UN chief Antonio Guterres. Photo: Collected

LONDON, Jan 17, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - UN chief Antonio Guterres Saturday deplored 
a host of "powerful forces lining up to undermine global cooperation" in a 
London speech marking the 80th anniversary of the first UN General Assembly.

Guterres, whose term as secretary-general ends on December 31 this year, 
delivered the warning at the Methodist Central Hall in London, where 
representatives from 51 countries met on January 10, 1946, for the General 
Assembly's first session.

They met in London because the UN headquarters in New York had not yet been 
built.

Guterres paid tribute to Britain for its decisive role in the creation of the 
United Nations and for continuing to champion it.

But he said 2025 had been a "profoundly challenging year for international 
cooperation and the values of the UN".

"We see powerful forces lining up to undermine global cooperation," he said, 
adding: "Despite these rough seas, we sail ahead."

Guterres cited a new treaty on marine biological diversity as an example of 
continued progress.

The treaty establishes the first legal framework for the conservation and 
sustainable use of marine diversity in the two-thirds of oceans beyond 
national limits.

"These quiet victories of international cooperation -- the wars prevented, 
the famine averted, the vital treaties secured -- do not always make the 
headlines," he said.

"Yet they are real. And they matter."