNN’s question about restoring credibility, she later asserted that “criticism of a decision is different from criticism of the credibility in leadership of the United States, broadly speaking.”

“We are committed to those alliances, and that always requires work, from every president, from every global leader, and his commitment is to make sure we are directing our energy, our resources and our efforts on the biggest challenges we’re facing in the world,” Psaki said.

Covid-19 will be an issue at UNGA in more ways than one

From CNN's Caitlin Hu

The United Nations General Assembly has not exactly gotten off to a unified start.

Despite a letter from the US encouraging member states to call in virtually and help avoid creating "a super spreader event," the speaker schedule for the General Debate — which begins on Tuesday — shows more than 100 heads of state and government coming in person, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and US President Biden.

Even Korean pop icons BTS are flaunting the advice to stay home, with the boy band booked to make an appearance at the United Nations headquarters on Monday.

New York City requires  proof of Covid-19 vaccination for indoor gatherings  — a rule local authorities have asked the UN to follow. To facilitate compliance, a one-shot vaccination station will even be set up on-site. But visiting dignitaries are not proving entirely cooperative.

Brazil and Russia are already giving their local hosts a poke in the eye, vocally rejecting the health requirement. "We strongly object that only people with a proof of vaccination should be admitted to the GA hall," wrote Russia's UN representative Vassily Nebenzia in a letter to the organization, according to  state news agency TASS . Nebenzia also noted that not all countries use the vaccines approved in New York.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro threw down the gauntlet on social media, declaring point-blank on Thursday that he would not get vaccinated before the General Debate. He is due to address the assembly in person on Tuesday morning, in Brazil's traditional role as the first speaker.

The UN has said it trusts in a vaccination "honor system."

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U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield gives powerful speech at U.N.: "I know the ugly face of racism"

By Pamela Falk

Updated on: March 21, 2021 / 12:32 PM EDT / CBS News

United Nations —  The Biden administration's U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield gave a stirring and deeply personal address to world leaders at U.N. Headquarters on Friday during a session on the "elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," recounting troubling chapters from her own life story.

"I am a descendant of slaves. My great grandmother Mary Thomas, born in 1865, was the child of a slave. That is just three generations back from me," she said.

"I grew up in the segregated South. I was bussed to a segregated school and on weekends, the Ku Klux Klan burned crosses on lawns in our neighborhood. When I was in high school, I was asked by a little girl, for whom I babysat, if I was an N-word because her dad had used the word for me."

Thomas-Greenfield, speaking to the U.N. General Assembly on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, told the assembled leaders: "I know the ugly face of racism. I lived racism. I have experienced racism. And I survived racism."

Let us expose the racism and racial discrimination endemic to every society around the globe. Let us press forward to root out that discrimination and remove the rot from our foundations. And let us leave our children a less hateful, more hopeful world. pic.twitter.com/mei64aBMNK — Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) March 19, 2021

She called on all countries to "ratify and implement the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination," and said that on the day "dedicated to ending racial discrimination, as our flags fly at half-staff, let us leave our children a less hateful, more hopeful world."

"Let us give them a future. A future without fear. A future without violence. That is the legacy that I hope they can inherit," she said, delivering her strong remarks in person as socially-distant diplomats listened intently.

"Diplomats aren't used to hearing personal stories in official settings and Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield gave a moving speech that was all the more powerful because it drew on her personal experience," Jamaica's U.N. Ambassador Courtenay Rattray, who was in the General Assembly Hall for her talk, told CBS News. 

"I thought of the words of Jamaica's Bob Marley while listening to her: 'Who feels it, knows it,'" Rattray said.

Thomas-Greenfield told the Senate during her confirmation hearings that she intended to highlight issues of diversity and racial discrimination when she took on the job. She said that the U.S. leadership at the U.N. "must be rooted in our core values: support for democracy, respect for universal human rights, and the promotion of peace and security." And she  made clear during the early days of the Biden presidency that she would "focus on helping to restore trust and professionalism to the State Department, with a particular focus on diversity ."

"The FBI has reported a spike in hate crimes over the past three years—particularly against Latino Americans, Sikhs, Muslim Americans, Jewish Americans, and immigrants," she said in her speech Friday. "The most recent data shows hate crimes rising to a level not seen in over a decade. And that doesn't capture the bullying, discrimination, brutality, and violence that Asian Americans have faced since the outbreak of COVID-19 ."

To diplomats who often hear envoys lavish sometimes exaggerated praise on their nations, she was unusually frank: "As the scholar Isabel Wilkerson argues, humans in all contexts have ranked human value, pitting the presumed supremacy of one group against the presumed inferiority of others. In America, that takes many forms. Chief among them: our legacy of white supremacy," she said. 

"This year, the senseless killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many other Black Americans sparked a reckoning with racial justice , a movement that spread across the world: Black Lives Matter ," she continued.

"And because Black Lives Matter, we need to dismantle white supremacy at every turn."

Thomas-Greenfield outlined the first two months of the Biden administration's actions as she spoke to delegates focused on racism. She said the administration's priorities included redressing racial discrimination in housing; ending private prisons that warehouse young Black and brown men; respecting the sovereignty of Native American tribes; and combatting xenophobia and discrimination against Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders.

"The Biden-Harris administration also recognizes how the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis has been disproportionately damaging to members of racial and ethnic minorities," she said. "So we have taken steps, like providing emergency relief funds, increasing access to nutritious food, and pausing federal student loan payments, that we know will particularly help Black and brown communities."

Turning to the world, Thomas-Greenfield said, "For millions, it's more than a challenge. It's deadly."

"Like in Burma, where Rohingya and others have been oppressed, abused, and killed in staggering numbers. Or in China, where the government has committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang," she said focusing on the human rights violations in Myanmar (also known as Burma) and China.

As the meeting in the General Assembly hall began to wrap up, China's deputy Ambassador Dai Bing took the floor, calling the U.S. accusation of "genocide" a "lie" and "absurd." He said the U.S. "should do some soul searching, and reflect upon their history of colonization and aggression, and on the profound suffering inflicted on the populations of the countries colonized and invaded by them." 

Still, Thomas-Greenfield offered a positive message for the future. "So let me be clear: I remain hopeful," she said. "I am hopeful because I have seen how communities and countries can enact change. And I have experienced that progress in my own lifetime."

She ended with a plea: "Let us expose the racism and racial discrimination endemic to every society, around the globe. Let us press forward, to root out that discrimination and remove the rot from our foundations."

• United Nations

Pamela Falk is the CBS News correspondent covering the United Nations, and an international lawyer.

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Transcript: Greta Thunberg's Speech At The U.N. Climate Action Summit

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, 16, addressed the U.N.'s Climate Action Summit in New York City on Monday. Here's the full transcript of Thunberg's speech, beginning with her response to a question about the message she has for world leaders.

"My message is that we'll be watching you.

"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!

'This Is All Wrong,' Greta Thunberg Tells World Leaders At U.N. Climate Session

"For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.

"You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.

"The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in 10 years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees [Celsius], and the risk of setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control.

"Fifty percent may be acceptable to you. But those numbers do not include tipping points, most feedback loops, additional warming hidden by toxic air pollution or the aspects of equity and climate justice. They also rely on my generation sucking hundreds of billions of tons of your CO2 out of the air with technologies that barely exist.

"So a 50% risk is simply not acceptable to us — we who have to live with the consequences.

"To have a 67% chance of staying below a 1.5 degrees global temperature rise – the best odds given by the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] – the world had 420 gigatons of CO2 left to emit back on Jan. 1st, 2018. Today that figure is already down to less than 350 gigatons.

"How dare you pretend that this can be solved with just 'business as usual' and some technical solutions? With today's emissions levels, that remaining CO2 budget will be entirely gone within less than 8 1/2 years.

"There will not be any solutions or plans presented in line with these figures here today, because these numbers are too uncomfortable. And you are still not mature enough to tell it like it is.

"You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.

"We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.

"Thank you."

• greta thunberg
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7 Powerful Speeches from the UN General Assembly

By Rajesh Mirchandani on October 2, 2019

Let’s face it, many speeches from world leaders at the 2019 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) probably will not make the history books. But the inspiring oratory of many other attendees will and should.

Across the week, inside the UN and outside, a huge and diverse array of speakers proved themselves to be leaders. From the gut-wrenching passion of ‘how dare you,’ to a surprisingly personal moment from a Prime Minister, to impassioned arguments about the ecological expertise of indigenous communities, here are seven speeches that moved and mobilized us. We know there are many others, but want to share these with you.

(Note: We’ve edited some for length and clarity, and provided a link in case you want to watch the whole thing – they’re worth it!)

Youth Climate Activist Bruno Rodriguez: ‘Power will cede nothing without struggle’

Bruno Rodriguez, a 19-year-old Argentine climate activist from the group  Jovenes por el clima Argentina , was one of the first speakers at the Youth Climate Summit, inspiring and demanding action:

“Power will cede nothing without struggle, and that is why we decided to fight in the streets, alongside the working-class people of our country and marginalized communities. … Many times, we hear that our generation is going to be the one dealing with the problems that current leaders have created. We will not wait passively to become that future.

“The time is now for us to be leaders and that is why we are here: to lead. My message to the Secretary-General is simple: Let’s stop demanding world leaders listen to science. Let’s start demanding them to act on science!”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres: ‘We, the leaders, must deliver for we, the peoples’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered a powerful speech to world leaders in the main hall of the General Assembly. He gave a stirring defense of the need for international cooperation to solve our shared challenges, and he reminded world leaders why they are in power in the first place:

“We are living in a world of disquiet. A great many people fear getting trampled, thwarted, left behind. Machines take their jobs. Traffickers take their dignity. Demagogues take their rights. Warlords take their lives. Fossil fuels take their future.

“And yet people believe in the spirit and ideas that bring us to this hall. They believe in the United Nations. But do they believe in us? Do they believe as leaders, we will put people first? Because we, the leaders, must deliver for we, the peoples.”

Indigenous Climate Activists: ‘Don’t talk about the future of us without us.’

At the Social Good Summit, indigenous climate activists stated simply but forcefully that traditional communities possess deep-seated knowledge of how to protect the natural world – and should be listened to.

The speakers included Amy Cordalis, General Counsel for the Yurok tribe of Northern California, and Hindou Oumar Ibrahim, a UN SDG Advocate and member of a nomadic tribe from Lake Chad, 90% of whose waters have evaporated in the past decades, even though 30 million people subsist on its shores. Their logic is simple; their loss tragic.

