Next year we will
celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the United
Nations. As we approach that milestone, it is good
to reflect on the successes of our Organization: the
extensive codification of international law, advances
in combating poverty and disease, and fighting
human rights abuses. We have established monitoring
mechanisms, such as the human rights treaty bodies,
and accountability tools, such as the International
Criminal Court, and agreed on historic policy targets
that have transformed international cooperation, such
as the Millennium Development Goals.
These are not small achievements, but sitting on
our laurels is not an option. The system of rule-bound
relations between nations is under threat, and we must
protect it. Most worrying is the growing disregard for
international law. This erodes the international legal
framework we have developed since the Second World
War. A shocking recent example is the terrorist group
operating in Iraq and Syria, the self-styled Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant. As human beings, we are
revolted by its brutality and appalled by its mindless
destruction.
The international community cannot accept the
disregard for the fundamental principles of the United
Nations — indeed, of human decency — shown by this
group. Iceland therefore agrees with the lawful actions
taken to end these atrocities by countries of the region
and from other parts of the world. Iceland will contribute
humanitarian aid through the United Nations agencies.
No civilized nation can look the other way when the
barbarism and cruelty are so overwhelming. The United
Nations and international law must be centre stage,
and we underscore the role of the Security Council in
maintaining international peace and security.
The suffering of the Syrian people and the total
disrespect for humanitarian law in that civil war are
equally shocking. Almost 200,000 people have died,
3 million refugees are abroad, and the country is in
ruins. The prolonged foreign occupation of the State
of Palestine is another violation of international law.
Land-grabbing continues unabated. The blockade
of Gaza shows no signs of being lifted. Violations of
human rights continue, including against freedom of
movement, the right to freedom of speech and assembly
and property rights.
This summer, a pointless war between Israel and
Gaza caused an unacceptable loss of life. I condemn
the indiscriminate rocket attacks of Hamas and other
militant organizations in Gaza against civilian targets
in Israel. I also condemn the disproportionate use of
force by the Israel Defense Forces, which resulted in
more than 2,000 deaths in Gaza. Let the loss of life
not have been in vain and let the future of Palestinian
children be a future without foreign occupation. A
two-State solution, with the comprehensive support
of neighbouring countries and robust international
peacekeeping arrangements, should be the objective.
To the Palestinians I say, “Reconcile. Be your own
best friends so you can build a free and sovereign
Palestine ensuring fundamental rights and freedom
for all”. To the Israelis, I say, “The current situation
is unsustainable. Be brave, be wise and give peace a
chance. The occupation of Palestine must end.”
The violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity
breaches the Charter of the United Nations, international
law and numerous treaties. The illegal annexation of
Crimea threatens security and stability throughout
Europe. The credibility of the Security Council is
seriously undermined when a permanent member
violates the Charter by using force to change borders,
and then can veto the necessary response and actions
by the body empowered to maintain international peace
and security. The Council is also undermined when it
proves incapable of defending civilians who are subject
to foreign occupation or is unable to prevent the use of
chemical weapons.
The United Nations was founded to ensure that
the fate of nations would never again be decided at the
barrel of a gun. Recent events have shown that we must
reaffirm our commitment to the Charter of the United
Nations and other legal instruments to safeguard the
foundations of a just and peaceful world. This holds
particularly true for the Security Council. In its role
of maintaining international peace and security,
its compass should be the Charter of the United
Nations and international law, including international
humanitarian law and human rights law. It should apply
the law equally to all parties. The Council needs to
become more solution-oriented and directly engaged.
Its working methods must improve, especially the
application of the veto. Iceland supports the recent
French- and Mexican-led proposal for framing the veto
in cases of mass atrocities. The Council should also
make use of its referral power as intended by the Rome
Statute.
In a world riven by inequality, poverty and onflict,
it is a challenge to chart a path towards the future we
want. Since the most recent general debate, we have
made real progress in preparing for the decisions to
be taken next year on a new framework for sustainable
development. The year ahead will be a test of our resolve
to deliver. Iceland will participate constructively in the
negotiations for the post-2015 agenda, as well as for a
new regime to address climate change.
Allow me to highlight a few issues that I believe to
be fundamental. With an increasing world population,
measures to ensure food security are more important
than ever. For 3 billion people, seafood provides about
20 per cent of their intake of animal protein. Nine to 12
per cent of the global population depends on the seafood
sector for their livelihood. Yet we have a paradox.
