I am greatly honoured to
have this opportunity to speak in this body on behalf of
the people and the Government of Tuvalu, who wish
me first of all to convey their warmest greetings and
felicitations to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth
session.
At the outset, let me associate myself with
previous speakers in extending our special
congratulations to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on his
election as President of the Assembly at its sixty-fourth
session, as well as to reassure him of our support
during his presidency. I also wish to highly commend
his predecessor for his exemplary leadership and
dedication to the work of the Assembly during his
presidency over the past year.
As we begin the sixty-fourth session of the
Assembly, the effects of the global financial and
economic crisis loom over our heads. For a small
island economy like Tuvalu’s, which is highly
dependent on the import of products from overseas, the
impact of the global financial and economic crisis has
been severe. The price of basic food items has risen
dramatically. My people are suffering from events that
are not of our making. The financial and economic
crisis and its impact on development and the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals is
a global crisis that requires the cooperation of all
countries. Unfortunately, as is always the case, it will
be poor small countries such as Tuvalu that will have
to bear the burden.
Globalization has also left its mark in the context
of swine flu. Tuvalu has not been immune to that
pandemic. We are grateful that the World Health
Organization has issued a call to action to help poorer
countries respond to the outbreak of swine flu.
Outbreaks such as this highlight the need for trade
reforms with respect to access to medicines. In that
context, the right to health and access to affordable
medicines should not be a right for rich nations only.
Every human being has the right to a healthy life.
This year is a special one for the people and the
Government of Tuvalu, not because of something that
we have achieved and are proud to celebrate but,
strangely enough, because of something that has
happened for the very first time in the history of my
country and that we strongly condemn. This has to do
with the actions of pirates off the coast of Somalia. For
four long months, 12 Tuvaluan seafarers were held
captive by Somali pirates aboard a German-registered
ship. Those brave Tuvaluan seamen were subject to
various privations and will suffer the effects of that
unlawful imprisonment for a long time.
The international shipping community cannot be
held hostage to the demands of such thieves and
criminals. This scourge must end. We strongly
condemn that inhumane form of organized crime and
strongly urge the United Nations and the international
community to bring the pirates to justice through the
application of the principle of universal jurisdiction, as
well as to take immediate action to tackle the problem
head-on. We also call on the United Nations to
establish a special task force to address the issue of
piracy.
The year 2009 will hopefully be a watershed in
the global fight against climate change. In a few
months, we will meet at Copenhagen to seal the deal
on climate change. As the leader of one of the countries
of the world most vulnerable to the impacts of climate
change, I hold out great faith for that Conference. But
my faith will be diminished if key milestones are not
achieved. Allow me to refer to some of those
milestones.
First, the international community must commit
to a rapid course of action to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions so that global temperatures do not increase
by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial
levels. Anything higher would be disastrous for Tuvalu.
Global emissions must peak by 2015, and decline
dramatically thereafter.
Secondly, while we work to develop a new
climate change agreement in Copenhagen, we must not
abandon the Kyoto Protocol, which is a cornerstone of
action to address climate change. Let me repeat: we
must not abandon the Kyoto Protocol. I fear that some
countries are hoping that the Kyoto Protocol will
disappear so that they can make weaker emissions-
reduction commitments. I hope that will not happen, as
it would certainly be a significant step backwards.
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Thirdly, we need serious commitments from key
greenhouse-gas-producing countries. The United States
must take a leadership role and drastically reduce its
emissions. I strongly appeal to President Obama to
deliver a significant commitment on emissions
reductions. We also call on key developing countries to
dramatically reduce their emissions. Since the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
was developed, in 1992, the economies of a number of
developing countries have grown rapidly. They must
now contribute their fair share to emissions reductions.
Fourthly, we need a strong commitment in terms
of financing and resources to help vulnerable countries
build their resilience to the impacts of climate change.
That means that we need a commitment to new money.
It would be foolhardy to simply reshuffle existing
overseas development assistance to support actions to
address climate change. This is a new threat, and we
must find new money to address it.
Fifthly, we need to reduce emissions resulting
from deforestation and forest degradation, but in a
coherent way. In that regard, carbon markets will not
deliver climate change outcomes. We must develop
new funds to carefully build the capacity of forested
developing countries to reduce their deforestation
rates. Whatever actions we take, we must ensure that
the rights of indigenous peoples are properly protected.
