Bhutan, 2025

The Assembly will hear an address by His Excellency Serene Topke, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan. I request protocol to escort His Excellency and invite him to address the Assembly. Khuzo Zangpo, Madam President, Mr. Secretary-General, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, I bring the warm greetings of His Majesty King Jigme and the prayers of the people of Bhutan for peace, harmony and progress in our world. Excellencies, 80 years ago, from the devastation of the Second World War, the founders of the United Nations dared to imagine a world at peace. They chose cooperation over conflict, dialogue over division and hope over despair. They built an institution to protect humanity from its worst instincts and higher risks. Today, our challenge is different, but no less urgent. A planet in a climate crisis, persistent poverty and conflicts that shatter lives and erode trust among our nations. The Secretary-General's UN80 initiative calls on us to respond with renewed purpose. Renewed purpose to strengthen the UN's capacity to act decisively on peace, sustainable development and climate action. Renewed purpose to restore its moral authority. Renewed purpose to make it fit for the purpose of our collective future. Bhutan believes in a United Nations that is representative, responsive and effective. We seek a multilateralism that delivers results, not just resolutions. That is why Bhutan supports reform of the United Nations, including reform of the Security Council, expanding both permanent and non-permanent membership. A reformed Security Council must include deserving nations, such as India and Japan, alongside other capable and leading countries to reflect today's complex realities. As we look toward the UN at 100, let us commit to a world where peace is the norm, where climate is stable and where every child, no matter where they are born, has the opportunity to grow as productive members of our global community. Bhutan will be an active partner on this journey. We will speak for the poor and vulnerable. We will champion sustainability and climate action. We will promote gross national happiness as an alternate measure of success to the conventional gross domestic product. Excellencies, reform of the United Nations must serve a purpose beyond itself. It must equip the United Nations to confront the defining challenge of our times, the climate crisis. In Bhutan, we have endeavoured to protect our forests, keep our rivers pristine, and we take pride in being carbon negative. Each year, we sequester over five times more carbon than we emit, a contribution far exceeding our size and resources. Yet, we are already confronting the harsh realities of climate change. Our mountains are warming at nearly twice the global average. Centuries-old glaciers are shrinking at alarming rates. Rivers that once flowed steadily now swell unpredictably into destructive floods during the summer and often dry up in the winter. This is not a distant threat. It is here, it is now, and it demands immediate, urgent action. Every country must strive to reduce emissions and aim for carbon neutrality. This we know, yet global efforts remain far behind what the science demands. As of today, only four countries – Bhutan, Panama, Suriname, and Madagascar – just four countries are carbon neutral. At COP29 last year, our countries came together. The four countries came together to launch the GZERO Forum, a coalition of carbon neutral nations committed to accelerating climate ambition. Our message is clear. Net zero cannot be the finish line. It must be the starting point. Every nation must work urgently to slash emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. On our part, we will share best practices, from forest conservation to sustainable agriculture. We will share technologies, from renewable energy systems to low-emission transport. We will champion nature-based solutions, because forests and wetlands are not just landscapes. They are like vital organs, the lungs, the kidneys of our planet. And we will push ambition beyond pledges. We will demand measurable results. We invite all countries and partners to join GZERO in this noble effort. The science is unequivocal. The solution exists. The only question is, do we have the will? Excellencies, while reform of the United Nations and urgent climate actions are essential, this alone will not be enough. We must now reimagine the future we want. According to the United Nations, over half of humanity now lives in urban areas. And by 2050, nearly 70%, close to 7 billion people, will call cities home. Cities drive over 80% of global GDP. But they also account for more than 70% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. This makes cities both the engines of innovation and the front lines of our greatest challenges. Challenges like unsustainable consumption, environmental degradation and rising inequality. We face a choice. We can keep building cities that consume more than they give, or we can reimagine and redesign our cities that heal, that sustain, that uplift. Fifty years ago, Bhutan offered the world cross-national happiness, an alternate approach to development. Today, under the visionary leadership of His Majesty King Jigme, Bhutan offers the world an alternate approach to urban living, the Gelifu Mindfulness City. A city founded on the values of sustainability, harmony, spirituality and the ideals of cross-national happiness. The Gelifu Mindfulness City is a special administrative region that is already taking shape in Bhutan. With executive and legislative autonomy, as well as an independent judiciary now established, preparatory works are already underway and economic clusters are being advanced. The Gelifu Mindfulness City is not an idea on paper. It is a living project in action. The Gelifu Mindfulness City will not be a city of glass towers and unchecked sprawl. Instead, it will be a place where modernity and tradition meet, where nature is the foundation of urban living. Powered by renewable energy, built with sustainable materials and designed for low-carbon living, it will offer inclusive housing, green public spaces and meaningful jobs. For Bhutan, the Mindfulness City is a strategic step. A step towards taking cross-national happiness to the next level. A step towards advancing prosperity. And a step towards fostering deeper global engagement without losing our identity or our bond with nature. But the Gelifu Mindfulness City is not just Bhutan's project. It could serve as a forerunner in rethinking urbanisation. A model city built on the values of mindfulness, sustainability and shared harmony. I extend a warm invitation to all of you to join us in this exciting journey. A journey to bring a royal vision to life. A vision of how cities and urban living can heal, can inspire and can sustain both humankind and nature. Excellencies, the founders of the United Nations gave us more than an institution. They gave us an inheritance of hope and the solemn responsibility to carry that hope forward. In this spirit, and mindful of the troubled times we live in, I have the pleasure of announcing that Bhutan will host the Global Peace Prayer Festival later this year. From the 4th to the 17th of November this year, the Global Peace Prayer Festival will unite spiritual masters, scholars and practitioners from across the world and across traditions in a common aspiration for peace, healing and harmony. Through the recitation of the Milam Chemo, or Global Peace Prayers, the sacred Bhadaguru Mantra, the Kala Chakra Empowerment and the powerful Jeb Jigyep ritual, Bhutan seeks to offer not only a spiritual event, but also a diplomatic and cultural contribution to world peace. For Bhutan, it is both a privilege and a prayer that in these turbulent times, the voice of a small Himalayan nation can help nurture the great cause of peace for all humanity. We extend a warm welcome to all who wish to join the Global Peace Prayer Festival. Excellencies, this is our moment. Let ours be the generation that reforms the United Nations, the generation that confronts the climate crisis with urgency and unity, the generation that makes peace not merely the absence of war, but the presence of justice, opportunity and dignity for all. And when the United Nations marks its 100th anniversary, we will proudly affirm that we honour the vision of those who came before us and inspired hope for those who will follow. Thank you for your kind attention. Tashi Delek. On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan.