Palau

It is an honour and a privilege to address the General Assembly once again on behalf of the people of Palau. For thousands of years, Palau was blessed by a natural bounty that sustained our livelihood and bound us together as a people. We lived in remoteness and isolation by respecting the environment and managing our natural resources for the benefit of every generation. Today, however, we find ourselves to be innocent victims of transboundary harm. Forces beyond Palau’s control, and not of our own making, are ravaging the oceans, damaging the land and reefs, threatening our way of life and, in the worst-case scenario, our very existence. Although we do our best to act responsibly and sustainably, there is only so much my country can do on its own to protect itself. We therefore rely on our partners, the international system and on the international rule of law to provide a remedy. I would like to speak today about three pernicious types of transboundary harm. First, I point to the state of global fisheries. Palau’s fish are among the most valuable in the world, but they are in danger. Distant water boats do not respect our borders, laws or traditions. These boats come in great numbers for tuna in the Western and Central Pacific region, where Palau is located. At present, our region’s tuna is being taken for pennies on the dollar. These boats also hunt, fin and sell sharks for a tiny fraction of what tourists will pay to see those sharks alive in our waters. Like the ocean’s currents, efforts to protect the marine environment must flow across boundary lines. It takes international cooperation to protect our marine resources and environment. Palau and other Pacific small island developing States have undertaken innovative measures to ensure the continued viability of our stocks. We have limited purse seine fishing, agreed to close the “donut holes” between our jurisdictions and implemented a Vessel Day Scheme. 27 11-50871 Two years ago, from this very rostrum, I announced the creation of the world’s first shark sanctuary. Since that time, countries and territories across the globe have joined Palau in this effort. Today, more than 2.7 million square kilometres of ocean are safe for sharks. Our ocean’s health depends on sharks, so I am delighted that earlier today several representatives of States in different parts of the world joined me to declare our shared commitment to conserving the ocean’s vast biodiversity and nurturing and protecting shark sanctuaries. But that is just the first step. Global fisheries should be sustainable. Reckless practices that harm our fisheries and threaten our food security should stop. That means that shark finning should stop. Bottom trawling, which destroys the base of the marine food web, should also stop. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that 85 per cent of global fish stocks are now fully or overexploited. These are the worst numbers on record. The international community must find a way to make regional fisheries management organizations more accountable, so that the world can see whether countries are living up to their commitments. And global fisheries should be fair. If distant water vessels want to come to fish for our resources, they must respect our laws and those of our region. They should fish within our prescribed limits and share the mutual benefits with us in a fair and equitable manner. Fishing is not a right. It is a privilege. For too long, the exploitation of tuna has overridden efforts to conserve it. This imbalance is not sustainable and must be reversed. This should be done by creating a tuna conservation zone to make the conservation of this valuable resource paramount and to maximize the benefits to the nations in our region where tuna is harvested. We who live in the Pacific see the ocean as our farm, the source of our sustenance and livelihood. At the biggest-ever Pacific Tuna Conference, to be held in Palau in early December, that concept of a tuna conservation zone will be considered and applied to our region of the world. We should continue our efforts to maximize the benefits to our islands of sustainable tuna fishing in our waters. Secondly, we fear that this year undetectable amounts of nuclear radiation may have entered our territory. This is a particularly insidious form of transboundary harm. I was involved in writing Palau’s Constitution, which bans the presence of any nuclear material in our territory. We are proud to have been the first in the world to institute such a prohibition. But the supreme law of our land cannot protect us from potential radiation coming from outside our borders. We fear the possibility that someday our fish may not be safe to eat and our water may not be safe to drink. And so we ask the world to redouble its efforts to eliminate the threat of nuclear radiation. Thirdly, as I speak, people are suffering from the effects of climate change. As our corals die, shores erode and waters rise, people feel helpless and hopeless. Traditionally, we would appeal for divine intervention. But this is not a problem from above; it is manmade. It poses an existential threat that exemplifies the issue of transboundary harm. Today, I regret to say that we are nowhere close to a solution. Next year will mark the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. But have we made progress? While sea levels have risen, emissions continue unabated. We are still without a binding agreement. This past July, the Pacific small island developing States banded together to put before the Security Council modest, achievable and prudent proposals for addressing the security threats of climate change. But our voices were drowned out by other States’ priorities. I can only agree with the views expressed in the Council by the United States: the failure of some States to acknowledge the clear-cut security implications of climate change is pathetic. However, we will not be deterred. Leaders of the Pacific States have declared that the urgent social, economic and security threats posed by climate change require action in every international forum. The General Assembly, in its consensus resolution 63/281, invited the relevant bodies of the United Nations to intensify their efforts in considering and addressing climate change, including its possible security implications. With this in