We have convened here
in New York at a time that poses enormous challenges
to the authority and credibility of the United Nations.
First, we are at a crossroads where we have to decide
the future course to attain sustainable development.
Speaking for Finland at the Rio de Janeiro Conference
on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), I stressed
that, faced with advancing climate change and the
accelerating loss of biodiversity, we might, at best,
have only a few decades in which to reach ecologically,
socially and economically sustainable development.
Decisive action based on a sense of urgency is needed
to turn the tide globally before it is too late. Either
we succeed in that together or we are going to perish
together.
This week, we have taken stock of progress towards
the Millennium Development Goals. They have been a
powerful tool to direct our action. In the near future,
we are expected to agree on a new development agenda,
a new set of goals that, in my view, could be called
sustainable development goals. A green economy is not
a luxury, but a prerequisite, for poverty reduction and
sustainability. In short, the new agenda must be even
bolder and more ambitious than the previous one. Its
implementation will require action in all countries.
Secondly, we are facing a failure of the United
Nations to act in its core domain, that is, in maintaining
peace and security. One hundred and ten thousand
people have been killed and 2 million people have
been forced to leave their homes in Syria, where a
tragic civil war has been going on for more than two
years. The United Nations has been unable to act to end
that appalling bloodshed. That is another of the major
challenges for the credibility of the United Nations. Let
me elaborate on those challenges.
With more than a threefold increase in the world’s
population since the founding of the United Nations
and with unprecedented technological progress and
the ever-increasing exploitation of natural resources,
the world has changed irrevocably. We must now
arrange our existence with our natural environment
in a new way. As the Secretary-General has said,
sustainable development is the pathway to the future.
Ecological sustainability — respecting the planetary
boundaries — is the foundation for all development.
The alarming trend in climate change underlines the
urgent need to heed those limits. We must work together
towards a comprehensive climate agreement by 2015.
The consequences of climate change are already to be
seen worldwide. The impacts are predicted to intensify
in the coming years and decades. For instance, billions of
people lack access to safe water sources and sanitation.
Without radical reforms, that number is expected to
rise dramatically. There is also significant potential for
conflicts over water and other natural resources in the
coming years.
Considerable progress has been made in reducing
extreme poverty. Millions of people have had a
chance to lift themselves out of poverty. However,
inequality still persists, and in many cases is increasing
both within countries and between them. In several
countries not a single Millennium Development Goal
will be attained. More than 1 billion people still live in
extreme poverty, and they are falling behind. Poverty
can be eradicated only within the context of sustainable
development. Development must be ecologically,
economically and socially sustainable. It must be firmly
anchored in human rights and the values encapsulated
in the Millennium Declaration. Peace and security are
a precondition for sustainable development.
The post-2015 process must also include a
financing strategy for sustainable development. We
are honoured, together with Nigeria, to be co-chairing
the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on
Sustainable Development Financing, mandated by
the Rio+20 Summit. We will work hard to achieve a
strategy proposal that is action-oriented and inclusive
and covers a broad range of different aspects of
development financing.
I am convinced that sustainable development
financing must be based on national resource
mobilization and management. Nations should mobilize
their own resources through inclusive economic
action and through responsible international trade and
investments. Developing national taxation systems
and tax-revenue collection, as well as addressing
unregulated capital flight and putting an end to illegal
tax evasion and tax havens, should be central elements
in sustainable development financing. Our own national
experience shows that taxation is an effective means of
addressing inequality.
Direct foreign investment can be a driver for
growth and development. Investment should be
sustainable, accountable and adhere to norms of
corporate social responsibility in creating economic
and social development. The current proliferation of
bilateral investment agreements, already numbering in
the thousands, is not the best way to manage investment
flows or set the rules they should follow. As part of
our efforts to promote sustainable and fair financial
governance, Finland supports efforts to create an
international investment regime that is transparent,
balanced and equitable.
The sustainable development goals must be
universal, and they must integrate different dimensions
of development. Fears that sustainable development
would challenge the traditional development agenda
are unfounded. These agendas are not competing, but
complement each other. We must do our utmost to
agree on a new way to sustainable development in the
very near future. Our planet and its citizens cannot
wait. We, the States Members of the United Nations,
are shouldering a great responsibility in that respect.
We must be able to deliver as the United Nations.
We also have more traditional security challenges
at hand. The conflict in Syria has seriously undermined
the authority and credibility of the United Nations.
The United Nations has not been able to act in its core
domain in maintaining peace and security. Both the
Syrian Government and the international community
have failed to implement their responsibility to protect.
The situation in Syria started as a peaceful and
justified call for reforms. The Government’s response
then turned it into an increasingly violent conflict and
a breeding ground for terrorist extremism. That has led
to humanitarian suffering, which has already reached
historic proportions. The use of chemical weapons on
21 August near Damascus can be a turning point in the
conflict: the universal condemnation of their use as a
war crime for which those responsible must be brought
to justice through referral to the International Criminal
Court. Finland welcomes the agreement reached on
a strongly worded Security Council resolution to
collect and destroy chemical weapons in Syria under
international control. There can be no impunity for the
perpetrators of war crimes and other atrocities.
