UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Opening the new year with an urgent appeal, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on world leaders to get "priorities straight" and invest in development, not destruction.

"Chaos and uncertainty surround us," Guterres said in his New Year message for 2026, noting that people worldwide are questioning whether leaders are listening and ready to act.

The scale of global suffering remains severe. More than one-quarter of humanity lives in conflict-affected areas, over 200 million people require humanitarian assistance, and nearly 120 million have been forcibly displaced by war, crises, disasters or persecution, according to UN statistics.

Despite these challenges, global military spending continues to surge. Guterres noted that military expenditure "has soared to 2.7 trillion U.S. dollars, growing by almost 10 percent," and could more than double to 6.6 trillion dollars by 2035 if current trends persist.

He stressed that the figure is thirteen times the total global development aid and roughly equals the entire gross domestic product of Africa.

A UN report released in September 2025 showed that rising military spending comes at a high opportunity cost, noting that less than 4 percent of current global military expenditure could end world hunger by 2030, just over 10 percent could vaccinate every child worldwide, and reallocating 15 percent would be sufficient to cover annual climate adaptation costs in developing countries.

"The world has the resources to lift lives, heal the planet, and secure a future of peace and justice," Guterres said, calling on leaders in 2026 to choose people and the planet over war and destruction. ■