Seychelles congratulates you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session. We also extend our profound appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Abdullah Shahid, for his leadership during the preceding session. I would also like to express our gratitude to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his efforts to pursue a common agenda for the United Nations at a time when faith in the multilateral system needs, more than ever, to be restored.
We perhaps need to be reminded that multilateralism gives each one of us the opportunity and the means to solve complex challenges that we cannot overcome on our own. Never have we faced challenges of such magnitude: a world in deep crisis, climate inaction, the aftermath of the pandemic, food insecurity, the rising costs of energy and the war in Ukraine. We have reached an inflection point that compels us to question the trajectory of our multilateral order, as the perils to our collective well-being are acute and numerous. Faced with a multiplicity of interrelated challenges that many of us are least responsible for but most affected by, the plight of States in vulnerable situations has never been more pronounced. Many of us in the developing world have had to revise our 2030 aspirations, owing to lost progress.
Economic inequity is the biggest impediment to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The blueprint for a better and sustainable future
requires financial resources that many of us simply do not have or are unable to access, since development cooperation modalities fail to consider vulnerability as a barrier to durable development. Time and again, small island developing States (SIDS) have consistently reiterated the call for a globally accepted vulnerability assessment put forward at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
Our island nations have experienced the greatest economic loss from the pandemic, with economic contractions averaging 7 per cent. Yet very few of us were able to access the meagre 6 per cent of coronavirus disease funding allocated to developing countries. We cannot continue to rely on temporary solutions to address the systemic faults within the existing development cooperation mechanisms. If this is to be a watershed moment, we must put into practice real solutions that focus on addressing vulnerabilities and building resilience to ensure socioeconomic sustainability. We need the international financial institutions and multilateral development banks to look beyond the gross national income benchmark.
There is broad consensus that a multidimensional vulnerability index offers a specific approach that will complement and improve the efficacy of development cooperation, permitting countries in vulnerable situations to access concessional financing and address their needs. I therefore welcome the interim report of the High-level Panel on the Development of a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index for Small Island Developing States and hope that progress on universally accepted and inclusive indicators that capture the vulnerabilities of all developing States can be accelerated ahead of the 2023 deadline.
The current food and energy crisis, exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine, poses a threat to sustainable growth globally, necessitating integrated systemic responses. The challenge for us in Africa is how to guarantee that trade contributes meaningfully to food security. In that regard, the African Continental Free Trade Area has a vital role to play by stimulating intra-trade among ourselves by ensuring that we redistribute food produced from regions with a surplus to regions facing deficits. The solutions to our food security can be achievable. We firmly believe that harnessing the potential of the blue economy by tapping into fisheries and aquaculture resources can be a viable option for addressing food and nutrition insecurity that prevails at the moment.
Food and energy security must be apprehended within the context of climate change. We are at the cusp of an ecological collapse spurred by climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, largely instigated by irresponsible human activities and unfettered emissions — a situation that greatly threatens the inalienable right of all humans to a healthy environment. The reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have made clear that the window of opportunity to effectively address climate change is rapidly closing, with dire consequences for humankind and ecosystems. Failing to act decisively and urgently now will lead to untold costs, with those least responsible for the calamity having to bear the heaviest price. As floods, heat waves and fires in the Western world dominate the news and our social media feeds, let us not neglect or forget that the impact of slow-onset events like sea-level rise pose an existential threat to small island developing States. We need bold actions, not unfulfilled promises and pledges.
In defining this watershed moment, individual interests must converge into collective benefits. We must also confront the gross injustice of having citizens of States least responsible for the unravelling climate-induced disaster pay for the loss and damage caused by others. Even as we bear the impact of climate change, our environment is suffering immensely from the consequences of pollution. Seychelles can attest to that fact, as our shores and sea have become encumbered by plastic waste. I am nonetheless heartened that a historical agreement to establish an intergovernmental negotiating committee with the mandate to forge an international, legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution was achieved at the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly.
Hopefully, that will raise ambitions in other areas of environmental protection, including in the protection of biodiversity. The pressure that human activities are exerting on biodiversity are tipping the scale towards mass extinction across the globe. Therefore, the fifteenth meeting of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity will be critical for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. If the world is to achieve the framework’s ambitious targets, ensure that the SDGs are met and tackle the interrelated planetary crisis, we must invest in the means of the framework’s implementation.
Related to that is the issue of the oceans that surround us. Healthy oceans are critical to life on Earth. As a foremost proponent of the blue economy paradigm,
Seychelles has taken bold steps to sustainably harness its ocean for the benefit of its people. By implementing our marine spatial plan, we have not only set aside 30 per cent of our exclusive economic zone for protection and sustainable use, but also have helped consolidate progress towards our commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as the SDGs and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The marine spatial plan exemplifies how climate action, ocean conservation, sustainable development and building resilience can be achieved by a SIDS, with immutable special circumstances, in an integrated manner. Building on that, Seychelles has committed to protecting at least 50 per cent of its seagrass ecosystems by 2025, and 100 per cent by 2030, greatly contributing to ecosystem preservation and carbon sequestration. We call on other littoral and oceanic States to be as bold in their ocean commitments.
As we progress in the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, it is imperative that we invest in science’s best approaches and forge the strong partnerships needed to achieve a better understanding and protection of the ocean. Beyond the preservation of our natural environment, such holistic measures can be applied to the myriad interlocking challenges that we are facing as a global community. It will take our combined will, conclusive action and uncompromising respect for the founding principles of the United Nations to secure a better future for all.
Last but of no less importance is the situation in Ukraine. The Ukraine-Russia conflict is of great concern to us. It poses a grave threat to global security and world peace, with serious ramifications for the entire community of nations. My country’s stance on the peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy is universally recognized. In that regard, the Republic of Seychelles strongly supports the call of the Chair of the African Union and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission urging the parties concerned to establish an immediate ceasefire and to resume negotiations in order to preserve the world from the consequences of planetary conflict and to find a permanent and mutually acceptable solution to the conflict.
We must find common ground for the sake of humankind and our planet. In attempting to utilize this critical moment in history as a turning point to bring about real positive change, the choice is clearly with every one of us to decide whether our actions will lead to shared prosperity or mutual destruction. Let us be reminded of our moral responsibility as world leaders to take bold and decisive steps that will truly bring about transformative solutions. We share only one planet, and our fates are indivisible. Let us secure a better future together.