mind, Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands will call on the Assembly to seek, on an urgent basis and pursuant to Article 96 of the Charter of the United Nations, an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the responsibilities of States under international law to ensure that activities emitting greenhouse gases that 11-50871 28 are carried out under their jurisdiction or control do not damage other States. The case should be clear. The International Court of Justice has already confirmed that customary international law obliges States to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or under their control respect the environment of other States. Similarly, Article 194, paragraph 2, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides that States shall take all measures necessary to ensure that activities under their jurisdiction or control do not spread or cause damage by pollution to other States. It is time we determined what the international rule of law means in the context of climate change. The International Court of Justice is mandated to do just that. At the opening of last year’s General Assembly, His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that “At the United Nations, we find the proper path in community, global cause … and mutual responsibility for a destiny we share” (A/65/PV.11, p. 1). That sentiment means, first and foremost, that countries must do no harm, particularly to the most fragile among us. We should find guidance in the international rule of law. Nations must respect fellow nations. Whether the issue is destructive fishing practices, nuclear radiation or excessive emissions, nations must work together and cease to cause transboundary harm. I would like to share with the Assembly a number of important initiatives that Palau is undertaking to connect with the international community, literally and in spirit. Palau is currently connected to the Internet by satellite. However, the service is poor and the cost unaffordable for most of our people. Last year’s report of the International Telecommunication Union’s Broadband Commission confirms that broadband access is a prerequisite to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. According to the report, a 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration in developing countries increases GDP by 1.4 per cent. Imagine what a 100 per cent increase could do. In light of that report, I have signed Executive Order No. 297 establishing a presidential task force to acquire a submarine fibre optic cable so that Palau will be better equipped to meet its Millennium Development Goals. I hope that others will cooperate to help Palau connect to the world, and that leaders will answer the Commission’s clarion call to ensure that all people have access to broadband networks by 2015. Palau is also reaching out to the world on human rights. In February, we began our Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review. As a former practicing attorney and human rights advocate, I have been an ardent supporter of this process from the outset, and so I have committed Palau’s limited resources to ensuring a complete and meaningful outcome. As evidence of that commitment, I established a task force chaired by our Minister of State and comprised of officials from across a broad spectrum of our Government. Stakeholders from non-governmental organizations and civil society were also invited to become involved in the operations of the task force and contributed significantly to Palau’s national report. By all accounts, Palau’s response was a great success. The Human Rights Council unanimously adopted our report. The most repeated recommendation from Human Rights Council members was that Palau should establish a National Human Rights Institution. I have taken this recommendation to heart and am pleased to announce that Palau will establish a National Human Rights Institution. I am also pleased to announce that, as of this week, Palau is now a signatory to all core international human rights conventions. I hope others will assist Palau as we build our institution and work to fulfil our obligations under those conventions. Once again, I wish to bring to the world’s attention the fact that the fierce battles fought by foreign armies over Palau’s islands during the Second World War left explosives scattered across our land and in our waters. Some of those explosives, which number in the thousands, are still live. I appeal to the conscience of the world and, especially, of those responsible, to help us remove this danger from our midst. I would like to thank the Secretary-General for attending the recent meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, held earlier this month in Auckland, New Zealand. That meeting was the Forum’s fortieth anniversary and was the first time that a United Nations Secretary-General has attended our regional meeting and the first time that a United Nations Secretary-General has visited a Pacific small island developing State. I would like to thank His Excellency 29 11-50871 Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his visit. It is a testament to the fact that the countries of our region, even the smallest and most vulnerable among us, have something important to say and to contribute to our world. I would also like to express Palau’s gratitude for the strong support and friendship of all of our partners, new and old. In particular, I would like to thank the United States of America, Japan and the Taiwan province of China. In order to further promote the efficacy, goals and ideals of the United Nations, we recommend that Taiwan be invited to participate meaningfully in the United Nations system. I believe that the United Nations cannot fully and properly address the issues of health, aviation safety and climate change unless Taiwan is allowed to participate in the activities of the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Once again, I appeal to the world to allow Taiwan to participate in these important United Nations entities. Finally, Palau is a relatively new State, having joined the world community in 1994. Thus, we remember well the jubilation of our new-found freedom and independence. I take this opportunity to congratulate the people of South Sudan on attaining their independence and taking their rightful place here, in United Nations.