I congratulate my successor, His Excellency Mr. Csaba Korosi, on his assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy- seventh session. Allow me to also take this opportunity to express my profound thanks to the many Heads of State and Government and ministers who have said very kind words in recognition of the achievements of my presidency of hope during the seventy-sixth session. I am truly humbled by their sentiments.
Mr. Korosi takes stewardship of the Assembly in extraordinary times. Not since 1945 have we witnessed the international agenda grow in scale so drastically
and so relentlessly. As conflicts grow, as the climate crisis rages, as economies lie in shambles and as we emerge from an era-defining pandemic, we are left anxious and fearful. Yet we cannot retreat or linger in despair. Instead, this moment should make us reflect on the kind of world we want going forward. How can we make it more resilient and more just?
The Maldives proposes five main areas of focus.
First, we need to address the raging climate crisis. That crisis remains an existential threat, especially to small island developing States. For us, the difference between 1.5°C and 2°C is death. Internationally, the Maldives will continue to lead the way in climate action. In doing so, we will continue to advocate for a rights-based approach.
In 2008, the Maldives and other like-minded countries pursued Human Rights Council resolution 7/23, on human rights and climate change. After decades of advocacy at the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, in July we celebrated, in this Hall, the adoption of the landmark resolution 76/300, recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
We are once again competing for a seat on the Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term. If elected, addressing climate change as an integral part of the global human rights discourse will be among our priorities. We hope to have members’ support for our candidature.
The Maldives will also set a national example. Like other small island developing States, we make only a miniscule contribution to global carbon emissions. We will be the first to bear the consequences, yet we are the ones with some of the most ambitious climate action targets. We are pursuing an ambitious national plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2030 — a goal we can meet only with international support. This year, we launched the Glasgow-Sharm El-Sheikh work programme on the global goal on adaptation in the Maldives, with a view to supporting global action.
I urge the global community to do more. We must act before it is too late. We also urgently need to protect our oceans. The Maldives is a large ocean State. Our lives, livelihoods, culture and traditions are linked to the ocean. That is why we support the global initiative to protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Nationally, we have been working to protect our exclusive economic zone. We have now designated 79 marine-protected areas, including 14 per cent of our coral reefs. Considering the damage caused by plastics to maritime ecosystems, we have also implemented a ban on the importation, production and sale of several types of single-use plastics. We have set a national target to fully phase out single-use plastics by 2030.
We have only one planet. Protecting it is our only choice if we care about our continued survival.
Secondly, we need sustainable and reliable sources of financing. In 2009 in Copenhagen, an ambitious pledge was made that $100 billion in climate financing would be mobilized by 2020. Even in 2022, we are far short of meeting that pledge. Partners must scale up their efforts to make up the difference and we urge our partners to redouble adaptation finance as agreed under the Glasgow Climate Pact in 2021.
It is also important to make access easier for all, especially developing countries and small island developing States in particular. We know that the world can mobilize resources when required. We know that we have the finances, but we need to direct them. We need to make assessments to make that financing fairer. That is why we have always been staunch supporters of alternative measures to gross domestic product. Traditional measures of development fail to accurately capture the vulnerabilities of countries and their resilience against external shocks. In that context, we look forward to the finalization of the multidimensional vulnerability index by the end of the year and its swift utilization.
Thirdly, we need gender equality to be at the forefront of our agenda. For centuries, women have had their contributions undervalued and their voices entirely discounted. That injustice cannot continue. We cannot solve the challenges facing all of humankind while half of it is denied their full potential. Women deserve an equal seat at the table.
The Maldives is advancing many legislative and executive initiatives to advance women’s representation. The Government has passed legislation to allocate 33 per cent of our local council seats to women. We have appointed women as Supreme Court justices for the first time. Half of our ambassadors overseas are women.
Despite the progress made, much remains to be done. Women continue to face a variety of challenges, including misogyny and gender-based violence. We can and must do better.
Fourthly, it is vital that the world come together to meet the peace and security challenges we face. We need to work harder to stop conflicts and the flagrant violations of international norms undermining the multilateral system we have painstakingly built over the past 77 years. The people of Ukraine, Afghanistan and Myanmar, among other countries plunged into conflict and bloodshed, deserve peace. They deserve an end to the ongoing tragedies upending their lives.
It is the same for the people of Palestine. The Maldives reiterates that a two-State solution based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, is the only meaningful solution for a lasting peace.
Addressing terrorism should also be a priority. Its menace continues to plague our world and jeopardize the safety and cohesion of our societies. The Maldives condemns terrorism in all its forms and will work with the international community to comprehensively combat both terrorism and violent ideologies.
The issues of our time are complex and multifaceted. We cannot apply old solutions to new challenges That brings me to my fifth and final point.
It is vital that we reform the multilateral system and better equip the United Nations to meet contemporary and future challenges. What we need is a United Nations 2.0. That is the thrust of the Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda (A/75/982). We wholeheartedly welcome the recent adoption by consensus of resolution 76/306, establishing the United Nations Youth Office, carrying forward one of the report’s most important recommendations. We agree with the underlying spirit of that resolution. We cannot continue to deny the voices of the 1.8 billion young people, especially on decisions that impact their futures. The Maldives will constructively engage with Member States to continue the follow-up process on Our Common Agenda.
Another critical aspect of revitalizing the United Nations should be reforming the Security Council — a goal the Maldives has advocated for decades. We have consistently called for an increase in the number of both permanent and non-permanent seats, while ensuring equitable geographic representation, to make the Council more responsive and responsible.
We also support increasing the substantial role and moral authority of the General Assembly. A welcome decision in that regard was the recent adoption of the veto initiative — a resolution that Maldives was happy to support (resolution 76/262).
The Maldives has always believed that our small size should not diminish our standing in the international arena. We believe that a rules-based international order, in which all States have a voice and are fairly represented and included, is necessary. It is our hope that our ongoing efforts aimed at multilateral reform culminate in such an outcome.
The extraordinary times we face must be met with extraordinary courage, extraordinary vision, extraordinary ambition and extraordinary leadership. As we look ahead, the tasks before us may seem daunting. They are immense in scale and borderless in their dimensions. They are beyond the capacity of any one single country to address by itself. But together, we can meet those challenges. Together, we have the resources, the power and the imagination to usher in a brighter future for humankind. The Maldives will continue to work alongside our peers and nations in the international community to deliver that vision. Together, we can.