The General Assembly, a week‑long forum in New York, ended Monday with leaders echoing a call to make the UN relevant in a world where climate change and power politics collide.
El Salvador’s foreign minister, Alexandra Hill Tinoco, opened the debate with a stark question: 'Where are the United Nations?'—a sentiment echoed by Samoa’s deputy prime minister, Mulipola Anarosa Ale‑Molioʻo, who warned that multilateralism is under siege.
The clash between sovereignty and cooperation surfaced as leaders from North Korea to the Marshall Islands demanded that the UN respect their rights while insisting on joint action, a contradiction that has long hampered decisive outcomes.
In response, the UN Security Council pledged to convene a special session on climate policy by December, aiming to draft a binding framework for vulnerable island states.
For the tiny nation of Tuvalu, whose highest point is a single hill, the promise feels like a lifeline as its citizens watch rising seas swallow their homes.