I bring the General Assembly warm greetings from the paradise in our backyards, the Federated States of Micronesia.
It is my honour to address the General Assembly, and in doing so I bring a warm kaselehlie on behalf of my delegation and the leadership and the people of the Federated States of Micronesia to all Member States in attendance today and those joining us virtually from across the globe.
I express my country’s gratitude as we join other members of the Assembly in extending our heartiest congratulations to the President on his election.
We also wish to thank his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid, for his excellent leadership.
I would also like to pay our respects to Secretary- General Antonio Guterres, who continues to demonstrate dedication and integrity in his role as Secretary-General of this — our — United Nations.
I will begin by reiterating that the Federated States of Micronesia’s foreign policy is to be a friend to all and an enemy to none; that we extend to all peoples and nations that which we seek: peace, friendship, cooperation and love in our common humanity.
As leaders of the world, it is our duty and obligation to take bold decisions and actions that serve our citizens and reflect our values. Every person in this Hall and beyond is impacted, in some form or another, by the brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. The unprovoked attack against the people of Ukraine by another Member of the United Nations is illegal, blatantly disregards international laws and norms and undermines the Charter of the United Nations, whose purposes and principles are to maintain international peace and security.
I join Secretary of State Blinken of the United States and the members of the Security Council in imploring Russia at their recent meeting to stop the threat of nuclear war.
The people and the Government of Micronesia support the people and the Government of Ukraine in their quest to defend their families and their homes.
Micronesia strongly encourages all other peoples and Governments, most particularly those with greater influence and means, to firmly stand with the people and the Government of Ukraine and show that the people of the twenty-first century cannot and will not tolerate aggressive and violent behaviour. An infringement on the rights of one is an infringement on the rights of us all, and we do well to stand with our neighbours — lest we one day find ourselves standing alone.
While traditional security concerns have taken much of our world’s attention in recent memory, for Micronesia, as a Pacific island country, it must continue to be emphasized that the most enduring security threat to the Pacific and the world is in the form of anthropogenic climate change.
The Federated States of Micronesia makes its most urgent appeal to the global community, especially the developed countries, to commit to the intent of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change by providing adequate, accessible and concessional financing for climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as for loss and damage.
On loss and damage specifically, Micronesia calls for the adoption of an agenda item at the twenty- seventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) on a loss and damage response fund, the establishment of that fund at COP 27 and the full operationalization of the fund to be completed at COP 28.
The Federated States of Micronesia cannot overemphasize the extreme urgency of limiting global warming to 1.5°C through rapid, deep and sustained reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. However, to the extent that mitigation, as well as adaptation, are not sufficient to avert or minimize loss and damage, financing must be provided with all due haste to help vulnerable communities, like those of my country, to recover from climate change-related loss and damage.
Current efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions remain wholly inadequate. The world is moving past 1.5°C of warming and is rapidly speeding towards and will soon exceed 1.5°C. Despite warnings of dangerous feedback and tipping points, many actors still continue to engage in the worst carbon-emitting activities. They ignore the solutions that could address climate while supporting development goals in favour of business as usual.
Fortunately, the tide is changing on CO- emissions, but still too slowly. Moreover, research shows that efforts to reduce CO2 alone will not cool the planet in the short term. Only the mitigation of methane, which is a super pollutant and the second-most potent greenhouse gas, and of the other short-lived climate pollutants can prevent the world from exceeding the 2.0°C upper limit over the next two decades.
We need a new and robust methane agreement, which is currently not addressed sufficiently in the existing legal framework. Doing so is key to ensuring that countries can put their adaptation plans in place while additional CO2 mitigation gets under way. Micronesia urges all countries to commit to the Kigali Amendment and the Global Methane Pledge to see a 30 per cent reduction of methane emissions from 2020 levels by 2030.
In that connection, I congratulate the United States on the ratification of the Kigali Amendment by the United States Senate yesterday. That is indeed a monumental step towards curbing climate super pollutants. I urge other countries to take that important step forward to collectively secure a livable planet for all of us and for future generations. I look forward to working closely with the United States and others in fully implementing the amendment.
This is my fourth address to the Assembly. In my previous three addresses, I urged the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China to consider climate change a non-political and non-competitive issue for cooperation, because solving the climate change crisis ultimately requires both of those superpowers to work together.
For the briefest period of time, it seemed as if the Americans, with whom Micronesia shares an enduring partnership, and the Chinese, with whom Micronesia shares a great friendship, were starting to work together on that issue despite increases in tension in other areas. Now they are no longer speaking to each other on that important issue.
Micronesia cannot understand why our partners and friends cannot get along on an issue of total international importance, but one way to get attention and action is to explicitly call out your closest friends and allies by name instead of talking around the substance. Indeed, President Xi and President Biden are both friends of Micronesia. I respect both of them and their peoples and their countries. As the two super-Powers in this world, they both set the tone and cadence of global
conversations. It is my wish that they can respect each other so that they can see with their eyes wide open that it is Micronesia’s strongest desire and the desire of the rest of the Pacific island countries that they resume cooperation on tackling climate change.
Micronesia says that to each of them bilaterally and at the General Assembly multilaterally, in the quietest conversations in the President’s Office and in the loudest conversations streamed across the world, because it is our most important issue. Their capacity to cooperate on climate change is necessary to ensure that our world is habitable for future generations and does not suffer from civilizational collapse.
