I congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election to preside over the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly and assure you of my country’s full support during your presidency.
At last year’s general debate (see A/76/PV.6), I called on leaders to build a better world for those living today, and even more so for the generations yet to come. Today I would therefore like to take everyone back to 1992, when Severn Cullis-Suzuki spoke at the Earth Summit — the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro. She appealed to everyone to help stop the destruction of the Earth’s resources. Now it is 2022, and the world in its current state does not need any more wake-up calls. It is time for real action. While some progress has been made, we have not yet succeeded in overcoming the challenges we face.
Meanwhile, the threats have been adding up: economic recovery from the coronavirus disease pandemic has slowed; the climate crisis is worsening, with extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and collapsing ecosystems; poverty and hunger are on the rise; and there is definitely a humanitarian crisis. The global community is faced with escalating consumer and fuel prices that have risen substantially, damaging living standards, particularly for the vulnerable.
I therefore want everyone here to take a moment to ask themselves the following questions. Have we treated the Earth in a sustainable way? Are we better prepared for the next pandemic? Has access to climate financing improved? Have we addressed the root causes of the humanitarian crisis and unregulated migration? Are we ensuring that the most vulnerable in our societies are being lifted out of poverty and hunger, and have we provided for their needs? Are we taking enough action together as one?
We can all conclude that we are not ready and have not taken all the necessary measures. And as the leader of Suriname, a small country and one of only three carbon-negative countries in the world, I appeal to everyone today to ensure that we all uphold our firm commitment to international principles and international law when addressing global challenges and threats. Today I urge the United Nations to exert its important role and place in defence of those principles by using meaningful dialogue and constructive engagement as tools. Such action will bring us closer to achieving our shared objectives in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and keeping our promise to leave no one behind.
No country is immune to the climate crisis. Over the past few months, Suriname, has been affected by excessive rainfall, resulting in floods in many parts of the country. Owing to the inflow of salt water, fertile agricultural land has been adversely affected, causing economic loss and impacting food security and rural livelihoods.
The Secretary-General, who visited Suriname in July, witnessed first-hand the effect of climate change on low-lying coastal States. He lauded our nature-based solutions, such as preserving mangroves, rainforest and other essential ecosystems, and stated that the Caribbean is ground zero for the global climate emergency. That is why it is time to act now. We must deliver on the $100 billion commitment to climate finance for adaptation.
In that regard, we call for support for establishing a research agenda that will help the region understand the cost of climate change for different sectors and economies and for scaling up the means of implementation, including financing, particularly adaptation financing, capacity-building and technology transfer — without technology-dumping.
We call for a scaling-up of finance for adaptation and responses to loss and damage, in a way that prioritizes the access of Caribbean and small island developing States (SIDS) to grant and concessionary financing, in particular through bilateral channels. We also call for the establishment of a loss-and- damage facility under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that would provide SIDS with resources to finance the losses and damage resulting from climate change.
In that regard, I commend the Secretary-General for his efforts to make the Adaptation Fund more accessible to the countries affected by climate change through his adaptation finance initiative.
Financing is the backbone of sustainable development. The time has now come for a real reform of the global financial architecture, which must take into consideration the unique and inherent vulnerabilities that hamper the ability of small and vulnerable economies to overcome economic, environmental and social shocks. I therefore welcome the appointment of the High-level Panel on the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index. We look forward to finding solutions to address the obstacles to realizing the index, particularly the lack of reliable data.
The political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Haiti remains of great concern to the region and requires the attention of the international community. In my capacity as the current Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), I am committed to taking every effort to engage in dialogue with all stakeholders in Haiti with the aim of safeguarding peace and security. It is of the utmost importance that any support for resolving the situation in Haiti be based on a Haitian- initiated and -owned plan.
Conflicts and violence are currently on the rise globally in all regions, leading to hostilities and displacements and resulting in paralysing levels of poverty and food insecurity. As States Members of the United Nations, we should take responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The achievement of sustainable development is inextricably linked to upholding democratic values, good governance and respect for human rights. We must allow countries to develop sustainable economies, without obstacles.
In today’s world, differences must be resolved through dialogue and cooperation. Therefore, in our view, the long-standing embargo against Cuba and the Cuban people must be lifted.
I believe that young people are valuable and undeniable partners in every aspect of development and in shaping the future. In that regard, I would like to congratulate the Secretariat on the establishment of Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.
As lead head of the quasi-cabinet of the Caribbean Community responsible for regional youth development, I was pleased with the interactions among the region’s young people at the most recent meeting of the Heads of Government of CARICOM held in Suriname. I commend the young people of the region for shouldering responsibility and inspiring their peers to not only demand a seat at the table but also show up consistently. For my part, I have pledged 10 hectares of land in Suriname to set up an innovative campus to facilitate research and development studies conducted by students and start-ups from the region.
Since I took office two years ago, my Government has made efforts to bring the economy back on track and guide our country’s development away from an extremely unsustainable position onto the right path. Even though we have a homegrown recovery plan, a 36-month extended fund facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a national multi-year development plan currently under implementation, my Government continues to face economic challenges and capacity constraints, owing to external and unforeseen shocks. The impact of several crises, coupled with economic reform measures, has brought great hardship to the population. International support is therefore of critical importance.
Seeking to prevent further hardship and bring some relief to our population, we decided to re-engage with the IMF in order to consider where the implementation of our programme can be adjusted based on the current realities in the world and how to minimize its social cost. We appreciate our bilateral and multilateral partners, who have expressed solidarity and provided valuable support to my country and people during these challenging times. In addition, our goal is to attract investment and improve productivity and capital allocation, which are critical for growth and poverty reduction.
In conclusion, effective and consensus-based multilateralism is the only option for solving the interlocking challenges our world faces today. National solutions to resolve global problems have time and again proven to be ineffective, and at times dangerous. Global solutions with adapted local or national implementation will enable us to achieve the future we want. We can, will and must do that together. Together we are stronger. God bless everyone.