The agreement has to be followed through with a
political solution to the conflict. That is the only way
to stop the violence. That means negotiations. The
international community, the parties to the conflict and
especially the Security Council must take responsibility
for working towards political negotiations. We continue
to support the initiative of the United States and Russia
of proposing the “Geneva II” conference, as well as
the mediation by the United Nations and Arab League
Joint Special Representative, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi.
All permanent members of the Security Council must
shoulder their responsibility.
The humanitarian suffering of the Syrian people
continues. We all must intensify our work to help
the refugees and support the neighbouring countries
bearing the heaviest burdens. The United Nations
will also need to have a strong presence in Syria after
the arms have fallen silent. Finland stands ready to
contribute to a possible United Nations peacekeeping
operation to be established in Syria.
The resumption of direct final status negotiations
between the Palestinians and the Israelis is long-awaited
and most welcome news. Since the Oslo agreement 20
years ago, it has been clear that the best outcome for all
the parties is a two-State solution, which can accomplish
a reign of peace and security for the two peoples. We
may still have at hand perhaps the last chance for such
a resolution of the conflict. When I say “perhaps the
last chance”, it is not because I think there may be more
chances later, but rather it is because, at worst, the last
chance may already have been missed. But it is our duty
to make the effort to achieve a negotiated two-State
solution.
Finland commends Secretary Kerry’s dedication
and the personal commitment demonstrated by the
parties. The entire international community must lend
all its support for the negotiations to succeed. That must
be concrete and effective support. The role of regional
partners is crucial, and I welcome the efforts made by
the League of Arab States in reviewing the Arab Peace
Initiative.
The situations in both Syria and the Middle East
and between Israel and the Palestinians have been
the subject of important mediation efforts. I call for
stronger political will and determination to resolve
those conflicts. The parties must work harder and the
Security Council, especially its permanent members,
must shoulder their responsibility. While those efforts
have yet to meet with success, I believe that we also
have ample evidence to show that mediation works.
Measures under Chapter VI of the Charter of the United
Nations deserve more attention, although sometimes
action under Chapter VII is also needed. Finland and
Turkey continue to co-Chair the Group of Friends
of Mediation and to work to strengthen preventive
diplomacy, including mediation in the United Nations.
Mediation can succeed only with political will from
the parties and the international community. Successful
mediation also calls for the full and equal participation
of women at all stages. Women are certainly most often
the victims of conflicts, but we should also understand
that they are essential participants for any mediation
efforts to bear long-lasting success.
Efforts to promote peace and security in the Middle
East should go in parallel with the pursuit of the long-
time goal of the establishment of a zone free of nuclear
weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction in
that region. I encourage all regional parties to continue
to engage constructively with the facilitator and the
four conveners, as well as with one another, to pave
the way for a conference on the establishment of such
a zone.
All our failures and disappointments notwithstanding,
there has also been one true success story for the United
Nations this year. I am referring to the Arms Trade Treaty
(ATT), which was adopted in April after decades of
effort. It was a success not only for the United Nations
system but for the whole international community
and the arms control regime. The importance of the
Treaty has been confirmed by the growing number of
signatories after 3 June, when the ATT was opened
for signature. We hope and expect that the signing of
the ATT by the United States will be followed by the
signing of all other permanent members of the Security
Council as well. I should also like to congratulate those
countries that have already ratified the Treaty, thereby
paving the way for its early entry into force. My own
country, Finland, is well on its way to ratifying the ATT
as soon as possible.
Only when the Treaty enters into force and is
implemented will it make a real difference in saving
lives, minimizing human suffering and lessening
criminality and threats to civilian populations by
providing the highest common standards for the
trade in arms, ammunition and components. Once
again, I should like to thank and congratulate the
non-governmental organization community for its
dedication and tireless efforts in favour of the ATT.
They never lost their faith and pushed Governments
hard to achieve that result. But our work is not yet done.
Together we must continue to secure the 50 ratifications
needed and ensure more to support for the ATT. We
must also persuade those countries that abstained in the
voting to support a regulated arms trade and the Treaty
so as to make it universal.
Finland, as one of the seven co-authors, has from the
beginning been and will in future be very much involved
with the Arms Trade Treaty. This week, the co-authors
organized a high-level event to promote the signing
of the Treaty. We are also prepared to assist countries
that have difficulties in ratifying and implementing
the Treaty. When implemented, the Treaty should also
have a major impact on development, particularly in the
least developed countries, where conflicts are a major
obstacle to development.
The success or failure of the United Nations
ultimately depends upon us, the Member States. There
is no alternative to the United Nations. Let us give it a
chance. That is what our peoples expect from us.