Amy: “In the Yurok creation story…the creator made the land and the waste and the animals, and the plants, and then made humans. And told the people if you live in balance with all of this you will never want for anything. And for thousands and thousands of years, that’s how Yurok people lived. …

“With that great privilege of being close to the land and benefiting from the land, we also have an obligation to protect the land, and to see the land as a part of ourselves. … [That’s when] you realize that if you use that plastic bottle, if you pollute, if you use that toxic chemical, if you consume, consume, consume, your actions are actually harming yourself.”

Hindou: “In all developed countries, when you wake up in the morning, you check your phone to see the weather forecast. If it’s going to be cold, you have your jacket; rainy, you have an umbrella; sunny, sunglasses. Let me give you my grandmother’s app. She observes trees, she observes cloud movement, wind directions, and she can tell you if it’s going to rain in the next couple of hours. She can predict for you if the next year is going to be a good year, like a rainy season or not, because her life depends on it.

“The food that she gives to her children depends on this season. … She has to look to the environment to give her the information so she can predict the health of her family. So my grandmother is better than the app that we have. An indigenous grandmother does not need electricity, she doesn’t need the internet, but she can tell you exactly. Why? Because she lives in harmony with Mother Earth. Indigenous peoples can help in the climate movement, but we need to be at the table to take decisions. Don’t talk about the future of us without us.”

World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: ‘Our vision is not health for some’  

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reminded leaders gathered at the summit on Universal Health Coverage that, through the Sustainable Development Goals, they all signed up to provide affordable health care for everyone, everywhere:

“Ultimately health is a political choice. A choice that you have the power to make. WHO is committed to supporting every country’s transition to a health system based on strong primary health care…a world in which health is not a cost but an investment, a world in which health propels sustainable development, a world in which all of us enjoy the health we deserve.

“Our vision is not health for some. It’s not health for most. It’s health for all. Poor and rich. Able and disabled. Old and young. Urban and rural. Citizen and refugee. Everyone everywhere. Because health is an end in itself, because it’s a fundamental right and also a means to prosperity.”

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel: ‘Homosexuality is not a choice’

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel spent much of his General Assembly speech laying out the country’s commitment to tackling climate change and to being carbon neutral by 2050, as well as his country’s support for international cooperation across issues including the Iran nuclear deal, migration, gender-based violence, and conflict and human rights.

But it was his comments on equality that win him a spot on our list, especially as Prime Minister Bettel is the first openly gay national leader to address LGBTQ rights at the UN General Assembly. He said:

“In 2020, we will mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing conference, which set up the Commission on the Status of Women, the CSW. I’m asking myself whether in today’s world we’d be able to re-sign that convention…particularly when listen to the words coming from some quarters with regards to the rights of women.

“You can make the same charge about the rights of people to freely live out the expression of their sexual orientation. The day before yesterday here in New York I headlined a debate about hate speech targeting LGBTI people. As we are all aware, or we ought to be aware, homosexuality is not a choice. Let it be accepted that this is how people are. What is a choice is homophobia, and we should not tolerate it.”

Founder of SheSays Trisha Shetty: ‘We’re laughing to make sense of this madness’

2020 marks one third of the way through the 15-year timeline to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, and as a recent UN report underlines, there has been some progress but we remain off track to meet the global goals. We have a decade to deliver for people and planet.

The UN Foundation is working with several other organizations to make 2020 a super year of activism and to build the biggest coalition to demand, implement, and accelerate action to kickstart the final decade of delivery. During the UN General Assembly, we and our partners hosted an event at the UN to announce our efforts – stay tuned for more on that.

Opening that event, Trisha Shetty, Indian activist and founder of SheSays, which works to stop gender discrimination in India, transported us to her country to remind us why we must do more to reach those left furthest behind:

“A few months ago, I was in Assam, a state up northeast in India, doing a field trip, going from village to village. …. [I went] to meet women in those communities, to understand their challenges, and how they are hustling to get stuff done. Most of these women live below the poverty line, barely making a few cents a day, complaining about how a lot of the men are prone to alcohol addiction, not carrying their weight.

“They told me a story. They have one ambulance there. And every time someone is sick, they put the person in the ambulance. But the ambulance is barely functioning, and the roads are terrible. So what they do is they put the person in the ambulance and then 10 people surround the ambulance and physically push the ambulance with the hope that the ambulance will kickstart and get the person to the hospital. And they all laughed. And I laughed. And it took me a minute to realize we’re laughing to make sense of this madness.

“The reason I am sharing this with you is I want you to for a brief minute think of your community, think of your people, because those are my people. I made a commitment to them, to make sure their struggles are heard, to make sure they have access to their fundamental rights. Because currently they are being deprived of access to their fundamental rights.”

Youth Climate Activist Greta Thunberg: ‘How dare you?’

We saved Greta Thunberg’s powerful speech for last because it seemed to underline the anger, passion, and urgency of many other speakers throughout the week, and because a movement is about more than one person – and we think she would agree. At the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, Greta’s powerful admonition to world leaders started with a promise – and a warning: “We are watching.”

“How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. …You are still not mature enough to tell it like it is. You are failing us. But young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you and if you choose to fail us, I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with us.

“Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up and change is coming whether you like it or not.”

Related Articles

5 Ways Leaders Boosted Momentum at the UN Climate Action Summit

By Chandler Green September 30, 2019

Health Care on the Global Agenda: Highlights from the Universal Health Coverage Meeting at the UN General Assembly

By Rachel Bridges September 30, 2019

3 Key Takeaways from the Sustainable Development Goals Summit

By Jenni Lee October 1, 2019

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• Read the full text of Trump’s State of the Union speech

President Donald Trump addressed Congress Tuesday night for his first State of the Union address.

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President Donald Trump addressed Congress Tuesday night for his first State of the Union address. It was the third-longest State of the Union in history, coming in at an hour and 21 minutes.

A rush transcript of the president’s remarks follows.

Less than one year has passed since I first stood at this podium, in this majestic chamber, to speak on behalf of the American people and to address their concerns, their hopes, and their dreams. That night, our new administration had already taken very swift action. A new tide of optimism was already sweeping across our land. Each day since, we have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission, to make America great again for all Americans.

Over the last year, we have made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success. We have faced challenges we expected and others we could have never imagined. We have shared in the heights of victory and the pains of hardship. We have endured floods and fires and storms. But through it all, we have seen the beauty of America’s soul and the steel in America’s spine. Each test forged new American heroes to remind us who we are and show us what we can be.

We saw the volunteers of the Cajun Navy racing to the rescue with their fishing boats to save people in the aftermath of a totally devastating hurricane. We saw strangers shielding strangers from a hail of gunfire on the Las Vegas strip. We heard tales of Americans, like Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashlee Leppert, who is here tonight in the gallery, with Melania.

Ashlee was aboard one of the first helicopters in the scene used for Hurricane Harvey. 18 hours of wind and rain, Ashlee braved power lines — downed power lines and deep water to save 40 lives. Ashlee, we all thank you. Thank you very much.

We heard about Americans like firefighter David Dahlberg. He is here with us also. David faced down walls of flame to rescue almost 60 children trapped in a California summer camp, threatened by those devastating wildfires. To everyone still recovering in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, everywhere, we are with you, we love you, and we always will pull through together, always.

Thank you to David and the brave people of California. Thank you very much, David. Great job. Some trials over the past year touched this chamber very personally. With us tonight is one of the toughest people ever to serve in this house, a guy who took a bullet, almost died, and was back to work three and a half months later. The legend from Louisiana, Congressman Steve Scalise.

I think they like you, Steve.

We are incredibly grateful for the heroic efforts of the capitol police officers, the Alexandria police, and the doctors, nurses, and paramedics who saved his life and the lives of many others and some in this room — of many others, some in this room.

In the aftermath of that terrible shooting we came together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people. But it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy. Tonight, I call on all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people. This is really the key. These are the people we are elected to serve.

Over the last year, the world has seen what we always know. That no people on Earth are so fearless or daring or determined as Americans. If there is a mountain, we climb it. If there is a frontier, we cross it. If there is a challenge, we tame it. If there is an opportunity, we seize it. Let’s begin tonight by recognizing that the state of our union is strong, because our people are strong.

And together we are building a safe, strong, and proud America. Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone. Tremendous.

After years and years of wages stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages.

Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low.

And something I am very proud of: African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded. And Hispanic-American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history. Small business confidence is at an all-time high. The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining a trillion dollars and more in value in just this short period of time.

The great news for Americans: 401(k) retirement, pension, and college savings accounts have gone through the roof. And just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history.

Our massive tax cuts provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small businesses to lower tax rates for hard-working Americans. We nearly doubled the standard deduction for everyone.

Now, the first $24,000 earned by a married couple is completely tax-free. We also doubled the child tax credit. A typical family of four making $75,000 will see their tax bill reduced by $2,000, slashing their tax bill in half.

In April, this will be the last time you will ever file under the old and very broken system. And millions of Americans will have more take-home pay, starting next month. A lot more.

We eliminated an especially — an especially cruel tax on Americans making less than $50,000 a year, forcing them to pay tremendous penalties, simply because they could not afford government-ordered health plans. We repealed the core of the disastrous Obamacare, the individual mandate is now gone. Thank you.

We slashed the business tax rate from 35 percent, all the way down to 20 — 21 percent. So American companies can compete against anyone, anywhere else in the world. These changes alone are estimated to increase average family income by more than $4,000, a lot of money.

Small businesses have also received a massive tax cut, and can now deduct 20 percent of their business income. Here tonight are Steve Staub and Sandy Keplinger of Staub Manufacturing, a small, beautiful business in Ohio. They have just finished their best year in their 20-year history.

Because of tax reform, they are handing out raises, hiring an additional 14 people, and expanding into the building next door. One of Staub’s employees, Corey Adams, is also with us tonight.

Corey is an all-american worker. He supported himself through high school, lost his job during the 2008 recession, and was later hired by Staub, where he trained to become a welder. Like many hard-working Americans, Corey plans to invest his tax cuts into his new home and his two daughters’ education. Corey, please stand. And he is a great welder.

This, in fact, is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream. So to every citizen watching at home tonight, no matter where you have been or where you have come from, this is your time. If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, be anything. And together, we can achieve absolutely anything.

Tonight I want to talk about what kind of future we are going to have, and what kind of a nation we are going to be. All of us, together, as one team, one people, and one American family, can do anything. We all share the same home, the same heart, the same destiny, and the same great American flag.

Together, we are rediscovering the American way. In America, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of American life.

The motto is, in God we trust. And we celebrate our beliefs, — our police, our military, and veterans as heroes who deserve our total and unwavering support.

Here tonight is Preston Sharp, a 12-year-old boy from Redding, California, who noticed veterans’ graves were not decorated with flags on veterans day. He decided to change that and has started a movement which has now placed 40,000 flags at the graves of our great heroes. Preston, a job well done. Young patriots like Preston teach all of us about our civic duty as Americans.

