YouSaid · the spoken record

Nickolas Steele

lines on the record: 39
first: 2013-09-24
most recent: 2014-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We must shed the old ways and adopt twenty-first-century approaches for this millennium generation if we are to bequeath to them and future generations the bounty we inherited and the bounty that they deserve.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“In closing, Grenada acknowledges the successes of the 2014 Third International Conference on Small Island Development States, held in Samoa, and, building on the momentum of Samoa, we look forward to the successful conclusion to the sustainable development goals process leading into the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris next year. As we move forward, let us remember that a number of the Millennium Development Goals have not been achieved. We have a duty, therefore, to re-examine our approach to peace, security and shared prosperity. We need collective action on a global consensus. We need to act now before it is too late.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Through reports like the Sunken Billions, the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization have shown that conservation efforts are critical to ensuring maximum economic yield in fisheries. In the past 30 years, we have lost 30 per cent of our corals and mangroves. This is why Grenada welcomes efforts such as the Global Blue Growth Initiative and the Global Partnership for Oceans, and the efforts of The Economist and United States Secretary of State John Kerry to bring renewed attention to the oceans. We look forward to welcoming our partners to Grenada in January 2015 for the launch of the Global Blue Growth and Food Security initiatives.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Grenada is pleased to be working with the Government of the Netherlands on a climate-smart agricultural alliance and on Global Blue Growth and Food Security Initiative. Blue growth is vital for the economies of island States around the world, and our tri-island State of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique sees itself as an Ocean State, given that our exclusive economic zone in the sea is over 70 times larger than our land mass. Our tri-island State is pleased to host the secretariat of the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI), which is supported by Germany and others. The CCI promotes an enhanced marine environment, and Grenada is committed to conserving its near-shore marine environment.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“We welcome others to join this partnership and this unfolding success story that is Green Grenada. As we have said before, we wish to recommend the following actions. Let us operationalize the Green Climate Fund with a window for islands. Let us implement 100 per cent renewable energy in island States. Let us put a price on carbon and stop subsidizing fossil fuels. Let us decarbonize food security. Agriculture, forestry and other land use contribute 25 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Let us have greater support for climate-smart agriculture that can deliver a triple win of increasing productivity and incomes, increasing resilience to climate change, and reducing or removing carbon emissions.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Solving the energy challenge for islands like Grenada will remove a drag on our economies and better position us to withstand environmental shocks. This is adaptation with prospects for jobs, growth and shared prosperity for all. I am delighted to announce that, in addition to working with Germany, the World Bank, SIDS DOCK and IRENA, Grenada has signed a groundbreaking memorandum of understanding with the United States to assist us in transforming our energy mix, as we announced in Samoa. We have also signed an memorandum of understanding with New Zealand to help us better understand our geothermal resources. Grenada will serve as the pilot country for the regional energy initiative of the United States and will work with New Zealand on geothermal energy.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“But countries with low electricity prices have to subsidize renewables; not so in the islands. Islands like Grenada come to the climate table, not like hapless victims cap-in-hand, but offering the international community 100 per cent renewables that can be introduced with zero subsidies. If we are to limit global carbon dioxide concentrations to 450 parts per million, then, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fifth assessment report, our electricity sector needs a total transformation. While island States are the least of the emitters, they are the most cost-effective places for renewables. I congratulate the Small Island Developing States Sustainable Energy Initiative (SIDS DOCK), IRENA and Sustainable Energy For All for acting on this. Grenada is working to transform its electricity sector.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“In 2012, there were some 6 million jobs in renewable energy and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) expects 17 million jobs by 2030. Today, pension funds with collective assets exceeding $12 trillion are focusing on climate risk, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Island States like Grenada are seized not only of climate challenge, but also with climate solutions. For us, a robust economy, combined with sound disaster risk-management policies and instruments, is the most sustainable form of adaptation to climate change. But in Grenada, we cannot educate our people if our schoolchildren have no access to electricity. Due to the high import costs of fossil fuels, electricity in Grenada costs four to five times higher than it does in developed countries.