Ours is undoubtedly an interdependent world, in which we share common goals for sustainability. I am of the view that, through cooperation, we have a better chance of building healthy societies that we can proudly pass on to our children and a world that values the rights of every individual and every society.
I want to personally thank the leadership of this Organization and its Members for the support extended to my country in establishing the Multi-Country Office for the North Pacific. I am proud to announce that the establishment of the Multi-Country Office has added value to our response to the coronavirus disease and accessing available funding sources and technical support through the United Nations system. Small island developing States (SIDS) such as Micronesia are in dire need of support from our partners to support our country-driven development strategy.
Distance continues to be a challenge in providing service delivery. In view of the efforts provided by the Multi-Country Office, I wish to acknowledge and commend the United Nations agencies for their diligent work in making sure that they reach every island in my country and in the Micronesia subregion, including the vulnerable outlying islands.
While acknowledging our interest in strengthening our tourism sector and developing value-added agricultural products, investment in the blue economy is our main aim. To that end, our Government works closely with the private sector for the benefit of all. Sustainable fisheries management and the protection of the environment are therefore essential in our endeavour to sustain marine life for our future generations.
In 2022, we have focused a substantial amount of work on oceans, with mixed results. While the Our Ocean Conference, held in Palau, and the Ocean Conference, held in Lisbon, both concluded with successful outcomes, critical work remains to be done to fully protect the ocean resources considered a common heritage of humankind.
In March, as the international community, we were unable to finalize an international legally binding instrument to conserve and sustainably use the marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Just last month, we had to pause the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) because we ran out of allotted time. It is imperative that we finalize that work as soon as possible so that we can protect ocean resources effectively. Micronesia looks forward to the resumption and conclusion of the BBNJ negotiations very soon.
This past summer, Micronesia announced that we were joining the Alliance of Countries for a Deep- Sea Mining Moratorium, alongside a number of fellow Pacific SIDS. It is the view of Micronesia that deep seabed mining in the international seabed area should not occur until the precautionary principle, the ecosystem approach and the polluter-pays principle have been implemented. In the area of the international seabed, no such implementation can take place in the absence of the finalization of a robust, responsible and comprehensive set of exploitation regulations by the International Seabed Authority. To do otherwise would be a dereliction of our duty to protect and preserve the marine environment and respect the common heritage of humankind.
Turning to the maritime areas within our national jurisdiction, the vast expanse of Micronesia’s maritime zones represents both an opportunity and at the same time an enormous challenge. We have some of the largest fishing grounds in the Pacific, covering an area of 1.1 million square miles, and one of the most productive tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific.
Our maritime zones are exposed to threats of transnational crime, illegal activities and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. We need our partners to support us in capacity-building efforts for strengthened law enforcement in the areas of maritime surveillance, money-laundering and terrorist financing, drug trafficking and other transnational crimes.
We are thankful to Australia for donating two Guardian-Class patrol boats, as well as to Japan for complementing those assets with four smaller patrol boats for nearby coastal waters. We recognize the
United States Coast Guard as an enduring partner in protecting our expansive ocean territory.
But given our vast exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelves, which reach beyond 200 nautical miles, we invite additional countries to assist us in acquiring more assets with much more advanced maritime surveillance capabilities, such as drones and submersibles. Our law enforcement, border management and maritime surveillance teams would benefit from more partnership in capacity-building and support for continually enhancing their law enforcement skills.
Speaking further of the common heritage of humankind, Micronesia wishes to express its gravest concern about Japan’s decision to discharge, as of next year, nuclear-contaminated water, otherwise known as advanced liquid processing system water, into the Pacific Ocean. We cannot close our eyes to the unimaginable threats of nuclear contamination, marine pollution and the eventual destruction of the Blue Pacific continent. The impacts of that decision are both transboundary and intergenerational in nature. As Micronesia’s Head of State, I cannot allow the destruction of our ocean resources that support the livelihood of our people.
The leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum face the future with a lot of optimism. As leaders, through the Suva Agreement, we adopted key structural reforms for the Forum that strengthen our region, including reforms on the selection and subregional rotation of the Secretary General position, the hosting of a subregional office of the Forum in Micronesia, the hosting of the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner in Micronesia and the filling of the head of that office in Micronesia. We are implementing those reforms in good faith to strengthen unity among the Pacific nations as one family.
We also adopted the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, which we just launched this afternoon in New York. It represents an important bridge into the future — a unique opportunity for our region to develop long-term approaches to address our common challenges. The solidarity of our region will strengthen our collective sense of Pacific regionalism and the security of the Blue Pacific continent, and we therefore ask our partners to assist us — and not to divide us in any way.
The key message for the United Nations and all countries in the world that engage with the Pacific is that Micronesia and the rest of the Pacific Islands Forum solicit all countries that engage with the Pacific to support and respect the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. It is the Pacific region’s road map for sustainable development and growth and the security of current and future generations. We can succeed in implementing it only if we work together with the support of our international partners.
I wish to conclude by explicitly calling on all peoples and nations who hear me today to know that the people and the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia extend to them peace, friendship, cooperation and love in our common humanity. We need Member States — all of them — to stand with us as nations united. To my fellow world leaders: we must take action and make bold decisions today. Our actions today will be our global prosperity tomorrow.