Director-General's remarks at the Swiss Model United Nations 2025

Swiss Model United Nations 2025
Wednesday, 3 December 2025, at 10.00 a.m.
Room XIV, Palais des Nations

Dear Participants,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Palais des Nations, a place where the international community gathers to find solutions to global problems. Today, your voices join this long-standing tradition of dialogue and cooperation. I would like to congratulate the Swiss-UN Association and “Swiss Youth for the United Nations” for organizing this second edition of SwissMUN.

Model United Nations is much more than an academic exercise. It is a unique experience that immerses you in the heart of multilateral diplomacy. You will step into the role of diplomats: representing States, negotiating, drafting resolutions, and debating major global challenges. Initiatives like this are essential to prepare the next generation of leaders who understand the complexities of international relations and act with responsibility and vision.

The theme chosen for this edition – “Responsibility and Access to Remedies in Climate Emergencies” – is of critical importance. Climate crises are not only environmental challenges; they are also human rights crises. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and resource scarcity jeopardize fundamental rights to life, health, food, water, and adequate housing. These realities raise crucial questions of justice, accountability, and access to remedies – especially for the most vulnerable populations. 

For example, in low-lying islands, increasing sea levels have led to saltwater intrusion into freshwater sources and agricultural land, jeopardizing food security and forcing families to consider relocation. Such impacts underscore the urgent need for climate action that respects and protects human rights, ensuring that adaptation and mitigation measures prioritize those most at risk.

Climate change is not a distant threat—it is also present in Switzerland and felt more acutely than in many other regions. The alpine region is warming at nearly twice the global average, causing glaciers to retreat at an accelerated pace and threatening water resources that millions of people throughout Europe depend on. Rising temperatures are destabilizing mountain slopes, increasing the risk of landslides and floods, while biodiversity faces unprecedented stress. These changes endanger livelihoods, tourism, and the very “Alpine landscape” for which Switzerland is so famous. Switzerland’s experience is a stark reminder that climate change respects no borders. Urgent and collective action is the path forward.

By simulating the work of the Human Rights Council, you will examine these issues in all their complexity and explore concrete and inclusive solutions. Your role today will be to engage in dialogue, negotiate, confront ideas, and seek compromise. This is how diplomacy works: through listening, cooperation, and creativity. I encourage you to participate fully in this exercise, defend your positions, but also remain open to building consensus. Your generation brings bold ideas and fresh perspectives that the global community needs.

In conclusion, I wish you a day rich in exchanges, debate, and learning.  Make the most of this opportunity to develop your skills, broaden your perspectives, and contribute, in your own way, to a more just and sustainable world.

Thank you.