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Is it not time to end the embargo against Cuba — and if not now, then when? The explosion of violence that we see in today’s trouble spots is driven by the flawed principle of disrespect for international law and the territorial integrity of Member States. There comes a time when old enemies must turn swords into ploughshares and look to a future with dignity and with hope. Just as climate change is the challenge of our time, it can also be said that climate change is possibly one of the greatest opportunities for wealth creation and shared prosperity that this generation has seen. Today, the renewable energy market is estimated to be in the order of $16 trillion, including $12 billion in the Caribbean alone.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“The annual cry of the small island States to make concessionary funding available is the early-warning system for the international community. Let us settle the least developed countries graduation issue in favour of the SIDS, rather than use it as a parallel climate-negotiation tool against the SIDS. One country that is singled out for its stellar management of disasters is Cuba. We all have much to learn from Cuba on areas as diverse as disaster risk management and public-health management. Cuba sends its engineers, teachers and doctors around the world to improve the lives of others. Is it not time to fully recognize the contributions of Cuba to the international community — and if not now, then when? Is it not time to end the Cold War attitudes to Cuba — and if not now, then when?”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“For small island developing States (SIDS), a robust economy, combined with risk-management policies and instruments, is the best combination for resilience. When our current Administration was elected 16 months ago, the indebtedness of our country was unsustainable. But the Grenadian people came together under the leadership of Prime Minister Mitchell. Unions, churches, non-governmental organizations, political parties and businesses all rallied to form a social compact to put Grenada on a firm fiscal footing. We tightened our belts and asked the Grenadian people to contribute more as we undertook our home-grown fiscal reform. The indebtedness of the SIDS must be counted among the many challenges of our time.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Even as we speak, this week Grenada was plagued with unseasonably high rains that have caused numerous landslides. The value of the damage is yet to be determined. Like our neighbours Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2013, we are forced to dedicate already scarce financial resources to repair and mitigate this. There is a link between these events and the high indebtedness of small Caribbean islands. To paraphrase the World Bank’s country assistance strategy for the Eastern Caribbean, the years when fiscal policy failed to explain increases in debt-to-GDP ratios were the same years when natural disasters occurred. Given these risks, island States need concessionary financing. This is critical to ensuring growth, jobs and economic development.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“With the hottest temperatures on record in recent years, forest fires have raged across almost all continents, devouring millions of acres of forest land, causing damages in the tens of billions of dollars. Glacial retreats from the Andes to the Himalayas and from Greenland to Antarctica are moving at record speeds. We are seeing hurricanes and cyclones as never before. Two years ago, right here in New York, Hurricane Sandy struck and disabled the economic engine of the United States. It caused $68 billion worth of damage. But this represents less than 1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States in contrast with the island States, where damages of between 10 per cent and 50 per cent of GDP are common, and, in the case of Grenada, where damages occurred totalling 200 per cent of GDP from Hurricane Ivan alone.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Do we have the courage to be proactive in fostering jobs and growth, or will we wait until violence erupts? This year’s World Development Report 2014 is all about managing opportunity and managing risk, from the level of the household to the level of the international community. The essence of the report is that the benefits of proactive preparation can outweigh the costs of responding retroactively. The risks from climate shocks are among the most terrifying for Grenada and for islands around the world. Grenada places on record its appreciation for the Secretary-General’s leadership in calling for a Climate Summit. In the last four years alone, we have seen floods raging across the world.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“The World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security and Development, published by the World Bank, acknowledges that development agencies have not yet fully adapted to the needs of the twenty-first century and that they do not yet have the capacity to adequately help fragile States. It finds that unemployment is the number-one reason for youths to join criminal gangs and contending armies. It reminds us that investing in citizen security, justice and jobs is essential to reducing violence. We know that once mass violence takes root in a society, it can take a generation or more to recover. As we look around at the violence in the world today, I ask the question: can our twentieth-century institutions cope with twenty-first-century shocks?”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“But there are two things that reduce income inequality. The first is the distribution of knowledge that promotes growth. The second is war, which destroys capital. The first option is a rising tide that lifts all ships; the second is a sinking stone that drowns all hope — the very antithesis of this Organization. We must focus more of our global policy on proactive interventions that promote sustainable growth. We must encourage economic growth by distributing knowledge through education, information and communication technology, as well as through skills and technology transfers. We do indeed need an Information Master Plan if we are to proactively confront threats in the twenty-first century.