I bring the warm greetings of
“Yokwe” from the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Every September since the country became a
member of the United Nations in 1991, leaders of the
low-lying Republic of the Marshall Islands have been
reminding the international community of the need for
full global action on climate change.
We have no mountains or high ground; we have
only our narrow archipelago resting a metre above the
ocean. There has been enough talk, and too much
repetition. It is now time for meaningful action,
creative cooperation and visible results to address
climate change. If we fail in the short-term, the
economic and moral costs for our low-lying islands —
and eventually the whole world — will be beyond
calculation.
The global commitment at Copenhagen to
safeguard the most vulnerable faces a true litmus test:
will our local communities see visible results leading
towards a climate-resilient future? I urge that by the
time of the climate change talks in Cancún nations
build political trust through “fast start” finance, by
providing transparent information and actively turning
commitments into results.
We cannot wait for the uncertain path to achieve
a full multilateral climate agreement, and we cannot
allow laggards to set us back. Those most vulnerable
and those willing to confront the challenges facing us
must take leadership in this process by putting forward
our own agreement spelling out real and ambitious
commitments and actions to address climate change.
And we urge others to follow.
To work in true partnership we must first show
our own commitment. The Marshall Islands
Government has endorsed a new climate change road
map, spelling out specific actions to cut our own
emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, and concrete
strategies to ensure that the growth of our local
communities is safeguarded from climate impacts.
The Marshall Islands has made important
progress towards achieving several Millennium
Development Goals, but much remains to be
accomplished. With our international partners, we must
also better address climate change risks in the context
of our core development.
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Practical and “shovel ready” adaptation actions
taken now — water security, resource conservation and
infrastructure protection — will sharply reduce the
long-term risks to our security and sovereignty. But we
cannot ignore such threats. It should be a matter of
serious concern to the Secretary-General that we are
actively contemplating risks to our territorial integrity
and United Nations membership, that we are
considering options to safeguard our population’s
political rights if our land —and our thin water table —
becomes unusable in the face of rising seas.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is known to
the United Nations as a small island developing State,
but we are first and foremost a large ocean nation. Our
thin atolls may appear tiny on a map, but our exclusive
economic zone is over 2 million square kilometres. As
Chair of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, I address
the United Nations on behalf of a unified political bloc
vested in ensuring the future of the Western and
Central Pacific, the world’s largest viable tuna fishery.
The development pathways of the Parties to the
Nauru Agreement are narrow and limited, and at the
highest levels we have committed to putting a firm stop
to the unrestricted global harvest of our resources. The
status quo of overfishing is unacceptable; it has
strangled our development and threatened the viability
of our resources. We have closed off surrounding
pockets of international waters, and if our development
and ecosystem needs so demand, we will close off
more.
We currently realize only a tiny fraction of a
multibillion-dollar industry — only one penny from
each can of Pacific tuna — and we are seeking global
support and economic partnership to grow our benefit.
Without political and economic cooperation in regional
fisheries decision-making, and unless fishing targets
are in line with science, the collective economic
development of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement
will remain at a standstill as our coastal resources
decline. We have already driven our partners to achieve
positive action. However, far greater efforts are
needed, from both United Nations agencies and
regional fisheries management organizations, to
identify time-bound strategies which assist us in
realizing a greater share of benefits from our own
resources.
The United Nations must make faster progress
towards reflecting modern twenty-first-century
dynamics. The Security Council should be restructured
to accommodate those nations whose size, leadership
and responsibility — in particular, the Group of Four
of Japan, Germany, India and Brazil — indicate a
deserved role as permanent members. Further efforts
should also ensure that Africa and small nations,
including island States, have an improved voice.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands welcomes
the progress achieved on both sides of the Taiwan
Straits. The pragmatic and moderate actions of Taiwan
should not be overlooked by the United Nations, and
deserve further encouragement. I call upon the United
Nations system and Member States to be open-minded
and identify appropriate means to accept Taiwan’s
participation within specialized agencies, including the
International Civil Aviation Organization, and in the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change. In particular, recognizing the commitment to
reduce emissions by the 23 million people of
Taiwan — a fellow island nation — in addressing
climate change is in the common interest of us all.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands welcomes
the leadership of the United Arab Emirates as host of
the International Renewable Energy Agency. We look
forward to pursuing increased partnership with the
United Arab Emirates and to establishing a dialogue
with the Arab League on investment and development
assistance in the Pacific region.
Finally, I must address one of this year’s most
important issues within the United Nations. Member
States and leaders must improve progress towards
achieving the goal of stopping the spread of nuclear
weapons and pursue the peace and security of a world
without them.
The Marshall Islands has a unique reason for
seeking the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.
During our time as a United Nations Trust Territory,
67 large-scale surface tests of nuclear weapons were
conducted on our homeland, explicitly authorized
under two United Nations resolutions, in 1954 and
1956. No people should ever bear such a burden. For
decades, we have told the United Nations about our
communities who are still displaced, about the
deliberate use of our people in scientific experiments
and of ongoing health impacts inherited through
generations. We continue to face the challenges of a
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United Nations-era nuclear waste storage site,
surrounded by rising waters, towards dealing with
which we lack resources or technical capacity.
We acknowledge important and positive actions
already taken by partners, including our former
administrator, the United States, but we need, and
deserve, improved attention and assistance from the
United States, as well as from the United Nations
system and multilateral bodies.
I also acknowledge the support of the Pacific
Islands Forum, including the leadership of the outgoing
chair, Australia, as well as of the Non-Aligned
Movement, in ensuring that this year’s Review
Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons acknowledged
the need to address sites contaminated by testing. I
fully expect that Member States of the United Nations
will be willing to further recognize that a special
responsibility exists towards former United Nations
Trust Territories adversely affected by nuclear testing.
As the United Nations maps a global future of
non-proliferation, the past legacy of nuclear activities
can no longer be ignored.
The message is the same for nuclear weapons,
global security and freedom from terrorism, or climate
change: international law is not an empty promise.