World leaders have assembled in New York for the 77th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (UNGA). The Assembly opened on September 13, with the high-level general debate convened on September 20. At least 150 leaders are believed to be in New York for the high-level debate.

World leaders have gathered in New York against the backdrop of a litany of global problems. For one, this is the first UNGA since Russia’s aggressions towards Ukraine in February this year. Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, has already called for an immediate cease fire in Ukraine in his address to the Assembly.

The other major issue that world leaders must confront is the threat of climate change.

In the lead up to the UNGA, Pakistan suffered its worst flood in years. The catastrophic rains, which have submerged large parts of the country, killing nearly 1,500 people, affecting a further 33 million people and costing up to US$40 billion in damage, have been linked to climate change.

On the eve of the high-level segment of the Assembly, Hurricane Fiona had already caused widespread damage in the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico.

In Asia, Typhoon Nanmadol had caused extreme damage in Japan, resulting in Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delaying his departure to New York for the UNGA.

UN Chief, António Guterres, has urged countries to tax energy giants as part of the climate change fight. Guterres has contended that countries should impose windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies and divert the money to vulnerable nations suffering worsening losses from the climate crisis.

Guterres’ first words to the UNGA were: “Our world is in big trouble.”

According to the UN Head, “Let’s have no illusions. We are in rough seas. A winter of global discontent is on the horizon, a cost-of-living crisis is raging, trust is crumbling, inequalities are exploding and our planet is burning,” he told the assembly. “We have a duty to act and yet we are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction. The international community is not ready or willing to tackle the big dramatic challenges of our age.”

Those were strong, but certainly fitting words coming from the UN Secretary-General.

The fear is that those words may have fallen on deaf ears.

World leaders, especially the leaders of the world’s leading economies and their captains of industry, must be aware of the existential crisis facing our planet from climate change. Similarly, it cannot be lost on leaders that pursue aggression rather than diplomacy, that their actions have crippling consequences for the global economy and actual lives and livelihoods.

What we are faced with is a major crisis of a deficit in global moral leadership, both with respect to the political directorate and owners of capital. Moral leadership refers to conduct and decisions that exemplify strong moral values such as selflessness and integrity. Moral leadership requires that leaders act with compassion, empathy, understanding and a sense of justice or fairness.

Given how tumultuous the world is, the need for moral leadership is in high demand, but in short supply. Positive examples of such leadership in business and politics alike, appear to be few and far between.

In a sign that the world is not right side up, as billions of low- and middle-income people – many of whom saw their savings wiped out during the pandemic – struggle to cope with soaring food and energy prices, Credit Suisse is reporting an increase in the ranks of the global “ultra high net worth” (UHNW) individuals. As millions get richer, billions are getting poorer – a sign of the major inequality confronting the world.

Indeed, it takes moral leadership to avoid wars, to end wars, to halt a climate catastrophe and to distribute the world’s wealth more equitably. That these issues are still pressing is a sure sign that the world is in big trouble.