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“The information age is a new season in the arc of our institution’s history — a new season in which everyone has a voice, be they the youths of the Arab Spring or the Occupiers of Wall Street’s winter of discontent. Today’s information age brings a new transparency between the haves and the have-nots — between the 1 per cent and the 99 per cent. Whether segmented by class, race, religion or political affiliation, inequality is the disease of our times, contributing to the political eruptions all over the world. We now have — for the first time — documented evidence of the root causes of the growing inequalities in society. A new economic treatise, entitled Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty, analyses over a century of economic data and concludes that the rich are getting richer, faster than everyone else.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“They are the symptoms of an insidious and pervasive unease eating away at the very foundations on which this great institution was built. And with each new escalation of violence, we feel a sense of horror not only at the acts themselves but perhaps more at our inability to act. War and insecurity in the information age have mutated so much that neither our resolutions, our agencies nor our armies are enough to break the fever of this viral menace of transnational actors. And so, looking beyond our Capital Master Plan that reimagines our twentieth-century beginnings, let us build a new Information Master Plan fit for the twenty-first century with electronic highways that will one day connect this Hall to every child in every village.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“The long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine has given way to a realization that the only viable solution is the two-State solution. Moreover, sworn enemies in this Hall now confer on how to tackle much more sinister enemies of peace. Those new enemies have no flags fluttering proudly outside, nor electronic nameplates inside. They are not here in our space-age Hall; they are out there in cyberspace, a place where violence and hate in isolated corners can spread like wildfire across the globe. Captured on mobile phones and uploaded to the Internet, gruesome images from a remote backstreet can inflict fear in the hearts of ordinary citizens on Main Street everywhere. The shocking beheadings we see in the media are the weeping ooze from the cancerous underbelly of our world today.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“For aspiring young people everywhere, coming of age is symbolized by ownership, not of a car, but of a mobile phone or a computer tablet. Those are today’s vehicles on the information highway for the world’s youth seeking ideas, identity and connectedness. We come to the United Nations today to feel that sense of connectedness amid the chaos of today’s challenges. We come to these refurbished Headquarters to renew our commitment to peace and security and to revitalize our mission, not to the stars, but to work for a safer planet with shared prosperity for all. Today, in this iconic Hall, it is too soon to say “mission accomplished”, but for the most part, our original mission for dialogue and the rule of law among abiding nations has been accomplished. Sitting here among ourselves, we are, for the most part, preaching to the converted.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“With its large open spaces and glass façade, the building’s design speaks to our ideals of transparency, openness and dialogue. The building’s mid-twentieth-century features recall the spirit of an age when space was the new frontier. The space age has given way to a new and exciting information age. Today, a young girl armed with a smartphone in Gujarat, India, can Google the same satellite images of our planet as a child in Great Britain. Exposed to the right ideas on the Internet, children — whether in Greensboro in the United States, or Grenoble in France, or Grenada in the Caribbean — can have the same seeds of hope, the same aspirations for happiness and personal growth, and the same sense of duty towards neighbourhood and planet.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“I would like, first of all, to thank the outgoing President, Mr. John Ashe, for his sterling efforts in presiding over the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly in a year that was dedicated to island States around the world. Let me also congratulate Mr. Sam Kutesa and welcome him as the incoming President of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. He can count on Grenada’s support to contribute to the deliberations in a positive and meaningful way. As we gather here in New York yet again, we can celebrate the remarkable history of our institution in this beautifully refurbished United Nations Headquarters. I wish to put on record Grenada’s appreciation to the donors who contributed and to the Secretary-General for his leadership on this project.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“But also, more importantly, it marks 40 years of expectations not yet fully delivered upon. As such, my Government, under the leadership of our Prime Minister, sees this year as the year of less talk and more action, the year of tangible deliverables, and the year that great socioeconomic strides are made. We have a young and vibrant population that cannot wait any longer, that should not wait any longer, and with the help and cooperation of our friends, new and old, we will deliver. They will not wait any longer.