I
am honoured and grateful to address the General
Assembly at its sixty-first session, and in so doing I
join other Members in congratulating you, Madam, on
your historic assumption of the presidency of this body.
5 06-53323
Let me assure you of my country’s full support. We are
confident that under your leadership, the Organization
will be steered safely through the challenges ahead. I
would also like to pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr.
Jan Eliasson, for his dedication and stewardship of the
Organization during the past year.
Just recently, the Pacific island countries lost one
of its leaders. The Federated States of Micronesia is
deeply saddened by the passing of King Tupou IV of
the Kingdom of Tonga. We express our profound
condolences to the people and the leaders of Tonga
during their period of national mourning and wish them
well in their transition to a new leadership.
We are keenly aware of the remaining awesome
task of implementing measures to reform the
Organization. We are nonetheless encouraged by the
significant achievements made so far since the
adoption of the Outcome Document of the World
Summit last year. The United Nations has made great
strides, for instance in constituting the Human Rights
Council, in launching the Peacebuilding Commission
and in adopting the resolution on implementing
international development goals.
Reform of the Security Council should remain a
high-priority agenda item. My country would like to
reiterate its position as expressed in previous years. We
support a restructured Security Council that reflects the
current realities of international society. For the
Council to be effective and its work meaningful, its
working methods should be improved and its
membership, both permanent and non-permanent,
expanded. We must give new impetus to the reform
process and seek, with an open mind, new ways to
achieve the institutional reform of the United Nations.
The small island developing States in the Pacific
such as my country, recognized as among the most
vulnerable, stand to benefit from an efficient and
relevant United Nations. It is for that reason that we
place high hopes on the relevant reforms. We hope that
such reforms will facilitate our achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other
internationally recognized commitments, which, if left
to our own devices, we cannot reach, even with the
best of intentions and efforts.
Thus, we are pleased with and grateful for the
decision to establish additional United Nations offices
in our Pacific region, including in my country. Taken
within the context of the overall reform of the
Organization, the presence of those offices is mutually
beneficial to the United Nations and to our peoples in
many ways, including through effective coordination in
the delivery of much-needed assistance and services.
My country, with a large exclusive economic
zone, attaches great importance to the sustainable
development and conservation of our marine resources
and ecosystem. Consistent with that priority, we have
joined forces with some of our neighbouring States in
calling for an immediate moratorium and a total ban on
deep bottom trawl fishing. The Organization must not
close its eyes to activities that result in commercial
gain for only a few at the expense of the integrity of
the ecosystem that supports the livelihood of our
people, especially those living in areas that are widely
recognized as vulnerable. We appeal to the
international community to mobilize support to put an
end to bottom trawl fishing and other activities that are
ecologically destructive and unfriendly to the marine
ecosystem.
It is well established by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other highly
respected scientific organizations that the Earth’s
climate is adversely changing due to our carbon
economy and the emission of greenhouse gases. Within
this decade alone, we have witnessed unprecedented
destruction caused by extreme weather events. The
increasing magnitude, intensity and frequency of
typhoons, hurricanes and other natural disasters,
including the unprecedented melting and disappearance
of glaciers, are directly linked to human activities. This
obviously calls for a more robust post-Kyoto regime.
As an island nation composed mostly of low-
lying small islands with large coastal areas, the
Federated States of Micronesia is vulnerable to the
adverse impact of climate change. Exposed to the
effects of extreme weather events, our livelihood and
traditions as an island people — in fact, our whole
civilization — are under greater threat than ever
before.
The sad irony is that those of us who contribute
little to the causes of climate change and sea-level rise
are the first in line to suffer the consequences. In the
face of that reality, Micronesia will continue to speak
out for concerted global action to mitigate the adverse
impact of climate change, taking into consideration the
principle of common but differentiated responsibility.
06-53323 6
While adaptation measures require national
actions, the “polluters pay” principle should apply.
Therefore, those who pollute should underwrite the
costs of adaptation, particularly for small island
developing States.
Sustainable development remains a top priority
for small island developing States such as Micronesia,
but it cannot be achieved by us alone. Our development
still requires official development assistance from
bilateral and multilateral donor partners alike. But
official development assistance on its own is not
sufficient. Ongoing propositions for active foreign
direct investment and effective development
partnerships, among others, should be translated into
concrete action, as they are critical components of
sustainable development.
The small island developing States continue to
pin their hopes on the Mauritius Strategy as a blueprint
for their sustainable development. But what good is the
Strategy if the support necessary to implement it is not
forthcoming? The international community must
provide that support, which would include facilitation
and improvement of access to existing resources and,
where appropriate, allocation of dedicated financial
resources. For the Mauritius Strategy to be effective
and meaningful, it must be mainstreamed into all
United Nations processes, including the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change process.
In addition to the Mauritius Strategy, we support
the principles of the Information Society and the
Community of Democracies as vital to our national
progress. In particular, we seek help in the formulation
of our national plan on information and communication
technologies and in access to broadband connectivity,
which we believe will help overcome the obstacles to
our development that result from the geographical
configuration of our island country.
Dependency on fossil fuel is an obstacle to our
sustainable development. To mitigate that obstacle and
prevent the perpetuation of this carbon economy, my
Government has prioritized renewable energy as the
way forward. I therefore reiterate the call made by
many small island developing States, including my
own, for accelerated efforts in the development,
utilization and distribution of renewable energy
technologies to small island developing States. We will
continue to look to the international community,
including our development partners, to help ensure that
such technologies are transferred and put in place
effectively.
Terrorism affects all countries, large and small,
rich and poor. Micronesia condemns, in the strongest
terms, terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
The taking of innocent life is unambiguously
unjustifiable, regardless of one’s grievances.
We therefore call once again on the United
Nations to do everything in its power to prevent
terrorism and to mitigate its root causes. While we are
doing our best to uphold our responsibilities and
obligations under the United Nations counter-terrorism
resolutions, we need the assistance of the international
community to more effectively implement and carry on
the fight against this scourge.
In that spirit, we would like to commend the
efforts that resulted in the recent ceasefire in Lebanon.
We hope that the ceasefire will lead to a lasting peace
for the Israeli and Lebanese peoples. We also hope
that, by building on that momentum, the conflict
between Israel and Palestine will be resolved. The
people of Israel have the right to live within secure,
recognized borders, free from the fear of terrorism. The
Palestinian people have the right to have their own
State and to coexist peacefully with their neighbours.
Micronesia is concerned about the threats to
regional stability and international peace and security
posed by nuclear proliferation. We urge the
international community to continue its efforts to
address that problem.
In closing, I would like to pay tribute to our
outgoing Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Kofi
Annan, for his distinguished leadership and his decades
of dedicated service to the Organization. My country
expresses to him our gratitude and best wishes.