Mahama demands UN reform, warns world Is ‘Losing Battle’ on climate change
Mahama tells UN: ‘If Not Now, When?’ Africa Demands Permanent Security Council Seat
Elohim Nyame 
President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has called for urgent reforms to the United Nations and renewed global action on climate change, warning that the current international system is outdated and unjust—particularly toward Africa.
Delivering Ghana’s address at the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, 25 September, Mahama declared that vulnerable nations are already paying the price for global inaction on climate change.
“Climate change is real, and we are fighting a losing battle against the loss of the Maldives and other island nations to the rising sea level, Timbuktu to desertification, and the Amazon Rainforest to global warming and deforestation,” he told delegates.
His remarks came shortly after US President Donald Trump dismissed climate change as a “con job,” underlining sharp divisions among global leaders on the issue.
Turning to the question of global governance, Mahama delivered a forceful critique of the United Nations, particularly the imbalance of power on the Security Council.
“The UN founding charter is outdated when it comes to representation. The most powerful post-World War II nations are still being rewarded with an almost totalitarian guardianship over the rest of the world,” he said.
He pointed out that the UN Charter enshrines “sovereign equality of all its members,” a principle he argued is not reflected in practice, as Africa remains excluded from permanent representation on the Security Council despite its 54 member states.
“If this were truly the case, a continent as large as Africa with its numerous UN Member States would have at least one permanent seat on the Security Council,” Mahama stated.
He further rejected the monopoly of veto power by the five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States—proposing instead that the General Assembly be empowered to challenge vetoes.
“No single nation should be able to exercise an absolute veto to serve its own interests in a conflict,” he said, stressing that reform was not only overdue but essential to restoring fairness and credibility to the UN.
Invoking Nelson Mandela’s landmark address at the UN’s 50th anniversary in 1995, Mahama reminded the Assembly that Africa has been demanding change for decades.
“Thirty years later, we African leaders are still making the same request: for a permanent seat on the Security Council, with the power of veto. So today, Madam President, I stand here in this exact spot, asking: if not now, then when?” he concluded.
