Eighty years ago, the United Nations was forged from the wreckage of war. Our founders had two goals: to prevent future conflict, and to confront the legacies of the past. And few legacies were as bitter, or as pervasive, as colonialism.When we enshrined the principle of self-determination in the UN Charter, we made a radical break from history. We declared that the era of ruling people without their consent was over. In doing so, we lit a path to freedom for more than 750 million people – a third of the world’s population – who, in 1945, were still living under the shadow of foreign rule, including across more than fifty African countries that would go on to achieve independence in the decades that followed. Think of what this meant on the ground, in societies where generation after generation had never known what it meant to be governed by their own people.For a young person coming of age in New Delhi, Accra, or Jakarta, this promise marked a profound turning point. They could look forward to something their parents or grandparents may have had only dreamed of: a future shaped by their own choices, not by a distant capital.For a young person in Kingston, Port of Spain, or Suva, independence stopped being an abstract dream and became a horizon within reach. That expectation—shared across oceans—marked a global turning point.To turn that hope into reality, in 1960, this Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. This text did more than affirm the rights of nations large and small. It spoke of dignity.It spoke of social progress.And it placed decolonization firmly where it belongs: as a shared responsibility of the whole international community.I was reminded myself of the weight of that responsibility last year while reflecting on what marked 140 years since the Berlin Conference of 1884, when European powers, including my own country, violently divided an entire continent without the presence or consent of its peoples. As I said at the time, “We cannot undo what happened in the past. But we can work together to build a better future. To do so, it is crucial to identify and acknowledge injustice.”For that injustice did not end with the closing of that conference over a hundred years ago.It shaped borders, divided whole communities, fueled conflicts, and entrenched inequalities whose consequences remain with us today.And therefore, we have a common responsibility to address these consequences together.Today’s meeting, following General Assembly resolution 80/106, which proclaimed 14 December as the International Day against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations, honours the Declaration we committed to sixty-five years ago.By doing so, we are underlining our shared responsibility to carry forward the work the Declaration set in motion.That responsibility is especially urgent in light of the fact that some global challenges, like climate change, economic fragility, and limited access to finance, place additional strain on some of the former colonised societies.These issues also remain relevant for those non-self governing territories who remain on the agenda of the Special Committee on Decolonization. As I said, we cannot undo what we did in the past but we can work together to build a better future.

The eradication of colonialism in all its forms 65 years ago was this promise - by the common Declaration. Realizing that promise remains our enduring responsibility.Thank you.[END]

We meet at a grave time following the 3 January United States military action in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.  The broad outlines of the events of Saturday have been widely reported.Early that day, United States forces were active across Caracas and in the northern states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.  The extent of casualties resulting from these actions remains undetermined.In a statement on social media on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced the conduct of a “large scale strike against Venezuela, and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro”.During a press conference on Saturday, President Trump stated: “We are going to run the country until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”The Government of Venezuela has characterized the United States action as a military aggression carried out in civilian and military areas, and as a flagrant violation of the Charter, posing a threat to international and regional peace and security.  As we speak, President Maduro is being held in New York accused by US authorities, along with his wife Cilia Flores, of serious criminal offenses.What is less certain is the immediate future of Venezuela.I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among States are conducted.The situation in Venezuela has been a matter of regional and international concern for many years now.  Attention on the country only grew following the contested presidential elections in July 2024.The panel of electoral experts I appointed at the Venezuelan Government’s request to accompany the elections highlighted serious issues.We have consistently called for full transparency and the complete publication of the results of the elections.  As we reported to the Council on 23 December, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has catalogued serious violations.On 3 January, Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez invoked an emergency decree throughout the national territory extending additional security powers to the Government.The latest developments follow a period of heightened tensions, beginning in mid-August, as discussed in this Council on two previous occasions.  I have consistently stressed the imperative of full respect, by all, for international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, which provides the foundation for the maintenance of international peace and security.I remain deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected with regard to the 3 January military action.The Charter enshrines the prohibition of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State.  The maintenance of international peace and security depends on the continued commitment of all Member States to adhere to all the provisions of the Charter.Venezuela has experienced decades of internal instability and social and economic turmoil.  Democracy has been undermined.  