Old global order must change as power shifts to emerging economies

UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. © Press Information Bureau, Government of India

13 September 2026 - UN Secretary-General António Guterres told leaders of a bloc of major emerging economies in New Delhi on Sunday that a more balanced global order requires an overhaul of the institutions built after the Second World War, including the UN Security Council.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. © Press Information Bureau, Government of India

The group – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and several other nations that have also signed on – was founded to give major developing economies a stronger voice in a global system long dominated by Western powers. 

This year's summit, hosted by India, has drawn heads of state alongside the leaders of the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization.

Reflecting reality

“Today's economic, demographic and geopolitical realities are not those of 1945,” Mr. Guterres said. “Our institutional structures must reflect it.”

He told the assembled leaders that they themselves embodied the change he was describing. "Countries represented at this Summit speak to that changing reality," he said, adding that “we are increasingly moving towards a multipolar world.”

That shift, he argued, was something to embrace rather than resist. “Multipolarity helps bring balance and equity to global systems and institutions,” he said – but only if it comes with reform of bodies including the Security Council and the Bretton Woods system “to reflect the world of today.”

Go for growth

Mr. Guterres framed four priorities for what he called "inclusive global growth": financing, technology, climate justice and peace.

On finance, he said developing countries “need massive international support” to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, and called for multilateral development banks to become “bigger, better and bolder.”

On artificial intelligence, he warned the technology's benefits remained concentrated. “Its power sits with a few companies, in a few countries,” he said. “Unchecked, the AI divide will widen every other divide — in income, in opportunity, in security, and in sovereignty.”

Dangerous climate

His starkest language came on climate. “Scorching heat, devastating glacier melt, raging wildfires, devastating floods are all a preview,” he said, warning that “a supersized El Niño will only make matters worse” as the world approaches the 1.5-degree limit above pre-industrial levels. 

He pressed wealthy nations to honour existing pledges – $300 billion dollars a year, tripled adaptation finance, and greater loss and damage funding – and took aim at the handling of critical minerals: “Enough plundering.”

On peace and security, he pointed to Gaza, the wider Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan, calling on states to uphold the UN Charter, including “sovereign equality,” territorial integrity and “peaceful settlement of disputes.”

Collective responsibility

He closed by casting the reform agenda as a shared project rather than a concession. “As we move irreversibly to a multipolar world, all countries must work to strengthen and safeguard a multilateral system that delivers for all with the United Nations at its centre,” he said. – UN News