Sultan of Brunei warns of growing inequity, climate change threats, and hard-won peace under threat

Sultan Bolkiah noted that the rapid advancement of digital technologies enabled governments, businesses, and educational institutions to keep functioning during the Covid-19, but warned that new challenges are emerging to threaten human security.

Growing inequity cannot be ignored, wider threats such as climate change loom large, and hard-won peace is under threat, he said.

“Peace and stability are two important elements to safeguard the future and prosperity of nations,” Sultan Bolkiah said.

He offered four ways to achieve this:

• youth and women need to contribute to better policy-making;
• countries need to embrace and maximise 4IR technologies across all aspects of governance
• focus on economies, infrastructure, and education, across the private and public sector;
• governments need to work together, particularly on regional cooperation.

The address by the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Hassanal Bolkiah, was attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai.

The Sultan praised the UAE’s efforts and achievements in many fields, including youth and women empowerment, renewable energy, food security, and others.

He stated that the UAE has achieved impressive economic progress, reflecting the vision of its wise leadership. He also called for closer integration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the future.

Sultan Bolkiah said: “In the words of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, history is a continuous chain of events, the present is just an extension of the past. I believe it is important to maintain our common resolve for a peaceful and prosperous world, especially that lately we have been reminded how we must never take for granted the peace we have worked to achieve for decades.”

He also suggested that governments work more closely on addressing climate change. With Brunei set to host the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change, Sultan Bolkiah stressed the critical need of the UAE’s stewardship of COP28, saying he had confidence the summit would tackle this urgent threat head-on.