Millions of its people have fled the country.The situation is critical, but it is still possible to prevent a wider and more destructive conflagration.  I call on all Venezuelan actors to engage in an inclusive, democratic dialogue in which all sectors of society can determine their future.This entails the full respect of human rights, the rule of law and the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people.I also urge Venezuela’s neighbours, and the international community more broadly, to act in a spirit of solidarity and in adherence to the principles, laws and rules erected to promote peaceful coexistence.I welcome and am ready to support all efforts aimed at assisting Venezuelans in finding a peaceful way forward.In situations as confused and complex as the one we now face, it is important to stick to principles.  Respect for the UN Charter and all other applicable legal frameworks to safeguard peace and security.  Respect for the principles of sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of States.  The prohibition of the threat or use of force.The power of the law must prevail.International law contains tools to address issues such as illicit traffic in narcotics, disputes about resources and human rights concerns. This is the route we need to take.  Thank you.[END]

India is uniquely positioned to lead the ‘inevitable and unstoppable’ global energy transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable sources, according to a top United Nations climate official.Selwin Hart, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition, delivered a special address at the second edition of Bharat Climate Forum, held in New Delhi today.The Forum, a day-long series of high-level dialogues on India’s climate goals and ambitions for cleaner technology, is organized by the Council for International Economic Understanding (CIEU) and Dalberg Advisors. It brings together government leaders, industry figures and institutional heads, as well as experts.Mr. Hart told the Forum that the world was changing its energy system “not out of idealism, but out of necessity and opportunity.” He said climate considerations alone were no longer driving the energy transition, but rather “cost, affordability, access, competitiveness, resilience and energy security”.Mr. Hart noted that countries that lead this transition will shape the industries, supply chains, and growth models of the future, whereas those that lag will remain exposed to volatility, pollution, and declining competitiveness.“India is uniquely positioned to lead,” he said. “Over the past decade, India has rapidly scaled up renewable energy deployment, driven down costs, and expanded its manufacturing capacity. India is now among the world’s fastest-growing clean energy markets, with solar and wind expanding at record levels.”The Special Adviser noted that, as an example, in 2010-11, India’s installed solar capacity stood at around 32 megawatts. By this month installed solar capacity has surged to around 130 gigawatts. That is more than a 3000-fold increase in a decade and a half.He also praised India for its leadership, with initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance and by mobilizing countries across the Global South to accelerate solar deployment, share best practices and build institutional capacity.[END]

Mr. Vice President, Distinguished Conveners of the Bharat Climate Forum, Honorable Ministers, Distinguished Leaders from Government, Industry, Civil Society, and Academia, colleagues from the UN, Ladies and Gentlemen:It is an honor to join you here in New Delhi at this important Forum at this critical juncture in the global fight against the climate crisis.Ten years ago, the world came together to adopt the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – a moment of true leadership and a victory for multilateralism. In 2015, the world was heading towards 4 degrees Celsius of warming.The most recent UNEP Emissions Gap Report shows that the new Nationally Determined Contributions from countries representing close to 80% of global emissions – if fully implemented – would put us on a path just above 2 degrees of global warming.A decade later, some progress has been made but much more needs to be done. 
We must move much faster.Those national plans must be a floor, not a ceiling.India’s political and intellectual leadership was critical to sealing the deal in Paris in 2015.And as we enter the second decade of implementation, India’s continued leadership is needed more than ever to ensure that this decade becomes one of acceleration and delivery towards the goals of the Paris Agreement.We also meet at a moment of profound geopolitical and economic uncertainty and transformation– and at a time when the climate crisis itself is accelerating.Across the world climate impacts are becoming more frequent, intense and destructive. As global temperatures reach new and more dangerous highs - extreme heat, floods, droughts and storms are no longer distant risks but present-day realities - disrupting lives, livelihoods and economies.And it is the developing countries and vulnerable communities that are paying the highest price despite contributing the least to the problem.The climate crisis is a here-and-now development challenge.At the same time, across every region, countries are navigating slower growth, rising debt, supply-chain disruptions, and heightened concerns about affordability and energy security. These pressures are reshaping national priorities everywhere. And they are also reshaping the global energy transition.  But one reality is increasingly clear.The world is changing its energy system — not out of idealism, but out of necessity and opportunity.The energy transition is no longer being driven by climate considerations alone. But today, cost, affordability, access, competitiveness, resilience, and energy security have become the dominant forces driving change.And that change is now inevitable and unstoppable.Last year, global investment in clean energy was almost twice the level of investment in fossil fuels.Solar power has become the cheapest source of new electricity generation across most of the world.Almost all new power capacity came from renewables.Renewables overtook coal as the world’s largest source of electricity.Renewables and electrified technologies are more efficient and faster to deploy. 