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“President, for this sixty-eighth session and wish to assure our partners that they can count on Grenada to be an active participant in these deliberations and in the implementation of their outcomes. Grenada is open for business. My Government recognizes that a tried-and-tested route to sustainable development involves a significant component of foreign direct investment. Grenada therefore reaches out and seeks new friendships while maintaining and building upon its existing and long-standing relations with many States members of this body. In 2014 Grenada marks its fortieth anniversary of independence, and we invite each and every Member to celebrate with us on 7 February. We also see our 40 years as a milestone that recognizes 40 years of struggle, 40 years of development.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“As Egypt goes through its transition and its people’s call for freedom, dignity and social justice is heard, we encourage the leaders to learn the lessons of the recent past and respond to the will of the people in moving forward to a system of true democracy and respect for human rights and inclusive processes for nation-building. Finally, my delegation uses this occasion once more to express our solidarity with the Cuban people, who continue to suffer from an unnecessary economic, commercial and financial embargo that is a relic of the Cold War. Grenada once again calls on the United States of America to respect the views of the overwhelming majority of humanity and lift the onerous measures imposed over five decades ago now. We support your theme, Mr.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Grenada is proud to have joined with neighbouring countries in recognizing the State of Palestine and in signing a memorandum of understanding based upon friendship and upon an understanding of a two-State solution. As with most of the world, Grenada looked at the Arab Spring with great interest. The use of social media underscores the rise of technology as a tool for democracy on a 24/7 basis, and my Prime Minister places great importance on the use of information and communication technologies as a way to engage our youth.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Moreover, being the first country to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Grenada intends to use its experience to raise awareness on that particular matter, especially in the Americas. On the question of Israeli-Palestinian relations, Grenada remains convinced that a two-State solution is essential to ending that conflict and urges both parties to conduct the present round of negotiations in good faith. Grenada has good relations with the Government and people of Israel and is a strong advocate for Israel’s right to coexist in peace with its neighbours. Furthermore, Grenada has long been a supporter of the people of Palestine.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Moreover, Grenada welcomes Security Council resolution 2118 (2013), on destroying Syria’s chemical weapons, and is encouraged by the commitment of the Syrian Government to comply with that resolution. More importantly, my delegation hopes that that breakthrough could be a stepping stone to the resolution of the already brutal and bloody civil war in Syria, which has been fuelled by conventional weapons. On 3 June, Grenada joined 83 States in signing the Arms Trade Treaty on the very first morning that the Treaty was opened for signature. Work is already under way at the national level for the ratification of the Treaty, yet another signal of Grenada’s commitment to peace and security.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We are mindful that the region and the entire United Nations system have been seized of the issues of peace and security during United Nations Week. Grenada and many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are home to a vibrant and entrepreneurial diaspora from the Middle East, including people from Syria and Lebanon. As a consequence, Grenadian citizens are very concerned about the prospects for peace in Syria and the wider Middle East. Grenada condemns, in the most vehement terms, atrocities and crimes against humanity. We therefore believe that those responsible for the recent deadly use of chemical weapons in Syria must be held accountable by the international community.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We also acknowledge that through the ages the Arab world has contributed enormously to the world of science and mathematics, including the very numerals we use today. We see a modern Arab world taking positive steps to take the lead in developing breakthroughs on the key issues that confront our planet. We very much welcome initiatives such as Masdar City and the hosting of the International Renewable Energy Agency by the United Arab Emirates. The role of Qatar in hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference is also noteworthy. Grenada joins with other countries in seeking to deepen our relationship with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and places a high degree of importance on the peace and security of the region.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The third pillar of sustainable development relates to social sustainability. Grenada is a society in which social development is given equal weighting with the importance of investment and economic growth driven by the private sector. On 13 May, a mere three months after assuming office, my Government ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. We are proceeding apace to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, thus demonstrating that Grenada is committed to the removal of all forms of discrimination. Grenada associates itself with efforts to dedicate the Caribbean region to the development of humanity.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“President, as you have chosen the theme of sustainability for the sixty-eighth session, so too has the Government of Grenada chosen sustainable development as the organizing theme for the development of our island and for our engagement with international partners. Grenada is a party to more than 40 multilateral environmental agreements. The push to harmonize local laws with those international instruments is testament to Grenada’s commitment to that agenda. The reasons are clear, the causes of climate change and the impacts of climate change are negatively affecting Grenada’s ability to fulfil its social contract with its people, including its ability to fully deliver on the Millennium Development Goals. So far I have spoken only about economic sustainability and environmental sustainability.