Climate, development and peace are the most widely shared concerns for the planet based on an artificial intelligence-assisted analysis of world leaders' speeches before the U.N. General Assembly last month.
The U.N.’s Department of Global Communications used AI to determine the global and regional word patterns among speeches given by 178 world leaders and ministers at the assembly's 78th session in New York. Its findings were published in U.N. News, the world body's stories about itself.
“It is important that we understand the issues of concern to member states," said Joachim Harris, chief of the department's digital and promotion team that did the analysis. "Not only at the global level but also regionally, noting the differences in priority and emphasis."
By region, African leaders' most prominent concern was the continent itself. Climate, peace and development were the next-biggest topics:
For Asia-Pacific leaders, climate, cooperation and development were the buzzwords:
Latin American and Caribbean leaders most often mentioned climate and development:
Ukraine, naturally, topped the concerns for Eastern European leaders, followed by peace and security:
Among Western European leaders, climate, Ukraine and peace topped the concerns:
The meeting opened against a backdrop of extreme weather and disasters, health crises and inequalities, economic turmoil, the Ukraine war, and coups and political crises in Africa and the Americas.
The stated theme for the high-level segment known as the General Debate was titled: “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.”