And energy efficiency remains the fastest and least costly way to reduce demand.These are not projections.They are market realities.At the same time, the world’s continued dependence on fossil fuels represents one of the greatest threats to global stability and prosperity.Fossil fuel production is highly concentrated in a small number of countries and regions, while consumption is broadly dispersed. The result is a deeply asymmetric system of risk. Three out of every four people on the planet live in countries that are net importers of fossil fuels — exposed to volatile prices, geopolitical shocks, supply disruptions, and balance-of-payments pressures.This is not a temporary vulnerability.It is a structural one.Repeated oil and gas price spikes over the past decades have wiped out years of development gains in many importing countries — driving inflation, worsening debt distress, eroding fiscal space, increasing social and political instability and undermining long-term development.For India, these dynamics are especially stark — but they also point clearly toward opportunity and necessity.In the 2024–25 fiscal year, India — the world’s third-largest crude oil importer — spent around $242 billion on importing crude oil and liquefied natural gas combined.That is real money — real capital — flowing out of the domestic economy each year.It represents resources that could otherwise be invested at home — in infrastructure, health systems, education, innovation, resilience, and jobs.
Reducing fossil fuel dependence is therefore not only a climate imperative. It is a macroeconomic, fiscal, and strategic necessity.Countries that lead this transition will shape the industries, supply chains, and growth models of the future.Those that lag will remain exposed to volatility, pollution, and declining competitiveness.India is uniquely positioned to lead.Over the past decade, India has rapidly scaled up renewable energy deployment, driven down costs, and expanded its manufacturing capacity. India is now among the world’s fastest-growing clean energy markets, with solar and wind expanding at record levels.In 2010-11, India’s installed solar capacity stood at just around 32 megawatts. By January 2026 installed solar capacity surged to around 130 gigawatts. That is more than a 3000-fold increase in a decade and a half.In 2025 alone, India installed over 44 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity, almost doubling what was installed in 2024.India’s clean energy transition is increasingly visible in everyday life.
Programmes on rooftop solar — including large-scale efforts to solarize homes, public buildings, and small enterprises — are lowering household energy bills, improving energy access, reducing distribution losses, and creating local employment. Distributed solar is not only a climate solution; it is an affordability, resilience, and equity solution.And India’s leadership has not stopped at its borders.Through initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, India has reshaped global cooperation on clean energy — mobilizing countries across the Global South to accelerate solar deployment, reduce costs, share best practices, and build institutional capacity.And India’s leadership on implementation also extends beyond energy systems to resilient infrastructure. Through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) launched in New York at the Secretary General’s Climate Summit in 2029, India is helping developing countries to integrate resilience into investment decisions.  Together with Sweden, India also launched the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) in 2019 — a global initiative designed to accelerate the decarbonization of energy-intensive industries and align industrial growth with the goal of net-zero emissions by mid-centuryThis leadership matters profoundly. Early movers in industrial decarbonization will shape standards and secure future competitiveness. Those that delay risk locking in obsolete infrastructure and losing industrial relevance.India’s broader push on green hydrogen, battery storage, clean manufacturing, and digitalized energy systems reinforces this approach — positioning the country not only as a major clean energy market, but as a global hub for low-carbon industrial innovation.As India works toward its national ambition of attaining developed-country status by 2047, the choices made today on energy, infrastructure, and resilience will be decisive.A clean, secure, and affordable energy system; climate-resilient infrastructure; and competitive low-carbon industries are not peripheral to this vision — they are central to it. The energy transition, done right, can be a powerful accelerator.But leadership in the energy transition also requires leadership on justice.A transition away from fossil fuels that is fast but is unfair will not endure. As economies transform, workers and communities -- particularly those dependent on fossil fuel value chains or exposed to rising energy costs -- must be supported through reskilling, social protection and affordable energy access, so that no one is left behind.Making the transition inclusive and people centered is not only a moral imperative – it is essential for sustaining public trust and ensure long term economic success.This brings me to three areas where India’s leadership is needed more than ever, at this critical juncture:First, India must continue to lead by example through decisive domestic action.
