UN secretary-general visits London, to urge Security Council and financial reforms in keynote

The secretary-general arrived in London and met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan ahead of a keynote address at a UNA-UK conference at Methodist Central Hall.

Speaker 1 said the secretary-general thanked the United Kingdom for its "continued support to multilateralism" and discussed a range of international issues, including the war in Ukraine, the situation in Sudan, developments in the Middle East and proposals for United Nations reform.

The upcoming keynote, titled "UN General Assembly at 80: from 1946 to our future," is expected to urge updates to the Security Council and reforms to what the secretary-general’s team described as an "unjust and unfair international financial architecture" to better reflect today’s realities. Speaker 1 said the secretary-general will call on civil society movements to hold leaders accountable as part of that push.

The visit included a meeting with Sadiq Khan focused on "the role of cities in dealing with climate change," according to Speaker 1, who also said the secretary-general will record a video message to accompany the speech.

The secretary-general's London engagements come amid continued diplomatic and humanitarian briefings on Ukraine, Sudan and other crises that the UN says underscore the need for strengthened multilateral institutions.