I met Preston a little while ago and he is something very special, that I can tell you. Great future. Thank you, Preston. Thank you, very much. Preston’s reverence for those who have served our nation remind us why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the Pledge of Allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem.

Americans love their country, and they deserve a government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return. For the last year, we have thought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their government. Working with the Senate, we are appointing judges who will interpret the Constitution as written, including a great new Supreme Court justice, and more circuit court judges, than any new administration in the history of our country.

We are totally defending our Second Amendment and have taken historic actions to protect religious liberty.

And we are serving our brave of veterans, including giving our veterans choice in their health care decisions. Last year, Congress also passed, and I signed, the landmark VA Accountability act.

Since its passage, my administration has already moved more than 1,500 VA employees who fail to give our veterans the care they deserve. And we are hiring people who love our vets as much as we do. And I will not stop until our veterans are properly taken care of. Which has been my promise to them from the very beginning of this great journey. All Americans deserve accountability and respect. And that is what we are giving to our wonderful heroes, our veterans.

So tonight I call on Congress to empower every Cabinet secretary with the authority to reward good workers and to remove federal employees who undermine the public trust, or fail the American people.

In our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in the history of our country.

We have ended the war on American energy. And we have ended the war on beautiful, clean coal. We are now very proudly and exporter of energy to the world. In Detroit, I halted government mandates that crippled American’s great workers, so we can get motor city revving its engines again. And that is what is happening.

Many car companies are now building and expanding plans in the United States, something we have not seen in decades. Chrysler is moving a major plant from Mexico to Michigan. Toyota and Mazda are opening up a plant in Alabama, a big one. And we have not seen this in a long time. It is all coming back.

Very soon, auto plants and other plants will be opening up all over our country. This is all news Americans are totally unaccustomed to hearing. For many years, companies and jobs were only leaving us. But now, they are roaring back, they are coming back, they want to be where the action is. They want to be in the United States of America. That is where they want to go. Exciting progress is happening every single day.

To speed access to breakthroughs, cures, and affordable generic drugs, last year, the FDA approved more new and generic drugs and medical devices than ever before in our country’s history.

We also believe that patients with terminal conditions, terminal illnesses, should have access to experimental treatment immediately that could essentially save their lives. People who are terminally ill should not have to go from country to country to seek a cure. I want to give them a chance right here at home. It is time for Congress to give these wonderful, incredible Americans the right to try.

One of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs. In many other countries, these drugs cost far less than what we pay in the United States. And it is very, very unfair. That is why I directed my administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of my top priorities for the year.

And prices will come down substantially. Watch. America has also finally turned a page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs, and our wealth. Our nation has lost its wealth, but we are getting it back so fast. The era of economic surrender is over.

From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair. And very importantly, reciprocal. We will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones. And they will be good ones. But they will be fair. And we will protect American workers and American intellectual property, through strong enforcement of our trade rules.

As we rebuild our industries, it is also time to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.

I am asking both parties to come together to give us safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure that our economy needs and our people deserve.

Tonight, I am calling on Congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs. Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments, and, where appropriate, tapping into private sector investment, to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit. And we can do it.

Any bill must also streamline the permitting process, getting it down to no more than two years, and perhaps, even one. Together, we can reclaim our great building heritage.

We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways and waterways all across our land. And we will do it with American heart, American hands, and American grit.

We want every American to know the dignity of a hard day’s work. We want every child to be safe in their home and night. And we want every citizen to be proud of this land that we all love so much. We can lift our citizens from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity.

As tax cuts create new jobs, let’s invest in workforce development, and let’s invest in job training, which we need so badly. Let’s open great vocational schools, so our future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential.

And let’s support working families by supporting paid family leave.

As America regains its strength, opportunity must be extended to all citizens. That is why this year we will embark on reforming our prisons, to help former inmates who have served their time get a second chance at life.

Struggling communities, especially immigrant communities, will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families.

For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They have allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against of the poorest Americans. Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives. Here tonight are two fathers and two mothers, Evelyn Rodriguez, Freddy Cuevas, Elizabeth Alvarado, and Robert Mickens. Their two teenage daughters, Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, were close friends on Rhode Island. But in December, 2016, on the eve of Nisa’s 16th birthday, such a happy time it should have been, neither of them came home.

These two precious girls were murdered — brutally murdered while walking together in their hometown. Six members of the savage MS-13 gang have been charged with Kayla and Nisa’s murders. Many of these gang members took advantage of glaring loopholes and our laws to enter the country as illegal, unaccompanied, alien minors. And wound up in Kayla and Nisa’s high school. Evelyn, Freddy, Elizabeth, and Robert. Everyone stands, we are grieving with you.

Thank you very much.

I want you to know that 320 million hearts are right now breaking for you. We cannot imagine the depths of that kind of sorrow.

We can make sure other families do not have to endure this kind of pain. Tonight I am calling on Congress to finally close the deadly loopholes that have allowed MS-13 and other criminal gangs to break into our country. We have proposed new legislation that will fix our immigration laws and support our ICE and border patrol agents. These are great people, these are great, great people who work so hard in the midst of such danger, so that this can never happen again. The United States is a compassionate nation.

We are proud that we do more than any other country, anywhere in the world, to help the needy, the struggling, and the underprivileged, all over the world. But as president of the United States, my highest loyalty, my greatest compassion, my constant concern, is for America’s children, America’s struggling workers, and America’s forgotten communities. I want our youth to grow up to achieve great things. I want our poor to have their chance to rise. So tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion and creed.

My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans, to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American dream. Because Americans are dreamers, too. Here tonight is one leader in the effort to defend our country, homeland security investigation special agent, Celestino Martinez.

He goes by DJ and CJ. He says, call me either one. We will go by CJ. Years in the air force before becoming an ICE agent, and facing gang violence in dangerous criminals, getting them off our streets. Tough job. At one point, MS-13 leaders ordered CJ’s murder, and they wanted it to happen quickly. But he did not cave to threats or to fear. Last May, he commanded an operation to track down again members in Long Island. His team has arrested nearly 400, including nearly 220 MS-13 gang members. And I have to tell you, what the border patrol and ICE have done, we have sent thousands and thousands and thousands of MS-13 horrible people out of this country, or into our prisons. So I just want to congratulate you, CJ. You are a brave guy. Thank you very much.

And I asked CJ, “What is the secret?” He just said, “We are tougher than they are.” And I like that answer. Now, let’s get Congress to send you and all of the people in this great chamber — we have to do it, we have no choice. CJ, we are going to send you reinforcements, and we are going to send them to you quickly. It is what you need.

Over the next few weeks, the House and Senate will be voting on an immigration reform package. In recent months, my administration has met extensively with both Democrats and Republicans to craft a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. Based on these discussions, we presented Congress with a detailed proposal that should be supported by both parties as a fair compromise. One where nobody gets everything they want, but where our country gets the critical reforms it needs and must have.

Here are the four pillars of our plan. The first pillar of our framework generously offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age. That covers almost three times more people than the previous administration covered.

Under our plan, those who meet education and work requirements, and show good moral character, will be able to become a full citizens of the United States over a 12-year period.

The second pillar fully secures the border. That means building a great wall on the Southern border, and it means hiring more heroes like CJ to keep our communities safe.

Crucially, our plan closes the terrible loopholes exploited by criminals and terrorists to enter our country. And it finally ends the horrible and dangerous practice of catch and release.

The third pillar ends the visa lottery, a program that randomly hands out green cards without regard for skill, merit, for the safety of American people.

Time to begin moving toward a merit-based immigration system. One that admits people who are skilled. Who want to work. Who will contribute to our society. And who will love and respect our country.

The fourth and final pillar protects the nuclear family by ending chain migration. Under the current, broken system, a single immigrant can bring in unlimited numbers of distant relatives. Under our plan we focus on the immediate family by eliminating sponsorships — by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children.

This vital reform is necessary not just for our economy, but for our security and the future of America. In recent weeks, two terrorist attacks in New York were a possible by the visa lottery and chain migration.

In the age of terrorism, these programs present risks we can just no longer afford — no longer afford. It is time for reform. These outdated immigration rules can finally bring our immigration system into the 21st century.

These four pillars represent a down-the-middle compromise, and one that will create a safe, modern, and lawful immigration system. For over 30 years, Washington has tried and failed to solve this problem. This Congress can be the one that finally makes it happen. Most importantly, these four pillars will produce legislation that fulfills my ironclad pledge to sign a bill that puts America first.

So let’s come together, that politics aside, and finally get the job done. These reforms will also support our response to the terrible crisis of opioid and drug addiction. Never before has it been like it is now. It is terrible. We have to do something about it.

In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses. 174 deaths per day. Seven per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge.

My administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need. For those who have been so terribly hurt, the struggle will be long and it will be difficult. As Americans always do, in the end we will succeed. We will prevail.

As we have seen tonight, the most difficult challenges bring out the best in America. We see a vivid expression of this in the story of the family of new Mexico. Ryan is 27 years old. An officer with the Albuquerque police department. He is here tonight with his wife, Rebecca.

In that moment, Ryan said he felt God speak to him: “You will do it — because you can.” He took out a picture of his wife and their four kids. Then, he went home to tell his wife Rebecca. In an instant, she agreed to adopt. The Holets named their new daughter Hope. Ryan and Rebecca, you embody the goodness of our nation. Thank you. Thank you, Ryan and Rebecca.

As we rebuild America’s strength and confidence at home, we are also restoring our strength and standing abroad.

Around the world, we face rogue regimes, terrorist groups, and rivals like China and Russia that challenge our interests, our economy, and our values. In confronting these dangers, we know that weakness is the surest path to conflict, and unmatched power is the surest means of our defense.

For this reason, I am asking the Congress to end the dangerous defense sequester and fully fund our great military.

As part of our defense, we must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal, hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression. Perhaps someday in the future there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, we are not there yet.

Last year, I also pledged that we would work with our allies to extinguish ISIS from the face of the Earth. One year later, I am proud to report that the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated almost 100 percent of the territory once held by these killers in Iraq and Syria. But there is much more work to be done. We will continue our fight until ISIS is defeated.

Army Staff Sergeant Justin Peck is here tonight. Near Raqqa last November, Justin and his comrade, Chief Petty Officer Kenton Stacy, were on a mission to clear buildings that ISIS had rigged with explosives so that civilians could return to the city.

Clearing the second floor of a vital hospital, Kenton Stacy was severely wounded by an explosion. Immediately, Justin bounded into the booby-trapped building and found Kenton in bad shape. He applied pressure to the wound and inserted a tube to reopen an airway. He then performed CPR for 20 straight minutes during the ground transport and maintained artificial respiration through two and a half hours, and through emergency surgery.