The possible security implications of climate
change on the livelihoods and well-being of the most
vulnerable countries, especially small island
developing States such as my own country of Tuvalu,
cannot be ignored. Instead, they should be recognized
and addressed vigorously by the United Nations as part
of the collective efforts by all its appropriate subsidiary
bodies.
Despite the concerns expressed by some Member
States on the engagement of the Security Council on
the issue of the security implications of climate
change, I am pleased to note that the Assembly’s
resolution on the possible security implications of
climate change (resolution 63/281), which was initiated
by Pacific small island developing States more than a
year ago, was finally adopted by consensus at a plenary
meeting of the Assembly in June of this year. Tuvalu
looks forward to the Secretary-General’s report on the
possible security implications of climate change, as
required under that resolution.
Globalization has made Tuvalu a very vulnerable
country. It is vulnerable to global economic shocks,
highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and,
not least, vulnerable to disease outbreaks. However,
despite the wide recognition given and reiterated with
regard to our vulnerability in many different United
Nations forums, such as the Rio, Barbados, Mauritius
and Johannesburg conferences and in several major
United Nations events, including the Millennium
Summit, the General Assembly and the Economic and
Social Council have not taken it seriously into
consideration when addressing the question of Tuvalu’s
graduation from least developed country (LDC) status.
We strongly believe that Tuvalu’s economic and
environmental vulnerability, like that of any other LDC
and small island developing State (SIDS), cannot be
totally ignored, especially in view of the impact of the
current economic global crisis. Although we are
pleased to welcome the latest decision of the United
Nations Committee for Development Policy not to
recommend Tuvalu for graduation from LDC status for
the next three years, we continue to appeal to this
Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and our
development partners to carefully reconsider and
review the criteria and graduation rules for LDC
graduation. We strongly believe that no LDC that is
recognized as highly vulnerable should be forced to
lose its LDC status.
One of the priority areas highlighted in the
President’s statement at the opening of the sixty-fourth
session of the General Assembly is United Nations
reform and democratization. We could not agree more,
especially on the necessity and importance of the
reform and revitalization of the General Assembly and
the Security Council to enable them to fulfil their roles
comprehensively.
We commend the progress of the
intergovernmental negotiations on the question of
equitable representation on and increase in the
membership of the Security Council and other related
matters. We fully recognize the need to restructure and
expand the Security Council to reflect a fair and
balanced representation of all regions. In this context,
we believe that small island developing States should
be allocated a seat on the Security Council.
As a full Member of the Organization, Tuvalu is
proud to be part of the United Nations family and
enjoys a sense of ownership through the establishment
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of a long-overdue United Nations joint presence office
in Tuvalu in May this year. Although we appreciate its
establishment, we hope that it will not create another
layer of bureaucracy among United Nations
implementing agencies, but that it will be more
responsive to the aspirations and needs of Tuvalu in a
more coherent, efficient and effective manner. More
importantly, it is crucial that the office focus on the
establishment of more concrete development projects
on the ground for the benefit of the people of Tuvalu
rather than mostly on enabling activities.
I am compelled again to draw the attention of
United Nations Member States to the plight of the
people and Government of Taiwan. As a proud nation
of 23 million people, Taiwan must be given the right to
self-determination — a principle that must be upheld
by the United Nations. Taiwan also has all of the
hallmarks of nationhood. It has a democratic system of
Government and it is certainly a responsible
international player in world trade, development and
diplomatic relations; not least, Taiwan has a clearly
defined territory.
Although Tuvalu appreciates the long-overdue
courtesy finally accorded to the Government of Taiwan
to participate as an observer to the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) World Health Assembly this
year, Tuvalu strongly believes that Taiwan deserves to
participate more fully as a member of WHO and other
United Nations specialized agencies. Tuvalu therefore
reiterates its strong appeal for Taiwan’s aspirations and
desire to participate meaningfully as a full member of
the specialized agencies of the United Nations to be
given the proper and urgent attention they deserve.
In conclusion, my Government acknowledges
with full confidence that globalization and its impact in
every corner of the globe cannot be denied. This makes
the role of the United Nations even more important.
However, we need to conclude the long-overdue
reforms of the United Nations, especially the Security
Council and the General Assembly, to enable the
Organization to deliver its services in a more
transparent, coherent, efficient and effective manner.
We must work together to rebuild the global
economy. We must work together to combat climate
change, with special recognition given to the plight of
the most vulnerable countries, especially the LDCs and
SIDS. Not least, we must work together to ensure that
everyone enjoys a healthy life. We will continue to
support the United Nations and sincerely hope that it
will not abandon the concerns of a small island country
like Tuvalu.