Amidst severe geopolitical stress and urgent transnational issues, the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 80) took place in September 2025 at UN Headquarters in New York. The meeting, which coincided with the UN’s 80th anniversary, brought together heads of state, foreign ministers, and leaders of civil society to discuss a wide range of topics, including climate finance and adaptation, global governance and great power competition, nuclear proliferation, large-scale humanitarian crises (such as the Gaza war and protracted displacement crises), and emerging governance issues brought on by artificial intelligence (AI). Annalena Baerbock served as the assembly’s president for this session. 

In addition to the high-level week and the general debate, UNGA 80’s formal program featured special plenaries and thematic gatherings that sought to turn rhetoric into practical collaboration. These included sectoral events on AI, climate finance, and humanitarian response, as well as an 80th anniversary commemoration. As per the Council on Foreign Relations, the media confirmed what analysts and policy institutes had predicted: the majority of high-level interventions would focus on a few interconnected themes: climate and “loss & damage” finance; the humanitarian and legal aftermath of the Gaza war; Russia-Ukraine and European security; the competition for great power governance (particularly the dynamics between the United States and China); nuclear proliferation issues (including North Korea); and the need for UN reform and renewed relevance.

Developing and small island governments made one of the strongest and most persistent complaints during the 80th session of the UNGA, accusing affluent countries of not fulfilling their climate finance pledges and of providing inadequate and difficult-to-access funds for adaptation and loss and damage. As Reuters reported, the debate was framed as one of existential equity rather than an abstract technical issue by delegations from low-lying island states, African Sahel nations, and climate-vulnerable regions.

They claimed that inadequate or delayed disbursement of promised funds exacerbated vulnerability, caused displacement, and undermined........

© Paradigm Shift