Kenton Stacy would have died if not for Justin’s selfless love for his fellow warrior. Tonight, Kenton is recovering in Texas. Raqqa is liberated. And Justin is wearing his new Bronze Star, with a “V” for “Valor.” Staff Sergeant Peck: All of America salutes you.

Terrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil. When possible, we annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them. But we must be clear: Terrorists are not merely criminals. They are unlawful enemy combatants. And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are.

In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield — including the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi.

So today, I am keeping another promise. I just signed an order directing Secretary [Jim] Mattis to reexamine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay.

I am also asking the Congress to ensure that, in the fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda, we continue to have all necessary power to detain terrorists — wherever we chase them down.

Our warriors in Afghanistan also have new rules of engagement. Along with their heroic Afghan partners, our military is no longer undermined by artificial timelines and we no longer tell our enemies our plans.

Last month, I also took an action endorsed unanimously by the Senate just months before: I recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Shortly afterwards, dozens of countries voted in the United Nations General Assembly against America’s sovereign right to make this recognition. American taxpayers generously send those same countries billions of dollars in aid every year.

That is why, tonight, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to help ensure American foreign-assistance dollars always serve American interests, and only go to America’s friends. As we strengthen friendships around the world, we are also restoring clarity about our adversaries.

When the people of Iran rose up against the crimes of their corrupt dictatorship, I did not stay silent. America stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom. I am asking the Congress to address the fundamental flaws in the terrible Iran nuclear deal.

My administration has also imposed tough sanctions on the communist and socialist dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela. But no regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea. North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland.

We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening. Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this dangerous position. We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and our allies.

Otto Warmbier was a hardworking student at the University of Virginia, and a great student he was. On his way to study abroad in Asia, Otto joined a tour to North Korea. At its conclusion, this wonderful young man was arrested and charged with crimes against the state. After a shameful trial, the dictatorship sentenced Otto to 15 years of hard labor, before returning him to America last June — horribly injured and on the verge of death. He passed away just days after his return.

Otto’s Parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, are with us tonight — along with Otto’s brother and sister, Austin and Greta. You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world, and your strength truly inspires us all. Tonight, we pledge to honor Otto’s memory with total American resolve.

Finally, we are joined by one more witness to the ominous nature of this regime. His name is Mr. Ji Seong-ho.

In 1996, Seong-ho was a starving boy in North Korea. One day, he tried to steal coal from a railroad car to barter for a few scraps of food. In the process, he passed out on the train tracks, exhausted from hunger. He woke up as a train ran over his limbs. He then endured multiple amputations without anything to dull the pain. His brother and sister gave what little food they had to help him recover and ate dirt themselves — permanently stunting their own growth. Later, he was tortured by North Korean authorities after returning from a brief visit to China. His tormentors wanted to know if he had met any Christians. He had — and he resolved, after that, to be free.

Seong-ho traveled thousands of miles on crutches all across China and Southeast Asia to freedom. Most of his family followed. His father was caught trying to escape and was tortured to death.

Today he lives in Seoul, where he rescues other defectors, and broadcasts into North Korea what the regime fears the most — the truth.

Today he has a new leg, but Seong-ho, I understand you still keep those crutches as a reminder of how far you have come. Your great sacrifice is an inspiration to us all.

Seong-ho’s story is a testament to the yearning of every human soul to live in freedom.

It was that same yearning for freedom that nearly 250 years ago gave birth to a special place called America. It was a small cluster of colonies caught between a great ocean and a vast wilderness. But it was home to an incredible people with a revolutionary idea: that they could rule themselves. That they could chart their own destiny. And that, together, they could light up the world.

That is what our country has always been about. That is what Americans have always stood for, always strived for, and always done.

Atop the dome of this Capitol stands the Statue of Freedom. She stands tall and dignified among the monuments to our ancestors who fought and lived and died to protect her.

Monuments to Washington and Jefferson — to Lincoln and King.

Memorials to the heroes of Yorktown and Saratoga — to young Americans who shed their blood on the shores of Normandy, and the fields beyond. And others, who went down in the waters of the Pacific and the skies over Asia.

And freedom stands tall over one more monument: this one. This Capitol. This living monument to the American people.

A people whose heroes live not only in the past, but all around us — defending hope, pride, and the American way.

They work in every trade. They sacrifice to raise a family. They care for our children at home. They defend our flag abroad. They are strong moms and brave kids. They are firefighters, police officers, border agents, medics, and Marines.

But above all else, they are Americans. And this Capitol, this city, and this nation, belong to them.

Our task is to respect them, to listen to them, to serve them, to protect them, and to always be worthy of them.

Americans fill the world with art and music. They push the bounds of science and discovery. And they forever remind us of what we should never forget: The people dreamed this country. The people built this country. And it is the people who are making America great again.

As long as we are proud of who we are, and what we are fighting for, there is nothing we cannot achieve.

As long as we have confidence in our values, faith in our citizens, and trust in our God, we will not fail.

Our families will thrive.

Our people will prosper.

And our nation will forever be safe and strong and proud and mighty and free.

Thank you, and God bless America.

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Who Was the First Politician to Use "Make America Great Again" Anyway?

President Trump has filed a trademark application for his campaign slogan, but he's not even the first presidential candidate to use it. Here's how Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton employed the phrase.

The story of its history is fascinating—and more ambiguous than our president would have us believe.

"The line of ‘Make America Great Again,’ the phrase, that was mine, I came up with it about a year ago, and I kept using it, and everybody’s now using it, they are all loving it,” Trump reportedly said in March of 2015 . "I don't know, I guess I should copyright it, maybe I have copyrighted it," he added .

In fact, Trump had applied for a trademark for the phrase in 2012 . His application asked for exclusive rights to use it for " political action committee services, namely, promoting public awareness of political issues and fundraising in the field of politics ," the Washington Post reported.

Trouble is, Trump was not the first politician to use in. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush used "Let’s Make America Great Again" in their 1980 campaign and at the Republican National Convention that year , which Trump claimed he didn't know until 2016. "He didn’t trademark it," Trump said of Reagan. "I think I’m somebody that understands marketing," he said.

And while former President Bill Clinton criticized the phrase as racist—telling a crowd at a Florida rally in 2016, " I’m actually old enough to remember the good old days, and they weren’t all that good in many ways ”—he has used it himself.

"I believe that together we can make America great again," Clinton said in his 1991 presidential announcement speech. The video below, a trailer for The Clinton Affair , an A&E special that premieres this Sunday, November 18 at 9 p.m., includes part of the speech starting at the 18-second mark.

As NBC previously reported , Clinton also used it at a campaign stop about a year later, when he asked voters " to make America great again economically, educationally, and socially ."

Perhaps it's all a question of context.

Sam Dangremond is a Contributing Digital Editor at Town & Country, where he covers men's style, cocktails, travel, and the social scene.

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Speech: Gender equality – just, prudent, and essential for everything we all aspire to

Closing remarks by un under-secretary-general and un women executive director sima bahous to the 68th session of the commission on the status of women, un headquarters, 27 march 2024..

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[As delivered.]

You have arrived at Agreed Conclusions for CSW68 [the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women] —congratulations! As the world was watching, you showed the very best of the multilateral system, and you came together to advance critical normative work for women and girls everywhere. You have recognized the inequalities that impact the lives of women and girls living in poverty and the solutions we have and we need to address them.

And you agreed that these inequalities do not define us, but that we are defined by wanting to urgently overcome them.

You adopted robust Agreed Conclusions [advance unedited version] , a blueprint that envisages a world with greater financial inclusion, increased spending on social protection, increased stability, equal opportunities, and great hope, rights, and freedoms for women and girls everywhere. A world that will no longer accept that one in ten women lives in poverty. A world that will accelerate the investment in women and girls and that urgently pursues the realization of the fundamental rights of all women and girls to live in peace and prosperity everywhere.

This is a special moment. I thank you all for your dedication and determination to bring this CSW68 to a successful close.

I thank His Excellency Ambassador Antonio Manuel Revilla Lagdameo of the Philippines for his able leadership as Chair of the Commission, together with the very able Vice Chairs, their Excellencies Ms. Yoka Brandt of the Netherlands, Ms. María Florencia González of Argentina, Mr. Māris Burbergs of Latvia, and Ms. Dúnia Eloisa Pires do Canto from Cabo Verde.

A special deep appreciation goes to Her Excellency Ms. Yoka Brandt of the Netherlands for her most skilful facilitation. Her Excellency, you would agree, shepherded you with grace and determination to reach the Agreed Conclusions. I also would like to thank her able team, in particular Robin De Vogel, for their support.

The Agreed Conclusions will only have value in as much as their implementation in countries makes a difference in the lives of women and girls, and in as much as they contribute to accelerating progress on the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] . We are a mere six years away from 2030. Gender equality remains our best chance to reach them.

I hope that you will use the Agreed Conclusions as you discuss the Pact for the Future , and that you will be bold and ambitious in advancing them, as we head to the Summit of the Future in September, to the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025, and, of course, the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action next year.

This year’s CSW had two heads of state, three vice-presidents, and more than 100 ministers in attendance. Nearly 4,000 delegates in total contributed to the different deliberations.

We had a record number of close to 5,000 civil society representatives, the second highest number we have ever recorded. We saw more than 1,000 side events and parallel events. Partners came together to share experiences and dreams, and also to recommit.

And we benefitted from the creativity, energy, and substantive contributions from the youth delegates, including adolescent girls, who brought a fresh perspective to this year’s CSW . Upholding the Youth Forum and youth space is integral to our work here, which should be strengthened as part of the official Programme of Work of this Commission.

We also welcomed the adoption of the Resolution on women, the girl child, and HIV and AIDS , led by SADC [the Southern African Development Community], and commend Member States’ commitment to increase investment in gender equality and the empowerment of women in the HIV response.

It is not my wish to dampen this moment. Yet, in a world of cascading crises, de-democratization, gender equality backlash, and restricted civic spaces, women and girls will continue to be disproportionately impacted.

It makes the work you have done here all the more important.

I opened this CSW calling for a ceasefire in Gaza . I close it by reiterating this call and the call of the Security Council two days ago, for an immediate ceasefire, unhindered access to humanitarian assistance, the release of all hostages, and for peace. Sustainable, just peace for all women and girls everywhere must be our collective priority. In Gaza, in Sudan, in Haiti, in Ukraine, and elsewhere in the world.

UN Women stands with every woman and girl everywhere who is facing the scourge and the consequences of war and conflict.

We stand with all women peacebuilders, negotiators, human rights defenders who continue to pursue justice for women and girls—often at high personal cost.

