Developing Countries ‘Short-Changed’ amid Rising Barriers, Protectionist Moves, Secretary-General Tells United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) XVI Conference, in Geneva today:

Over 60 years ago, in this very city, UNCTAD emerged from a simple truth. Development is not automatic. Development requires deliberate action. It requires policies, institutions and investments that serve people, and that deliver justice for the developing world for trade and through trade.

But, trade alone is not enough. Trade also requires institutions that set parameters, rules and a level playing field. And it requires finance, investments and technology that can help all countries participate and prosper. After decades, UNCTAD’s many achievements have helped steer the global trade system towards justice.

From the creation of the least developed countries category to the adoption of the Principles and Objectives for a New International Economic Order, to the establishment of the Common Fund for Commodities.

And let’s not forget your ongoing work to close gaps in the global trading system and propose concrete solutions. Your long-standing calls to reform the international financial architecture. And your creation of the Global Crisis Response Group in 2022, led by Secretary-General Grynspan, to keep trade flowing in the midst of war.

Today, as UNCTAD returns home for its sixteenth conference, we are reminded of the urgent need to continue shaping the future. We face a whirlwind of change. Three quarters of global growth now comes from the developing world. Services trade is surging, growing nine per cent last year. Digital commerce crosses borders at the speed of light. Frontier technologies are adding trillions to the world economy. Regional trade agreements have multiplied sevenfold since the 1990s. And South-South collaboration is increasing through value chains, technology transfer and cross-border investment.

But in this radically different new world, some things, sadly, remain the same. Developing countries continue to be short-changed. Uncertainty is growing. Investment is retreating. Supply chains are in turmoil. Trade barriers are rising, with some least developed countries facing extortionate tariffs of 40 per cent, despite representing barely one per cent of global trade flows. Maybe protectionism might be in some situations inevitable but at least it should be rational.

While services trade is growing, we see a rising risk of trade wars for goods. And military expenditure trends show that we are increasingly investing more in death than in people’s prosperity and well-being.

Meanwhile, geopolitical divisions, inequalities, the climate crisis and new and protracted conflicts are rippling across the global economy. Global debt has soared. Poverty and hunger are still with us. The international financial architecture is not providing an adequate safety net for developing countries. And the rules-based trading system is at risk of derailment.

The outcome document you’re crafting will be a blueprint to respond to these headwinds. I see four areas of action. First, we need a fair global trade and investment system. In 2024, countries adopted the Pact for the Future, which includes a global recommitment to the multilateral trading system.

The Pact aspires to promote export-led growth in developing countries through preferential trade access and special and differential treatment, as well as vital reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO). We must help countries move beyond commodity dependence, and build links to global value chains that drive jobs and prosperity. And we need new tools that allow developing countries to compete and benefit from the explosive growth in services trade.

Second, financing. For many developing countries we see that they are victims of limited fiscal space, slow growth, and the debt crisis. 3.4 billion people now live in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on health or education.

At June’s Financing for Development Conference in Sevilla, leaders emerged with a consensus to unlock more finance for developing countries; to strengthen their capacity to mobilize domestic resources; to triple the lending power of multilateral development banks to make them bigger and bolder; to leverage more private finance; to ease debt burdens with new instruments to reduce borrowing costs and risks, including from climate shocks, and speed-up support for countries facing debt distress. Simultaneously to reform global financial institutions so they better represent today’s world and the needs of developing countries.

Third, technology. Technology, high-quality data and innovations can drive economies forward. But, not every country has the access or technology they require to compete.

The Global Digital Compact, adopted last year, includes a number of actions to close the digital divide and ensure that frontier technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain become more accessible to all countries, not just rich ones.

And fourth, we need to align trade policies with our climate objectives and ensure that trade supports ambitious climate action and a just transition.

This means integrating trade strategies into countries’ new national climate plans, which are due ahead of the UN climate conference in Brazil next month.

It means helping developing countries harness the limitless power and potential of renewable energy — including through increased financial and technical support. This begins by defining a credible road map to mobilize 1ドル.3 trillion annually in climate finance by 2035 for developing countries.

And it means delivering justice for developing countries in production and trade. Too many developing countries and communities have not reaped the benefits of the global energy revolution, including those with large reserves of the critical minerals essential to powering the transition.

Last year, I launched the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals to develop a set of guiding principles to ensure that local communities benefit from the resources in their backyard, with fairness, transparency, sustainability and human rights at the core.

I thank UNCTAD for being part of this important effort, and I call on Governments, businesses and civil society to work with the United Nations to put these principles into practice.

UNCTAD was born when developing countries demanded a voice in a system designed without them. Since then, you have stood beside them and supported their calls for justice. We must continue this vital work. Let’s ensure that all countries can harness the power of trade and development to drive their economies forward. Thank you.