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We also wish to express gratitude to the donors and institutions for helping to facilitate that programme. In addition, the Government of Grenada is taking major steps towards creating a green economy. One of the priorities for Grenada’s Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, is the dismantling of a monopoly that is contributing to high energy costs on the island of Grenada. The Government is seeking partners to help create a level playing field, which will allow many more private-sector players to have a role in innovative and substantive power-generation solutions, while positioning Grenada as an exemplar for a sustainable planet. Mr.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Ideally, the outcomes of that debate should be provided as an input towards the 2014 third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, to be hosted by Samoa, and as an input to the Secretary- General’s debate on climate change scheduled for September 2014. Also contributing to the indebtedness and fiscal unsustainability of small island States are the volatility and high prices for fossil fuels. On average, small island developing States are paying between 20 cents and 40 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity, some as high as $1. That contrasts with prices of 5 cents to 15 cents in developed countries. We welcome, therefore, the initiative of the Alliance of Small Island States in establishing the SIDS DOCK Support Programme.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“That is in sharp contrast to the costs of between 20 per cent and 200 per cent of gross domestic product when hurricanes hit island economies. Therefore, Grenada is joining with other SIDS in urging the shareholders, the donors and the boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to translate the recognition of climate vulnerability in small island States into a meaningful package of financial and official development assistance for SIDS. The issue of the graduation of SIDS is an issue that has been raised year after year. Let us return to the General Assembly next year confident that progress on that matter has been made. In that regard, we wish to suggest for consideration during your presidency, Sir, a call for a substantive paper and a debate on the issue.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Moreover, it is clear that several of the SIDS newly promoted to middle-income status continue to struggle with high debt burdens, which are worsened by climate change and high fossil- fuel import bills. Many SIDS also struggle with low productivity and low levels of competitiveness and with severe financial constraints, and, in some cases, they struggle with limited prospects for immediate growth. The point is that per capita income used as a sole measure without the context of climate vulnerability does more harm than good. To illustrate that point, as damaging as Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina were to the United States economy, the costs ran between 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent of the gross domestic product of the United States.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Indeed, for a post-2015 development agenda we welcome a framework that goes beyond gross domestic product and recognizes the assets of natural capital. Grenada encourages the international financial institutions to go even further by also recognizing the liabilities associated with natural disasters caused by climate change. Those liabilities underscore the need to reassess the basis on which small island developing States are graduated to middle-income status, thereby losing access to concessionary funding that is sorely needed. The unilateral graduation of many small island developing States to middle-income status is premature. I therefore reiterate the call made in Agenda 21 for a more holistic and comprehensive set of indicators for classifying States. Grenada endorses support for low- income and fragile economies.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“I thank you, Sir, for selecting as the theme for this session “The post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage”, which, in my delegation’s view, embodies the fundamental concerns of all countries, but will find particular resonance with small island developing States (SIDS) like Grenada. This is an area where the multilateral system must demonstrate its effectiveness not only to improve the lives of ordinary citizens but also to maintain confidence in our multilateral institutions. We look forward to key performance indicators linked to tangible outcomes, rather than more analysis and more reports. Grenada endorses the call made at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development for the future we want. In that context, we must build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals and Agenda 21.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“I wish to extend my sincere congratulations to you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session. The fact that you were elected by consensus speaks in unequivocal terms of the high esteem in which you are held by your colleagues and the respect that you command in this forum. I am confident that your vast practical experience at the multilateral level will serve you in good stead as you guide this session to a fruitful outcome. In the same breath, I pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi., for his astute stewardship at the previous session. Allow me to begin by expressing our solidarity with the people of Kenya, while condemning in the strongest terms the cowardly acts of terrorism that were seen last week.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)