By demonstrating that a large, dynamic, fast-growing economy can meet rising energy demand while steadily reducing fossil fuel dependence, India can define a new development paradigm.Continued expansion of renewables, electrification of transport and industry, and strong improvements in energy efficiency will be essential.The IEA estimates that global investment in electricity grids must double by 2030 to keep pace with clean energy deployment. India’s focus on modernizing transmission, strengthening distribution, and scaling storage will therefore be central — not only for its own transition, but as a model for other developing economies facing similar constraints.India’s next Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – which we hope will be submitted soon - is an opportunity to set out its vision for a just transition and signal India’s direction of travel.Second, India is uniquely placed to help build and lead a global coalition for the clean energy economy that shapes the rules, narratives and supply chains of the transition.This coalition must work to build diverse, resilient, and trusted supply chains for critical energy-transition minerals and clean energy technologies. The lesson of fossil-fuel dependence must not be repeated in new forms.India can play a pivotal role in ensuring that trade supports — rather than fragments — the clean energy transition. Trade, industrial policy, and climate action must be aligned to accelerate deployment and expand access, particularly for developing countries seeking to industrialize through clean growth.Moreover, India’s leadership is critical on information integrity. The clean energy transition continues to be delayed and distorted by disinformation that exaggerates costs, obscures benefits, and undermines public trust. Anchoring global debate in science, evidence, transparency, and lived experience is now a strategic necessity.This is why last year the UN, Brazil and UNESCO launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, a major effort to combat climate disinformation. I encourage India to join and support the work of this initiative.Third and finally, I urge India to leverage its leadership role in the Global South to continue working with the international community to dismantle the practical barriers developing countries face in accelerating the transition.In much of the Global South, the challenge is not a lack of ambition — it is a lack of enabling conditions. Policy uncertainty, weak infrastructure, slow permitting, and above all, the high cost of capital, continue to constrain clean energy investments in developing countries. These obstacles are made even more acute when set against the backdrop of woefully limited climate financing from developed countries.The IEA has shown that financing costs for clean energy projects in emerging and developing economies can be two to three times higher than in advanced economies — even for identical technologies. This single factor can determine whether projects move forward or stall.Addressing this requires coordinated action: clearer policy frameworks, faster project pipelines, effective de-risking instruments, stronger domestic financial markets, and reform of international financial institutions.India’s voice and influence will be essential in shaping this agenda — ensuring that global finance evolves to support, rather than hinder, the clean energy transition in developing economies.The energy transition is no longer a distant objective. It is here and now.
The choice before us is not between climate ambition and development. It is between leadership and dependence; resilience and vulnerability; shaping the future or being shaped by it.India has shown time and again that it understands moments of historic transitions – and that it has the confidence to turn challenge into opportunity.From energy security to industrial transformation, from global cooperation to long-term development, India’s choices, given its scale and size, will help define not only its own future, but the future of the global economy.If the 21st century is to be defined by a cleaner, fairer, and more resilient development model, India will be one of its principal architects.The United Nations stands ready to support India’s leadership.Despite the geopolitical headwinds and divisions, I am optimistic about the future.Let us move forward with clarity and confidence. The transition is inevitable, unstoppable, and irreversible. The economy is on our side.The question before us is who will lead it, whether it will be just and fair, and whether we will act fast enough to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis.  Thank you.[END]