Remarks by Foreign Minister Eide at G20 meeting

I wish to start my remarks by emphasising that I'm thrilled to be here, at the first G20-meeting in Africa. Being in South Africa is very special for me personally, as I was deeply engaged in the anti-apartheid movement in Norway in my earlier years as a young political activist. The strong bonds made with the South African people who made this country a country for all, remain very special for me.

This year marks 80 years since the UN was founded. The UN was founded by people who had experienced not one, but two, world wars. The founders had also experienced the 1930s, where many of the roots of the Second World War were laid; when we had movements of nationalism, trade wars, and very ineffective global governance.

In addition to ending the war, these people wanted to create a better future for all of us. They made the UN Charter. The principle number one in the Charter is that “thou shall not invade other countries”. Countries shall respect the sovereignty of other countries. In addition, the Human Rights Charter was established to deal with how governments should deal with their own citizens.

This system is being severely challenged.  That worries me deeply.

What we need to do now, is to follow up on what we said we would do when we met in Rio last year.

We all know that the global governance system needs reform. It needs to become more representative. It needs to be more effective. It needs to take into account all that has happened over these last 80 years. In order to get there, we need to maintain and preserve what we have, and then build on that.

In order to get back to the key purpose, and to reform the system, we need to start practicing it. I will add my voice to all those good interventions that have said that international law must be respected consistently. The same rules of international law apply to the DRC, to Sudan, to Myanmar, to the Middle East and to Ukraine. And we can only be credible if we are honest and clear about the fact that these rules apply everywhere. 

If we are serious about preserving international law we must be consistent, whether it's friend or foe that violate the rules.

All of these conflicts do not only create misery and death and destruction and security challenges, they also take away our attention to deal with global challenges. Which is why I am so happy that the South African presidency highlights exactly this, including solidarity, equality, sustainability, the issues of global tax, reform, of cost of capital, commission of health. All these themes bind us together.

The world has too many common challenges. We cannot allow ourselves to invent problems that we don't really need. If we apply the principles of the UN charter, we wouldn't really need them - and we could focus on the problems that confront us all.

This can be only solved if we clearly state that we are stronger together. Not “me first”. But stronger together.

Thank you.