As we close this session, we begin to turn our attention to next year when you will discuss 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action .

The scale of our ambitions, your ambitions for Beijing plus 30, must match the scale of our and your responsibility to achieve equality for every woman and girl, in all their diversity, not in 300 years, not in 100 years, not in 50 years, but urgently—now. There is much work to be done and much reward in doing it.

I look forward to working with the new CSW Bureau who will take this forward.

So, let us leave this room as collective champions for gender equality. Let us find new ways to do more, together, to accelerate progress and strengthen our partnerships.

And let us make the case, powerfully, for equality. Let the world hear what we have asserted over the past two weeks: that gender equality is just and prudent, and essential for everything we all aspire to.

I thank you.

• 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
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Israel must allow ‘quantum leap’ in aid delivery UN chief urges, calling for change in military tactics

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Israel must make meaningful changes in the way it is fighting in Gaza to avoid civilian casualties while also undergoing “a true paradigm shift” in lifesaving aid delivery, the UN chief said on Friday.  

Marking six months of war since the “abhorrent” Hamas-led terror attacks of 7 October, António Guterres told journalists at UN Headquarters in New York that nothing could justify the horror unleashed by Palestinian militants that day. 

“I once again utterly condemn the use of sexual violence, torture injuring and kidnapping of civilians, the firing of rockets towards civilian targets and the use of human shields”, he said, calling again for the unconditional release of all hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip. 

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Having met many of the family members of those held captive “I carry their anguish, uncertainty and deep pain with me every day”, added Mr. Guterres. 

‘Relentless death’ 

But the past six months of Israel’s military campaign has also brought “relentless death and destruction to Palestinians”, with over 32,000 reported killed, the vast majority women and children. 

“Lives are shattered. Respect for international law is in tatters ”, he said. 

The resulting humanitarian disaster is unprecedented, with more than a million “facing catastrophic hunger.” 

Children are dying due to lack of food and water: “This is incomprehensible and entirely avoidable ”, the UN chief declared, repeating that nothing can justify such collective punishment. 

Weaponized AI 

Mr. Guterres said he was deeply troubled by reports that the Israeli military has been using AI to help identify targets during its relentless bombing of densely populated areas of Gaza. 

“ No part of life and death decisions which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms ”, he said. 

AI should only be used as a force for good, not to wage war “on an industrial level, blurring accountability.” 

Humanitarian deaths 

Branding the war “ the deadliest of conflicts ”, he highlighted that 196 humanitarians including over 175 UN staffers have been killed, the vast majority serving with Palestine relief agency UNRWA . 

“An information war has added to the trauma – obscuring facts and shifting blame”, said the UN chief, compounded by Israel denying journalists entry into Gaza, consequently allowing disinformation to spread. 

Tactics must change 

And following the appalling killing of the seven staffers with World Central Kitchen, the main problem is not who made the mistakes but “the military strategy and procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to multiply time and time again”, the Secretary-General said. 

“ Fixing those failures requires independent investigations and meaningful and measurable changes on the ground .” 

He said the UN had been told by the Israeli Government that it was now planning to allow a “meaningful increase” in the flow of aid to Gaza. The UN chief said he sincerely hoped the increase in aid would materialize quickly. 

‘Failure would be unforgivable’ 

“Dramatic humanitarian conditions require a quantum leap in the delivery of life-saving aid – a true paradigm shift.” 

He noted last week’s Security Council resolution calling for hostages releases, civilian protection and unimpeded aid delivery.  

“All those demands must be implemented. Failure would unforgivable ”, he said. 

Six months on, the world stands on the brink of mass starvation in Gaza, a regional conflagration and a “total loss of faith in global standards and norms.”

Unprecedented violations: UN rights office 

The violations committed since 7 October in Israel and Gaza, as well as the destruction and suffering of civilians in the enclave are unprecedented, the UN human rights office, OHCHR , said on Friday, warning that the risk of further atrocity crimes is high. 

OHCHR upheld the need to ensure aid delivery and the protection of humanitarian workers, noting that attacks against them may amount to war crimes. 

The Israeli airstrikes that killed the World Central Kitchen personnel underline the horrific conditions under which humanitarians are operating in Gaza, said Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told journalists in Geneva. 

“ Israel has also killed law enforcement officials and others involved in securing humanitarian aid delivery , directly contributing to the breakdown of civil order and putting humanitarian workers and those in need of aid in further danger,” he added. 

Following the attacks, World Central Kitchen and other NGOs suspended aid delivery and distributions in Gaza, “increasing the already real risk of more deaths from famine and disease at larger scale.” 

War crimes warning 

Mr. Laurence recalled that international law requires all warring parties to respect and protect humanitarian personnel and ensure their safety, security, and freedom of movement. 

As the occupying power, Israel has the additional obligation to ensure, to the fullest extent possible, that the basic needs of Gaza’s population are met . This means the authorities must either ensure that people can access food and medical care or facilitate the work of humanitarians delivering this assistance.  

“Attacking people or objects involved in humanitarian assistance may amount to a war crime ,” he said. 

He pointed out that UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk has repeatedly stated that impunity must end. 

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Read Greta Thunberg's full speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit

Teen environmental activist Greta Thunberg spoke at the United Nations on Monday about climate change, accusing world leaders of inaction and half-measures.

Here are her full remarks:

My message is that we'll be watching you.

This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet, you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!

You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words and yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!

For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.

You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency, but no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act then you would be evil and that I refuse to believe.

The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in 10 years only gives us a 50 percent chance of staying below 1.5 degrees and the risk of setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control.

Fifty percent may be acceptable to you, but those numbers do not include tipping points, most feedback loops, additional warming hidden by toxic air pollution or the aspects of equity and climate justice.

They also rely on my generation sucking hundreds of billions of tons of your CO2 out of the air with technologies that barely exist.

So a 50 percent risk is simply not acceptable to us, we who have to live with the consequences.

How dare you pretend that this can be solved with just business as usual and some technical solutions? With today's emissions levels, that remaining CO2 budget will be entirely gone within less than eight and a half years.

There will not be any solutions or plans presented in line with these figures here today, because these numbers are too uncomfortable and you are still not mature enough to tell it like it is.

You are failing us, but the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you and if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.

We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up and change is coming, whether you like it or not.

‘Silence the guns,’ says UN chief in speech marking 6 months of war on Gaza

Israel’s military campaign has brought ‘relentless death and destruction’ for people in Palestine, says UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. In a speech marking six months of war in Gaza, Guterres said nothing can justify the ‘collective punishment’ taking place there.

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Readout of President Joe   Biden’s Call with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of   China

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  The call follows the two leaders’ meeting in Woodside, California in November 2023.  The two leaders held a candid and constructive discussion on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including areas of cooperation and areas of difference.  They reviewed and encouraged progress on key issues discussed at the Woodside Summit, including counternarcotics cooperation, ongoing military-to-military communication, talks to address AI-related risks, and continuing efforts on climate change and people-to-people exchanges.   President Biden emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.  He raised concerns over the PRC’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base and its impact on European and transatlantic security, and he emphasized the United States’ enduring commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  President Biden also raised continued concerns about the PRC’s unfair trade policies and non-market economic practices, which harm American workers and families.  The President emphasized that the United States will continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine our national security, without unduly limiting trade and investment. The two leaders welcomed ongoing efforts to maintain open channels of communication and responsibly manage the relationship through high-level diplomacy and working-level consultations in the weeks and months ahead, including during upcoming visits by Secretary Yellen and Secretary Blinken.

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The Accidental Tax Cutter in Chief

President biden says he wants to rake in more money from corporations and high earners. but so far, he has cut more taxes than he’s raised..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

[THEME MUSIC]

Today, in his campaign for re-election, President Biden says that raising taxes is at the heart of his agenda. But as it turns out so far, he’s done the opposite as president. My colleague Jim Tankersley explains.

It’s Wednesday, April 3.

Jim, welcome back. We haven’t seen you since the State of the Union. Always a pleasure.

So, so great to be here. And yeah, I finally recovered from staying up all night with you guys.

Yeah, you don’t even know all night. You stopped and we kept going.

That’s true. I did. I got a robust three hours that night. You’re right.

[LAUGHS]:: So Jim, in your capacity as really the chief economic thinker covering this president, you recently came across something very surprising.

Yeah, it started with a pretty basic question for me. I like to do this crazy thing, Michael, where I like to take candidates’ promises and see if they’ve come true.

It’s a little bit wild, but it’s what I do for fun. And in this case, I wanted to look at a very central promise of President Biden’s campaign in 2020, which he has repeated while in office.

I promise you, I guarantee you we can build back, and build back better with an economy that rewards work, not wealth.

The promise was he was going to raise taxes.

But I tell you what I’m going to do, and I make no apologies for it. I’m going to ask the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations of the Fortune 500 companies, 91 making a collective billions of dollars, didn’t pay a single solitary penny in federal tax!

Not taxes on the middle class, not taxes on low income workers, but he was going to raise taxes on corporations and the rich.

But I’m going to make sure they pay their fair share!

He was going to make them pay their fair share. And he leaned into it.

Guess what? You’re going to start paying your fair share. I’m going to ask them to finally begin to pay the fair share. It’s not a punishment. Pay your fair share.

He said it over and over.

Fair share? Translation — it’s back to the failed policies of the 1970s.

Republicans loved this. They repeated it too. They told voters that the president was going to raise taxes.

Joe Biden bragging about raising taxes on corporations. That means less money for those very employers to hire people back.

They talked about all the ways in which corporate tax increases could rebound on workers.

Joe Biden will shut down your economy, raise taxes, wants a $4 trillion tax increase. He’s the only politician I’ve ever seen who said, we will raise your taxes. You’re supposed —

It was a very big part of the economic debate for the campaign.

And I wanted to know, is that true? Has that actually played out in the policy agenda the president has had?

So I asked some economists at the Tax Policy Center in Washington to run an analysis and just say, let’s look at all of the ways Biden has changed the tax code in all of those laws he’s signed, and ask, has he raised taxes as president? And it turns out the answer is he has not raised taxes.

On net, he has cut more taxes than he’s raised.

How much more has he cut taxes than raised them?

So by the math that economists use when they look at budgets, the traditional way of scoring tax changes, he has cut taxes by $600 billion on net.

Hmm. A lot of money, a lot of tax cuts.

It’s a lot of tax cuts. The president has been a net tax cutter.

So Jim, why and how did Biden end up cutting taxes, especially if his stated intent was to raise taxes?

Well, there’s two sides of this equation and two complementary explanations for what’s happened here. The first side is the tax increases that Biden ran on, he’s only done a couple of them. He has trillions of dollars of ideas for how to raise taxes on rich people and corporations. The Treasury Department publishes an entire book full of them every year called “The Green Book.”

But in the actual legislation he signed, there’s only been a couple, really. There was a tax on stock buybacks that companies do and then a new minimum tax for certain multinational corporations that have very low tax rates. Those add up to real money, but they are not, in the grand scheme of Biden’s tax increases, a really large amount of the agenda he’s proposed.

So explanation number one, he just hasn’t been that successful in passing tax increases, and there’s a lot of reasons for that. The biggest one is just the simplest one is that he’s just had a really hard time persuading members of Congress, including Democrats, to back some of his favorite tax increases. He wants to raise the corporate income tax rate, which President Trump cut in his 2017 tax bill. Biden wants to raise it to 28 percent from 21 percent. Congress has not had any appetite to go along with that.

He wanted to get rid of what’s called the carried interest loophole, a long-time white whale of Democratic policy making. But he could not get even 50 Democrats to go along with that. Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona was opposed to it, and so it didn’t get included.

And he did some pieces of legislation on a bipartisan basis. And in those cases, Republicans were just not going to pay for anything by raising taxes, and so he had to take those off the table there. So it’s all added up to just not very much activity in Congress to raise taxes on what Biden wants to do.

Got it. So that’s the side of a ledger where Biden simply fails to increase taxes because he can’t get Congress to increase taxes.

Right. But there’s another side, which is also that Biden has signed into law a decent number of tax cuts.

And that starts from the very beginning. Just a couple of months into his presidency, if you’ll recall, we’re still in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is wobbling after it had started to rebound. Biden proposes what is essentially a stimulus bill.

And he includes some tax cuts in there, a tax cut for families, a child tax credit. And it also includes — you remember those direct checks that people got as part of that bill?

Yes, $1,400. I remember them.

Yes, those were technically tax cuts.

So the stimulus bill starts with that. The next year, he passes this bill that is trying to accelerate manufacturing of things like semiconductors in the United States. That’s the CHIPS Act. And that includes some corporate tax cuts for companies that invest in the kind of manufacturing that Biden wants. This is industrial policy via carrots for corporations. And Biden is handing them out as part of this bill.

So tax cuts there. And then finally the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes the largest climate effort in American history is a bunch of corporate tax cuts at its core, tax cuts for manufacturing of solar panels, tax cuts for people to buy electric vehicles, tax cuts for all sorts of things tied to the transition from fossil fuels to lower emission sources of energy. And those tax cuts add up. They add up for corporations. They add up for individuals. And in the end, that full suite of tax cuts that he’s passed across all of this legislation outweighs the modest tax increases that were also included in the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce its cost.

Got it. So a very big reason why Biden ends up cutting taxes, beyond the fact that he’s not able to raise them through Congress, is that that’s what it took, according to those in his administration, to get American industry and American consumers to change their behavior in line with policy goals such as getting more domestic computer chip manufacturing and getting more people to buy electric vehicles they decided the way to do that was to give people tax breaks, which means he cut their taxes.

Right, people and companies. The president certainly has talked throughout the campaign about wanting to give middle class families a break. But he has also, in the process of crafting policy, really come to rely on tax cuts for people and for corporations as a way of achieving these policy goals. And in many cases, again, this is what he had to do to pass these bills through even Democrats in Congress.

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia didn’t want to just send money to companies that were making solar panels. He wanted there to be tax incentives for it. And so that is part of the reason why these were created as tax incentives. And so all of this adds up to more of a tax cutting record than you might have imagined when Biden was on the campaign trail.

I’m curious who really ended up benefiting from these tax cuts. You said they went to people and to corporations, but on the whole, did they end up reaching lower income Americans, middle income Americans, or the rich?

Well, we don’t have a full distributional analysis, which is what you’re asking for, of the entirety of Biden’s tax changes. But what we can say this — particularly the ones that were in that early stimulus bill, the recovery plan, those were very much targeted toward lower income and middle income Americans.

There were income limits on who could get things like the Child Tax Credit. Obviously, the direct payments went to people who were middle class or less. So the analysis of that would suggest that these were tax cuts for lower income people, for middle class people. And on the flip side, what I think we are likely to see with the electric vehicle credit through the Inflation Reduction Act is that while there are some income limits on who can qualify for that credit, that the people who end up claiming that credit tend to be the higher earners among the people who qualify.

Right. Who buys a Tesla, after all? Somebody with a fair amount of money.

Right, exactly. And of course, the corporate tax cuts go to companies, flow through to their shareholders. There’s a huge debate in the academic literature among politicians about how much of that benefit actually ends up going to their workers versus stays with shareholders. But we can broadly say that Joe Biden has done a lot for certain corporations who are trying to advance his manufacturing goals in particular to reduce their tax bills. And that is certainly not in line with the rhetoric you hear him talking about most of the time about making corporations pay their fair share. And the White House acknowledges this. I asked them about it. And they basically said, we think there’s a difference between just cutting the corporate tax rate in a way that helps anybody no matter what they’re doing and what we’re trying to do, which is basically reward corporations for accelerating the energy transition.

Understood. But where does this ultimately leave Biden’s campaign promise to make the tax code fairer and to make sure that the well-off in particular and corporations are paying their, what he calls, fair share?

Well, I think by Biden’s own measurements, by his own ambitions, he would have to agree that he is nowhere close to what he believes would be a fair share for corporations. Because Biden is still running on this. As he enters his re-election campaign, as it really heats up, a rematch with Donald Trump, the president is really leaning into this message of we need to do more. We need to raise more taxes on corporate America. It is time for these companies and for high earners to pay their fair share.

Right. I didn’t get it done in the first term. But if you elect me, I’ll get it done in the second.

Give me another shot, and this time, I promise, will be different.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

We’ll be right back.

So Jim, let’s talk about Biden’s tax raising plans for a theoretical second term and why anyone should have any faith that he could get it done, if there’s a second term, given the experience so far of his first term.

Yeah, well, man, there’s a lot of plans to talk about. I don’t think we can get through all of them, but we can certainly hit the highlights here. So we can start with the couple of things that Biden has been able to do to raise taxes on corporations. He wants to take those and then plus them up.

He’s put this new minimum tax on corporations. It’s a 15 percent minimum tax on certain multinationals. He now wants to raise that to 21 percent.

He wants to take that corporate stock buyback tax which is 1 percent right now, and he’d like to quadruple it to 4 percent. And then he goes after some things large and small. He wants to do new taxes that hit the use of corporate and private jets. He wants to do new taxes on companies that pay large amounts of compensation to their executives.

And then we get to some really big taxes on high earning individuals. So the president has said over and over again, he won’t raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. But he’s got a bunch of taxes for the people above that. So he wants to raise the top marginal income tax rate. He wants to take it from 37 percent, which is the level set by President Trump’s 2017 tax law, and bring it back to 39.6 percent, which is what it was before. He also wants to impose what he calls a billionaires tax.

OK. It’s a 25 percent tax on the total value of all of the assets of anyone worth more than $100 million.

OK, wait. I have several questions about this.

First being a fact check, if it’s a billionaires tax, it’s interesting that it’s going after people who have just 100 million.

Yeah, I think most billionaires would be offended at the inclusion of 100 millionaires in that. Yes, totally agree. That is factually inaccurate, the name.

Right. But beyond that, this sounds very much like a wealth tax, which we don’t really have in our system.

Yeah, it’s a sort of wealth tax. The Biden people don’t call it a wealth tax, but it is a tax on something other than income that you report every year to the IRS as having been earned. It goes beyond just, oh, I got interest from my stock holdings or I made money from my job. It’s, oh, the value of my art collection increased last year, and now Biden’s going to tax me on that increase, even if I didn’t sell the art.

That’s a real change, and that reflects the president’s view that people with enough money to buy enormous art collections that appreciate enormously in value should be paying more in taxes.

Right. And of course, a tax like this is extremely perhaps maddeningly hard to actually pull off. It’s hard to get someone to describe their art collection’s value so that you can apply a 25 tax to it. So this might end up being more of a political statement than a practical tax.

Yeah, there’s also questions about whether it’s constitutional. So there’s all sorts of drama around this proposal, but it is certainly, if nothing else, a statement of the president’s intent to make people worth a lot of money pay a lot more in taxes.

OK, so that’s a lot of proposed tax increases, almost all of them focused on those who are rich and corporations. Overall, Jim, what stands out to you about this Biden term two tax increase plan?

I think we could very fairly say that it’s the largest tax increasing plan by a sitting president or a presidential nominee for a party in American history.

He wants to get a lot of money from corporations and people who earn or are worth a lot of money.

But the rub, of course, is it’s hard to see the Congressional math that lets Biden accomplish these tax increases, some of which, like you said, he couldn’t get done the first time. Why would we think he would get them done the second time even if he wins this fall?

Yeah, it would be really difficult. Biden would have to win in November. Democrats would have to take the House of Representatives back from Republicans, which is certainly possible. It’s very closely divided right now. And they’d need to hold at least 50 seats in the Senate. And then those 50 Democrats in the Senate would have to be willing to go along with far more in tax increases than Democrats were last time around.

So if there is a second term, it feels like we should assume it will be very difficult perhaps even quite unlikely he’s going to get to push through a lot of these taxes. Which makes me wonder, Jim, why is Biden running on a tax program that he knows has so little chance of becoming reality and when it’s pretty clear that he’s gotten a lot of stuff done without raising taxes? It turns out that’s not been all that essential to getting infrastructure or climate bills done. So why is he making this so central?

Several reasons. One of them is it’s very important to him rhetorically to talk about fiscal responsibility. Big parts of the Biden agenda, the CHIPS bill, the infrastructure bill, some other legislation, were not actually paid for. The spending and tax cuts were not offset by tax increases.

So they’re going to add to the debt.

Right. So they’re going to add to the debt. Same is true of the stimulus bill. But moving forward, the president has said that he’s going to pay for his agenda and he’s actually going to have some extra tax dollars coming in left over to help pay down future budget deficits. And on paper, it’s the way to pay for Biden’s other big, expansive plans that he hasn’t been able to do but wants to — universal child care, federal paid leave, investing in elder care, just a whole bunch of things that he still wants to do more — housing initiatives.

The president needs money to make a case that he’s being fiscally responsible, and this is the money that would do that.

So that’s one reason. Another reason is the calendar. Biden and his team are looking ahead to the end of 2025, and they know that if he wins another term, he will be in office at a rare moment in Washington, when basically tax policy has to be on the Congressional agenda.

Well, Republicans, when they passed their tax cuts in 2017, set a bunch of them to expire at the end of 2025 in order to lower the cost of the bill.

These are the Trump tax cuts.

