President Petro will arrive at the UN Assembly with an intense bilateral agenda and will warn of the urgency of confronting the climate crisis

• The Colombian president traveled to New York yesterday to participate in the 77th UN General Assembly and on Tuesday he will speak before the plenary.
• The President will be the fifth to speak at the opening of the general debate, after the leaders of Brazil, the United States, Chile and Jordan.
• He has already met with the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, traveled to New York yesterday to participate in the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations Organization (UN), where he will present the need and urgency of action in the face of the threat of the climate crisis.

Within the framework of his first speech as Head of State before the UN Assembly, the Head of State will speak with several of the leaders attending the annual meeting of world leaders.

Petro intervenes on Tuesday morning before the plenary and will be the fifth to speak in the general debate of the Assembly, chaired by Csaba Korösi, from Hungary, after the leaders of Brazil, the United States, Chile and Jordan.

#ColombiaInTheUN ????

President @petrogustavo held a bilateral meeting with @antonioguterresSecretary General of the @A.#UNGA pic.twitter.com/TRDenicazu

– Colombia Presidency ?? (@infopresidencia) September 18, 2022

On this occasion, the theme of the world meeting is “A defining moment: transformative solutions for interconnected challenges”.

It is the first time that most of the delegates from the 193 member states of the UN return in person to the headquarters of the organization, after the Covid-19 pandemic, to discuss the annual agenda and issues such as the war in Ukraine, the crisis climate and energy problems.

The Colombian head of state, who will be in the United States until September 22, is traveling accompanied by the Colombian ambassador to the UN, Leonor Zalabata; the chief of staff, Laura Sarabia; the Ministers of the Environment, Susana Muhamad, and of Education, Alejandro Gaviria, and the Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs, Laura Gil, among others. They will be joined by Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Durán.

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President Petro’s agenda in NY

Sunday, September 18

President Petro’s first activity upon arriving in New York on Sunday was a meeting with UN Secretary António Guterres at the agency’s headquarters.

Later he met with the Colombian community in the New York sector of Queens.

Monday, September 19

On Monday the 19th in the morning, the president participates in the Summit on Transformation in Education, convened by the Secretary of the UN.

He will then attend the event organized by the United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC). There, topics such as food safety and clean energy will be reviewed.

Tuesday, September 20

On Tuesday, at 8:30 am (7:30 am Colombian time), President Petro will greet the Secretary General to the heads of delegation.

Next, will be the opening of the General Assembly.

At approximately 10:40 (9:40 am Colombian time), the President of Colombia will speak in plenary. He will be the fifth to address the leaders attending the event.

He will then meet with the President of the European Commission, Charles Michel.

In the afternoon, Petro will meet with Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women.

Likewise, he will intervene in the meeting ‘Countdown to COP15: event of reference leaders for a positive world for nature’.

Wednesday, September 21

The day’s agenda begins with a working breakfast with members of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (ASCOA).

The Colombian head of state will be received by the president of this study center, Susan Segal, and will speak before the members of the entity.

Later, he will have bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Later, the president of Colombia meets with the prime minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre.

In the evening, he will attend the reception offered by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, on the occasion of the Assembly, at the American Museum of Natural History.