Live updates: U.N. General Assembly
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Latest on the U.N. General Assembly:
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Saturday that the world needs more fossil fuel investments, a message at odds with the United Nations' own panel of scientists and researchers.
“We need to invest in fossil fuels in order to meet growing international needs and meet the needs of consumers and producers to avoid the negative consequences of unrealistic policies aimed an excluding the main source of energy,” Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said at the U.N. General Assembly.
The U.N. panel says there should not be new investments in fossil fuel infrastructure and that the fuels, which are mostly responsible for climate change, must phase out over time.
The kingdom has committed to carbon neutrality by 2060, but insists that the energy transitions must be gradual.
Like other Arab states, he reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for a two-state solution between Palestinians and Israelis. He also called for reform of the U.N. Security Council to better “address common challenges."
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka’s recent political crisis presents an opportunity, its foreign minister said Saturday.
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Ali Sabri alluded to the dramatic political upheaval that has roiled the South Asian island country in describing the “significant changes” Sri Lanka has undergone since the last U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting.
He said the “external and internal challenges we face provide an opportunity for implementing political, social and economic reform that will lead to recovery and prosperity for our people.”
Sri Lanka’s new government is committed to fiscal discipline and economic and institutional reform, he said, and...