The Trump tax cuts. And that includes all the tax cuts for individuals. So now that those are coming due, there’s going to be a fight in Washington over whether to extend them or make them permanent or change them in some way or just let them expire, and Democrats know there’s going to be a huge fight that will reach almost certainly the floor of the House and the Senate. And so Biden wants to be ready.

He wants to be ready with a suite of policy proposals that Democrats can basically pull off the shelf and try to use to put Republicans in a box. Basically say, we would like to keep taxes low or cut them further for low income workers, middle class workers. But we want to pay for that by raising taxes on the rich. You Republicans also want to do nice things for low and middle class workers, but you want to cut taxes for corporations and the rich, and we think that’s a political loser for you.

So Biden is ready with what they think will be a political winner for Democrats in this almost certain floor tax fight at the end of 2025.

And that brings us to the last reason why Biden is doing this, and maybe the most important, which is it’s really good politics.

Just explain that. Why is talking about tax increases, net tax increases, such good politics?

If you talk to Democratic pollsters, if you talk to people inside the White House, outside the White House, political strategists anywhere in Biden’s orbit, they all agree that the public loves the idea of forcing rich people and corporations to pay their, quote, “fair share.” It’s just become a winning and central political argument in Democratic campaigns, the idea that corporations avoid taxes, that rich people avoid taxes, and that Joe Biden is trying to position himself as a champion of the idea that they need to pay more. Those corporations and those rich people need to pay more, and he’s going to make it happen.

You’re describing this as something that is kind of a new political reality. Is that right?

Yeah, it’s evolved over the last decade or so I think. For a long time in Washington, the conventional wisdom was just couldn’t talk about tax increases of any kind. They were poison. There was a whole anti-tax movement that did a really good job of messaging that, and Democratic candidates got very scared of talking about raising taxes even on the very, very rich.

That started to turn over time. But it’s really changed. I think we saw in the 2020 election that the Democratic primary had just enormous amounts of taxes on corporations and the rich funding all sorts of policy proposals — Medicare for all and universal child care and trillions and trillions of dollars — and Democratic candidates like Liz Warren and Bernie Sanders competing to see who could tax corporations and the rich the most.

Biden is a product of that primary. He was one of the most moderate people in that group, but his proposals are really outside of the historical norm for Democratic candidates up until then. And that reflects the fact that pollsters have been doing all this research, finding that the American people, including independents and increasingly numbers of Republicans, just don’t think corporations pay their fair share and are open to the idea they should pay more.

This is really interesting, and it makes me think that what you’re really saying is that there might have been a time when a Democratic nominee like Joe Biden might have reveled in his image as an overall tax cutter. But that is not this moment, and that is not this candidate. He wants to be a tax increaser. He thinks that is where the politics are.

I think that’s exactly right when you think about tax increaser as tax increaser on the rich and on corporations. There’s two ways to be a successful populist politician. One of them is to be like Trump and run around saying you’re going to do enormous tax cuts for everybody, which is a Republican version of populism. Trump, my biggest tax cut in history, I’m going to do another huge, enormous tax cut. It’s going to be so big you won’t believe it.

There might have been a time when Democrats tried to follow that playbook. But Biden’s not doing that. He’s leaning into the other side of populism. He’s telling workers, hey, I’m on your side with these big companies. They’re trying to screw you, and I’m not going to stand for it. And so I’m going to raise their taxes. I’m going to make them pay more so that there’s more money for you, whether that’s more tax cuts or more programs or whatever.

And that is the Democratic version of populism right now, and that’s the one that Joe Biden is running on. And that’s why he’s so happy to talk about raising corporate taxes because it’s a way to tell workers, hey, I’m on your side.

Right. Even if that’s not what he’s done or ever may be able to do.

Yeah. Part of the problem with populism is that you make a lot of promises you can’t keep, and this certainly, in his first term, has been an area where the president has talked a much bigger game than he’s been able to execute. The second term might be different, but that doesn’t really matter for the campaign. What matters is the rhetoric.

Well, Jim, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Thank you. Always a pleasure.

Here’s what else you need to know today. On Tuesday, Israel confirmed that it had carried out the airstrike that killed seven aid workers delivering food to civilians in Gaza. The attack, which occurred on Monday, struck a convoy run by the World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit group. At the time of the attack, the aid workers were traveling in clearly marked cars that designated them as non-combatants.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attack as unintentional and said that his government deeply regretted the deaths. In its own statement, World Central Kitchen called the strike unforgivable and said that as a result, it would suspend its aid work in Gaza, where millions of people are in dire need of both food and medicine.

Today’s episode was produced by Stella Tan and Mary Wilson with help from Michael Simon Johnson. It was edited by Lisa Chow, contains original music by Dan Powell and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

• April 8, 2024   •   30:28 The Eclipse Chaser
• April 7, 2024 The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’
• April 5, 2024   •   29:11 An Engineering Experiment to Cool the Earth
• April 4, 2024   •   32:37 Israel’s Deadly Airstrike on the World Central Kitchen
• April 3, 2024   •   27:42 The Accidental Tax Cutter in Chief
• April 2, 2024   •   29:32 Kids Are Missing School at an Alarming Rate
• April 1, 2024   •   36:14 Ronna McDaniel, TV News and the Trump Problem
• March 29, 2024   •   48:42 Hamas Took Her, and Still Has Her Husband
• March 28, 2024   •   33:40 The Newest Tech Start-Up Billionaire? Donald Trump.
• March 27, 2024   •   28:06 Democrats’ Plan to Save the Republican House Speaker
• March 26, 2024   •   29:13 The United States vs. the iPhone
• March 25, 2024   •   25:59 A Terrorist Attack in Russia

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Jim Tankersley

Produced by Stella Tan and Mary Wilson

With Michael Simon Johnson

Edited by Lisa Chow

Original music by Dan Powell and Marion Lozano

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

In his campaign for re-election, President Biden has said that raising taxes on the wealthy and on big corporations is at the heart of his agenda. But under his watch, overall net taxes have decreased.

Jim Tankersley, who covers economic policy for The Times, explains.

On today’s episode

Jim Tankersley , who covers economic policy at the White House for The New York Times.

Background reading

An analysis prepared for The New York Times estimates that the tax changes President Biden has ushered into law will amount to a net cut of about $600 billion over four years.

“Does anybody here think the tax code’s fair?” For Mr. Biden, tax policy has been at the center of his efforts to make the economy more equitable.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Jim Tankersley writes about economic policy at the White House and how it affects the country and the world. He has covered the topic for more than a dozen years in Washington, with a focus on the middle class. More about Jim Tankersley

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Solar eclipse 2024 live updates: See latest weather forecast, what time it hits your area

It's finally here.

After years of buildup and anticipation, the Great North American Eclipse will occur today: This afternoon, a  total eclipse of the sun  will appear in the skies above the U.S., all the way from southern Texas to northern Maine.

The  rare event  − where the shadow of the moon plunges a narrow strip of land into darkness in the middle of the day − is an astronomical experience like no other that will be unusually accessible to millions of people.

That is, if the weather cooperates. Here are all the details and the latest forecast:

What time is the 2024 solar eclipse?

The total eclipse will begin in Mexico at about 11:07 a.m. PDT, Monday before crossing into Texas at 1:27 p.m. CDT. It will end in Maine at 3:35 p.m. EDT. The partial eclipse will last for awhile longer. Even if you're not in the path of totality and won't see the full eclipse, you may still see a percentage of it.

To find out exactly when the eclipse will be happening in your area, you can search by  USA TODAY's database by ZIP code  for a viewing guide.

Eclipse weather forecast: Where will there be clear skies?

Surprisingly, weatherwise, the best spot for viewing the eclipse today is expected to be northern New England, specifically northern portions of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to the Weather Prediction Center .

Skywatchers in northern Maine were celebrating Monday morning, as clear skies were reported across the state. "Viewing conditions look excellent," the weather service in Caribou, Maine, said. In northern Vermont, an approaching deck of clouds was keeping both eclipse chasers and meteorologists on edge: "It will be a close one in regards to eclipse viewing ," the weather service in Burlington, Vermont, reported Monday morning.

A stretch from Central Arkansas to southern Indiana also could be prime viewing, but this is an area of greater uncertainty due to the potential for high clouds, the Weather Prediction Center said.

Where will it be cloudy or stormy for the eclipse?

As predicted, skies were cloudy across much of central and southern Texas on Monday morning, a precursor to some potentially severe weather that could rumble across the state later in the day, forecasters said. San Antonio and Austin reported overcast skies, while Dallas-Fort Worth had mostly cloudy skies, according to the National Weather Service.

"A high probability of poor eclipse viewing conditions continues for nearly all of South-Central Texas for midday today," the weather service said. The Weather Prediction said clouds could also hinder viewing from Texas into southern Arkansas, and across Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania, and New York.

Indianapolis and Cleveland were anxiously hanging on every forecast update. In Indianapolis, the forecast looked good: Only some scattered high clouds were expected during the eclipse. Weather service meteorologist Joseph Nield said, "We're cautiously optimistic that things are looking pretty good for us."

In Cleveland, unwelcome light rain was reported Monday morning, but improving weather and partly sunny skies were predicted for eclipse time.

Where is the solar eclipse right now? Texas is first up

EAGLE PASS, Texas − Maverick County International Airport in Eagle Pass, Texas, usually sees maybe three private planes a day. By 10 a.m. CT on Monday, more than 10 planes crowded the tarmac, including Cessnas, Pipers and at least one corporate jet − all there to catch an early glimpse of the total solar eclipse. Eagle Pass will be one of the first American cities to witness the phenomenon. Some watchers, like Brandon Beck, 43, flew in Sunday night from San Diego and spent the night in a sleeping bag on the tarmac next to his friend’s Mooney single-prop piston four-seater.“We’re so lucky to be on a planet where the sun is the perfect size and perfect distance to create that effect,” he said. “It’s obligatory. We have to see it.”

− Rick Jervis

Traffic jams, collisions mar eclipse watchers' travel

Traffic crashes and road delays were reported across the nation as Americans flocked to prime locations to gaze up at the rare solar eclipse . Local roads and highways in states including Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Vermont and New Hampshire were overwhelmed with eclipse chasers, many of whom were from out of state. The most intense bottlenecks appeared to be in the path of totality , where spectators will be able to view the full eclipse.

In Oklahoma, a crash around 7:30 a.m. local time narrowed eastbound lanes on I-40, a major transcontinental highway that runs from California to North Carolina. The crash occurred not far from several state parks that were hosting eclipse events, and it's also within driving distance of the full eclipse path, which includes parts of southeastern Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Multiple crashes were reported on an interstate in Waco, Texas, a city in the path of totality, where several festivities and eclipse viewing events were scheduled. The crashes all occurred on I-35, which runs from southern Texas to Minnesota.

