‘Perfect storm’ of crises is widening global inequality, says UN chief
Humanity is facing a “perfect storm” of crises that is widening inequality between the north and south, the UN secretary general has warned. The divide is not only “morally unacceptable” but dangerous, further threatening peace and security in a conflicted world.
The global food, energy and financial crises unleashed by the war in Ukraine have hit countries already reeling from the pandemic and the climate crisis, reversing what had been a growing convergence between developed and developing countries, António Guterres said.
“Inequalities are still growing inside countries, but they are now growing in a morally unacceptable way between north and south and this is creating a divide which can be very dangerous from the point of view of peace and security.”
Guterres, who spoke to the Guardian at the UN ocean conference in his home town of Lisbon in Portugal this week, said his biggest concern was how global problems were widening the gap between rich and poor.
“What is worrying is we are living in a perfect storm. Because all crises are contributing to the dramatic increase in inequality in the world and to a serious deterioration in living conditions of the most vulnerable populations.
“All these escalated a situation in which a world that was looking like it was converging between developing countries and developed countries, even if inequality were growing within countries north and south. Now we are back to a divergence.”
Earlier this month, the head of the UN’s World Food Programme warned dozens of countries dependent on wheat from Russia and Ukraine risked protests, riots and political violence as global food prices surge.
Of all the crises facing the world the climate crisis was the most vital, Guterres said.
“That is why it
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