Overfishing remains a widespread problem, but at
the same time fisheries are greatly underperforming.
With improved infrastructure and better management,
the economic benefits from marine fisheries could be
increased by $50 billion per year, or more than half the
value of the global seafood trade.
It is clear that ocean issues are one of the keys
to the post-2015 development agenda. The United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides
a sound legal basis on which States can harness their
marine resources. Iceland remains firmly loyal to
the Convention, and we build our marine policy on
scientific research where sustainability guides all our
decisions. The Convention on the Law of the Sea has
been instrumental to Iceland’s success, yet what is often
lacking is the capacity of States to implement effective
monitoring and sustainable harvesting. Iceland has
been sharing know-how through the United Nations
University Fisheries Training Programme in Iceland,
where over 1,500 experts have benefited from post-
graduate studies and workshops in the field.
The second key area for ensuring food security is
land. Every decade, 120 million hectares of land — an
area the size of South Africa — are lost to desertification
and drought. Climate change is contributing to an ever-
faster rate of land degradation, which in turn releases
greenhouse gases, creating a vicious circle. Switching
to sustainable land management is therefore not only
crucial to food and water security, but an important
factor in mitigating and adapting to climate change. This
is why Iceland argues strongly for measures to achieve
a land-degradation neutral world. Iceland contributes
actively to these efforts through the Group of Friends
of the Secretary-General in New York and through the
United Nations University Land Restoration Training
Programme in Iceland.
A third key area is to ensure access to affordable,
reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. No
society can develop without energy, yet today over
1.3 billion people have no access to electricity. As
energy production grows, it is essential to substantially
increase the share of renewable energy in the global
energy supply by 2030. Iceland is contributing to that
effort. We have partnered with a group of countries and
the International Renewable Energy Agency to identify
opportunities and to support mechanisms to scale up
geothermal production. In that connection, we invite
Member States to join the Global Geothermal Alliance.
Iceland has also been working with the World Bank on
projects in the Great African Rift Valley, and we have
run the Geothermal Training Programme of the United
Nations University in Iceland for 35 years.
In Iceland and the other Nordic countries, the
revolution in women’s education and the high level of
female participation in the labour market have been
the basis of our welfare and economic prosperity.
Without the full and equal participation of women in
all spheres of society, including in decision-making, it
will be impossible to make real and lasting progress
in addressing sustainable development challenges.
The stand-alone goal on gender equality and women’s
empowerment agreed in the Open Working Group on
Sustainable Development Goals must be maintained.
But we should not stop there. Gender equality must be
further mainstreamed throughout the new framework.
In that regard, I cannot leave out the centrality of
ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights.
We must continue to fight for the full
implementation of the commitments we made almost
20 years ago in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action. Iceland is proud to support UN-Women in the
campaign to celebrate Beijing+20. We have partnered
with Suriname to lead a friends’ group of countries
to galvanize support to promote gender equality and
to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the
Declaration. We call on Member States to join that
effort and take concrete actions on the 12 themes of the
Platform for Action.
For our part, we want to bring men and boys to the
table on gender equality in a positive way. Iceland and
Suriname will convene a “barbershop” conference in
January 2015, where men will discuss gender equality
with other men, with a special focus on addressing
violence against women. That will be a unique
conference, as it will be the first time at the United
Nations that we bring together only male leaders to
discuss gender equality. It will provide an exceptional
contribution to the Beijing+20 conference and the
HeForShe campaigns.
We have been reminded in recent weeks of the
fragility of human beings and the need for us to work
together on the biggest threats to humankind. Let me
express our sympathy for and solidarity with the States
suffering from the Ebola outbreak. The Government of
Iceland will join in the international effort to curb the
outbreak with financial contributions to United Nations
agencies.
Next year, the States Members of the United Nations
will come together to make important decisions on
how to address climate change and pursue sustainable
development. In the North, Arctic biodiversity and
ecosystems are threatened by climate change, and
sustainable harvesting of natural resources is vital. I
pledge Iceland’s commitment to work for bold decisions
on the future of our planet and the increased prosperity
of the world community in the year 2015. May the wise
words of Nelson Mandela come true as we navigate that
path: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”