"Expect major traffic delays in this area," the Texas Department of Transportation said in a statement .

− Christopher McCann

Awaiting eclipse − and hail − in Texas

KERRVILLE, Texas − Forecasts called for considerable cloudiness, rain and possible hail, but retired NASA engineer Jeff Stone stayed positive as he and his wife prepared to host more than a dozen people for a watch party at their hilltop home in Texas Hill Country. Stone, an eclipse enthusiast who had met family in Missouri to watch the solar eclipse of 2017, said he recently reviewed video footage of that event and said current conditions weren’t that much different than they were back then.

“I’m outside and seeing patches of blue among scattered clouds, so we’re remaining hopeful,” he said.

About 150 miles to the northeast in Gatesville, lead pastor Eric Moffett of Coryell Community Church said a similar forecast did little to deter an expected gathering of about 800 visitors for the church’s family-oriented “Eclipse at the Crosses” event. Many, if not most, were from out of town or even out of country − Canada, Wales, France, Italy. Many locals were staying home to avoid the crowd, he said.

“It’s partly cloudy, but the sun is shining on me right now,” he said. “We are praying that it stays that way.”

− Marc Ramirez

National Mall hosting Solar Eclipse Festival

WASHINGTON − A four-hour Solar Eclipse Festival organized by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum was kicking off at the National Mall beginning at noon. The festival will feature activity stations where attendees can observe the sun through a satellite's UV cameras to see its solar storms and create their own portable eclipse models and pinhole projection cameras. All eyes will turn to the skies at 3:20 p.m. local time, when the moon will block out 87% of the sun visible from the area.

− Cybele Mayes-Osterman

Welcoming the eclipse in Mexico

MAZATLÁN, Mexico − Elizabeth Rigdon and her son Kristopher Kirk were celebrating some memorable firsts on Monday in this beach resort town. It was their first time traveling outside the U.S., they said, and their first time viewing a total solar eclipse. Monday’s eclipse first enters its North American path of totality in Mexico. Rigdon and Kirk flew in from Orange County, California, and were headed to a NASA viewing party, they said. Rigdon said she was so excited she could hardly sleep.

“I can’t stop smiling, I’m so glad we did this,” she said. “Now we think we want to start chasing eclipses.”

− Omar Ornelas and Lauren Villagran

Hundreds of thousands expected to watch in southern Illinois

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois University-Carbondale officials expect 200,000 to 300,000 people to flood southern Illinois today for viewing in the path of totality, and a projected 50,000 in Carbondale – roughly double the town's population. Michelle Nichols, director of public observing at Adler Planetarium, will co-host an eclipse show in Saluki Stadium.

"Thousands of people are here today to see this eclipse, feel the temperature drop and feel the overall excitement and hear the reactions of everyone around them," she said. "This is a multi-sensory experience involving the sun, the moon, and you. It involves one single action: Looking up."

− Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star

Clear skies, high hopes in Vermont

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. − Out of state plates vastly outnumbered Vermonters near the state border with New Hampshire Monday morning. Connecticut was well-represented, followed by Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and New Jersey. Interstate 91 was clear sailing, but I-93, which comes up from the Boston area was already quite congested before 10 a.m. Skies were uncharacteristically crystal clear for this time of year and though it’s called “mud season,” none was evident and only a few traces of recent snow fall.

In St. Johnsbury, population 7,300, more than 100 people were already lined up at the doors of the 135-year-old Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium waiting for the first astronomy program of the morning. Dozens more set up lawn chairs, blankets and cameras in the churchyard across the street.

− Karen Weintraub

What is the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?

A  total solar eclipse  occurs when the moon comes in between the Earth and the sun, blocking its light from reaching our planet, leading to a period of darkness lasting several minutes. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon and the sun are on exact opposite sides of Earth. The Earth blocks the sunlight that normally reaches the moon. Instead of that sunlight hitting the moon’s surface, Earth's shadow falls on it.

A lunar eclipse can last for a few hours, while a solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes. Solar eclipses also rarely occur, while lunar eclipses are comparatively more frequent. While at least two partial lunar eclipses happen every year, total lunar eclipses are still rare, NASA says. Another major difference: No special glasses or gizmos are needed to view the a lunar eclipse, and people can directly stare at the moon.

− Saman Shafiq

Solar eclipse, lunar eclipse: What is the difference?

Can you drive during the solar eclipse?

The  2024 solar eclipse  will shroud much of the United States in darkness on Monday, leaving many people to wonder: Is it safe to drive during the solar eclipse?

It is safe to drive during an eclipse as long as you don't look up at the sky. AAA is telling drivers to be focused on the road if they are operating a car during the total solar eclipse. But the automobile insurance company is advising Americans who want to safely view the total eclipse to "find a safe place to park (not on the side of a road or highway) away from other traffic and then wear your eclipse glasses," said Aixa Diaz, a spokeswoman from AAA.

"Pack your patience, whether traveling a great distance or locally," Diaz said. "People will be out and about to catch a glimpse of the eclipse."

A similar scenario  played out in 2017 during the nation's last total solar eclipse : Congestion in some areas lasted for up to 13 hours after totality,  according to Transportation Research News , a National Research Council publication. An analysis of traffic patterns from that year suggests the worst of the traffic – on interstates and rural back roads alike – will kick off after the eclipse ends and everyone tries to leave all at once.

− Kayla Jimenez

When will the next solar eclipse happen?

It will be 20 years before there's a chance to  witness a total solar eclipse  in the United States again. According to NASA, after Monday's total solar  eclipse , the next one viewable from the contiguous U.S. will be on Aug. 23, 2044.

Unfortunately, the 2044 total  solar eclipse  won't have the broad reach across the U.S. as the 2024 eclipse. The path of totality during the 2044 eclipse will only touch three states, according to the Planetary Society, a nonprofit involved in research, public outreach and political space advocacy. The eclipse will begin in Greenland, sweep through Canada and end around sunset in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

But another eclipse scheduledfor Saturday, Aug. 12, 2045, will trace a path of totality over California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

− Mary Walrath-Holdridge, Gabe Hauari and Eric Lagatta

Eclipse and pets: It's not the sky that's the problem

An  eclipse  itself isn't dangerous for domestic animals such as dogs and cats, but experts say it's probably best to not bring pets to  experience the April 2024 total solar eclipse . Experts' biggest concern is not what’s happening in the sky but on the ground as crowds of excited and  eager people gather , said Dr. Rena Carlson, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Dogs especially will take their cues from their owners rather than  the celestial event.

“Rather than the effects of the eclipse, I would be more worried about the excitement and all of the people,” Carlson said.

− Elizabeth Weise

A guide to the solar eclipse for kids

Here's an easy-to read, illustrated guide to help kids understand what the  April 8 total solar eclipse  means, where it will be visible and how you can watch it safely. It also shows them how an ordinary kitchen colander can easily be used to view a solar eclipse − the colander's holes can project crescent images of the sun onto the ground. There are even pages that can be downloaded and colored.

Trump's eclipse experience lit up internet in 2017

Seven years ago, when the last  total solar eclipse  crossed over North America, a photo of then-President Donald Trump  seemingly gazing at the sun with his naked eyes set the internet ablaze . During the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2017, Trump, who was president at the time, was joined by then first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron  to watch the rare phenomenon from the Truman Balcony  at the White House. Photos taken by members of the media captured all three donning eclipse glasses while looking at the eclipse.

But at one point during the viewing, the former president was captured in photos and videos without proper eye protection, seemingly gazing directly at the sun. Looking at an eclipse before or after the brief phase of totality without proper eyewear  can lead to eye damage .

− Natalie Neysa Alund

When is the next total solar eclipse? What to know about the next eclipse's path, timing

How to make a solar eclipse viewer

People who didn't manage to get their  hands on glasses  are not completely down and out. There are other safe ways to view the eclipse , say experts, and a lot of them only require a little bit of craftiness and items you can find lying around the house.

Steps to make the cereal box eclipse viewer (And here is a video aid) :

• Get an empty, clean cereal box.
• Cut a white piece of cardboard that will fit snuggly in the bottom of the box, or secure it permanently by gluing it in place.
• Cut the top of the cereal box, removing both ends and leaving the center intact.
• Put a piece of tape across the center of the top to securely hold it closed.
• Tape a piece of heavy-duty foil or double a single layer for additional strength, covering one of the openings at the top of the cereal box. The other opening will remain open for viewing.
• Using a small nail (approximately 3mm in diameter) push a hole in the foil.
• Cover the entire box with construction paper, leaving the single-viewing opening and the foil uncovered.

The finished box should be held with the pin-hole side facing the sun. It may take a little practice pointing the box. With your back facing the sun, look through the viewing opening. A small image of the sun, about ½ cm in diameter, can be seen projected on the white paper inside the box.

− Mary Walrath-Holdrid

What is the path of the solar eclipse called?

Those in the direct line of the eclipse will be treated to an incredible sight as the moon completely blots out the sun's disk, ushering in uncharacteristic darkness and revealing the sun's elusive outermost layer called the corona. That moment is called "totality" and this year the path of totality crosses through 13 U.S. states.

The last total solar eclipse to cut through North America was in August 2017.

How to look at eclipse without glasses

A total solar eclipse offers skygazers the rare opportunity to witness the eclipse with the naked eye. However,  solar eclipse glasses  are still needed until totality is reached. 

Certified solar eclipse  glasses are crucial for spectators to avoid the sun's retina-damaging rays. But when the moon moves completely in front of the sun and blocks its light, you'll know it's  safe to remove the glasses  for a short period of time.

How fast does an eclipse shadow travel?

According to a post from the  National Weather Service  in Indianapolis on X, an eclipse shadow travels at speeds from 1,100 to 5,000 mph. Near the equator, it travels at around 1,100 mph and increases in speed as it approaches the poles.

The eclipse party is over? Time to recycle those glasses!

Astronomers Without Borders , or AWB, a non-profit organization running its second nationwide  eclipse glasses recycling drive . Her business will join over 300 schools, museums, city governments, commercial businesses, community organizations and local libraries that will collect and ship an estimated  millions of glasses  to be repurposed for use by underserved communities around the world in  future solar eclipses .

AWB launched its first run of the program after the last solar eclipse in 2017 when volunteer centers across the country collected millions of the glass. After vetting them for reuse, more than  half a million glasses were distributed to Africa, Asia and South America.

People can visit  AWB's website  to find their nearest participating collection center and learn more about recycling the glasses, said Andrew Fazekas, the organization's communication manager.  

"We figure there's probably going to be tens of millions of glasses out there at the very least," he said. "And most of them are probably very gently used."