UN Secretary-General António Guterres

At the ongoing G20 Osaka Summit, digital economy is high on the leaders’ agenda for discussion. On the morning of June 28, at a press conference given by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres regarding the role of the G20 in establishing a global governance system on the digital economy, the UN Secretary-General answered China Today’s question.

Guterres said the digital economy, including artificial intelligence, is bringing dramatic changes to the world.  

“In the global economy, you can see massive destruction of jobs and the massive creation of jobs, but the jobs will be different,” Guterres told China Today, and pointed out the very important role the G20 will play in the aspect. 

“There’s strong commitment to guarantee that countries are able, through education, through lifelong learning, through new forms of social protection, through regional programs, and job creation programs, to minimize the negative impact of that change, and at the same time to optimize the positive contributions of the fourth industrial revolution,” he said. 

“On the other hand, there are questions related to cyber security that need to be addressed; there are questions related to peace and security. You know I’ve been very clearly in favor of a ban on autonomous weapons that would be able to kill without human interference in their decision making. So there are a lot of things that will have to be discussed at different forums, from the committees of the General Assembly of the United Nations to the discussions among the stakeholders, companies, governments, research centers, etc. There’s a lot to be done, but I believe that some of these aspects fit perfectly the agenda of the G20,”Guterres noted. 

At the press conference, Guterres also highlighted the grim challenge posed by climate change, calling for stronger commitment by leaders of countries. 

When talking about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he said, “That's where we are lagging behind.” He called on countries to improve the governance, reduce production, and implement rule of law. Meanwhile, Guterres also emphasized the important role of the private sector in this regard.  

“Without the private sector it will be impossible to achieve these goals and a lot needs to be done in order to raise awareness and to show the opportunity that exists and to create mechanisms to reduce risks,” he highlighted.