New York, November 18 (QNA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the G20 group to use their economic and diplomatic leverage to bring about peace, climate action, and fairer international financial institutions, stressing the need for countries to race much faster to tackle fundamental common challenges.

Speaking at press conference ahead of the G20, Guterres said "Our times are tumultuous, and we need to race much faster to tackle fundamental common challenges." "As wars grind on, people are paying a horrible price," he said, adding "We must step up for peace. Peace in Gaza with an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, and the beginning of an irreversible process towards a two-State solution.

The UN Secretary-General also called for peace in Lebanon with a ceasefire and meaningful steps towards implementing Security Council resolutions in full.

Guterres reiterated the need to follow the UN Charter, UN resolutions and international law to achieve peace in Ukraine.

Regarding finance, he said "vulnerable countries face tremendous headwinds and obstacles that are not of their making. They aren't getting the level of support that they need from an international financial architecture that is outdated, ineffective and unfair." "The Pact for the Future calls for ambitious reforms to make the system more representative of today's global economy and the needs of developing and vulnerable countries," he added.

On climate, the Secretary-General expressed concern about the pace of the negotiations at COP29 in Baku, stressing that countries must agree to an ambitious climate finance goal that meets the scale of the challenge faced by developing countries.

"Countries' current climate policies are pushing us to a disastrous 3.1 degree temperature rise by the end of the century," he pointed out.

"The spotlight is naturally on the G20. They account for 80 percent of global emissions. They must lead with national climate plans that follow the guidance they agreed to last year," Guterres added. (QNA)