在过去75年里，联合国会员国已经增加到193个国家——所有会员国都是主权国家，都有权在大会享有平等投票权。随着会员国的增加，新的挑战出现了，但旧的挑战依然存在。因此，本组织的议程继续扩大，涉及气候变化、移民流动、不扩散和可持续发展目标。这个世界非但没有体现一个和平与平等的世界，反而出现了日益加剧的社会经济不平等、贫困、饥饿、武装冲突、恐怖主义、气候变化、大规模移民以及许多传染性和非传染性疾病的流行。最不发达国家落在后面，中等收入国家也掉入同样的陷阱。气候变化对许多国家，尤其是小岛屿和地势低洼的沿海发展中国家构成了特殊的生存威胁。
Over the last 75 years, the UN membership has grown to 193 States — all sovereign and entitled to an equal vote in the General Assembly. As the membership has grown, new challenges have arisen and old challenges have remained. As a result, the organization’s agenda has continued to widen — on climate change, migration, non-proliferation and sustainable development objectives. The world, rather than embodying a world of peace and equality, has instead seen growing socioeconomic inequality, poverty, hunger, armed conflict, terrorism, climate change, mass migration, and many pandemics of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Least developed countries are falling behind, and middle-income countries are caught in the same trap. Climate change poses an exceptional and existential threat to many, but particularly to small island and low lying coastal developing states.