YouSaid · the spoken record

Apisai Ielemia

lines on the record: 52
first: 2008-09-24
most recent: 2012-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
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

“The United Nations Charter, I believe, is premised on timely actions and achievements to gauge whether we are effective and sustainable or merely validating our inactivity. I wish the President, the Secretary-General and all our membership every success in the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Incidentally, any legitimate claim for new nationhood or independence, be it in the Pacific region or the world over, should be supported, as colonialism in any form is contradictory to the United Nations Charter, just as any form of discrimination by race, gender or belief is not accepted in a civilized, modern and free world. I conclude by asking that the United Nations continue to cooperate in an unprecedented way. The United Nations must work together more enterprisingly and reform our strategies to conform to new developments, contemporary innovations and issues. Holding and hosting meeting after meeting is a good engagement strategy and directs our activities. However, delaying the implementation of resolutions is detrimental, as resolution after resolution is shelved or deferred until they are redundant.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Furthermore, Taiwan’s continued contribution to the international community as one of the committed development partners and responsible stakeholders in achieving the Millennium Development Goals should be recognized and accepted by the United Nations system as a valuable contribution to our collective efforts. In that regard, Tuvalu calls upon the United Nations subsidiary bodies, especially the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to recognize and allow Taiwan to participate in and contribute meaningfully to their meetings and activities without reservations.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We therefore urge the United Nations and the Secretariat to act as facilitators of such developments and to expedite technology transfers, where appropriate, to bring our many words and resolutions to fruition. Our collective and global efforts to have peace and security as a prerequisite for the stability needed for global economic growth, sustainable development and social progress will be meaningless if the United Nations continues not to recognize and acknowledge Taiwan’s significant contribution and efforts towards the East China Sea peace initiative for regional stability and peace.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Our trust funds are governed by international agreements and renowned worldwide as transparent and accountable mechanisms with high international standards of accounting and governance. Many suggestions for enhancing the role of the United Nations have been documented. We also continue to hear from the experts and technical advisers of the development of alternative energy drives and technologies, be they solar, wind or wave. In our region, and I believe in many other remote areas, we ask how we can get those new technologies to be readily available and price-effective to the membership of the United Nations, especially LDCs and SIDS.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We have challenged ourselves to be 100 per cent renewable in 2020 in our energy sector. We could miss the mark, but we will not be comforted by remaining inactive, be it in our vision or in our action. We have asked developed countries to reduce carbon emissions; we will do the same at home, regardless of scale contrasts. With the advent of technology, Tuvalu seeks the donors’ assistance in realizing their pledges to establish early-warning systems pertaining to tsunamis or tropical cyclones in order to mitigate any risk and subsequent cost to Tuvalu. Tuvalu wishes also to offer its established trust fund protocols to the United Nations and development partners’ funding mechanisms for climate change adaptation as innovative financing instruments and architecture for channelling such resources to Tuvalu.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We therefore support advances and urge perseverance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol as the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change in order to give substance to international agreements. As a sea-locked country, we in the Pacific have offered the resources of our vast oceans to be utilized by developed countries. We ask the partner countries to be more responsible and to reward us as guardians with the appropriate compensations that are conducive to our development needs, as well as environmentally recompensing. Domestically, Tuvalu is pursuing energy efficiencies, development strategies and goals that are both green or blue and sustainable.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Tuvalu’s security and nationhood are continuously being threatened by the adverse impact of climate change, especially by sea-level rise. Much has been said and documented on the root causes of climate change and its negative consequences for many countries, not just the most vulnerable small island States like Tuvalu. Yet the ongoing global pleas to address such consequences have so far fallen on ignorant, if not deaf, ears. Our smallness and lack of natural endowments, as well as being only four metres above sea level, leave us extremely vulnerable to natural shocks, particularly to the effects of climate change and sea-level rise. As is well known, sea-level rise and f looding threaten Tuvalu’s limited agricultural production, undermine food security, and increase our vulnerability to supply disruptions.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We are also fully committed to the strategic implementation of the essential dictates of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the Mauritius Strategy for its further implementation, and the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020, and seek the cooperation of development partners to provide, in a timely and predictable manner, financial and technical support to ensure their successful implementation. We have repeatedly called on developed and emerging countries and their partners to take a leadership role in reducing their greenhouse-gas emissions and to help small and poor countries like Tuvalu in their mitigation and adaptation activities.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Tuvalu has passionately pursued those Goals, and we sincerely thank the donor community for its invaluable support, be it in-kind or financial. As we progress to the end of the MDGs in 2015, we continue to seek such partnerships so as to ensure that the MDGs are achieved fully and effectively as we anticipate the transition to the sustainable development goals.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“It would be something akin to the principle of equal treatment, namely, the principle of special treatment, which is precisely the foundation of the very existence of LDC status. If the geographical limitations and extreme vulnerabilities of Tuvalu do not justify special consideration, what is the purpose of special and differentiated treatment, the cornerstone of international cooperation? Obviously, countries are acutely uneven and unequal, and treating them on the basis of a one-size-fits-all paradigm would simply be wrong. Tuvalu looks forward to the continued understanding and support of members of the Economic and Social Council on the question of its graduation from the LDC category. Tuvalu also accords the highest priority to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Tuvalu greatly appreciates the decision taken by the Economic and Social Council to note the recommendation of the Committee for Development Policy to graduate Tuvalu from the least developed country category and to consider that issue at its next substantive session in 2013. That will allow the Council the opportunity for full consideration of the particular challenges Tuvalu faces. In that regard, despite the fact that Tuvalu has met two of the three criteria for graduation from LDC status, there is an urgent need for the United Nations to revisit such criteria in order to reflect and capture the real situation of the economies of the countries eligible for graduation. We believe that treating the case of Tuvalu the same way one deals with other countries is a denial of what decades of United Nations advocacy have set in place.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“That seemingly accepted sense of SIDS work in the United Nations does not match Tuvalu’s vision of what the United Nations ought to be doing in support of those countries. We believe that the time has come for us to spell it out; the third decade of United Nations work on SIDS should not be another round of lip service. That will require a number of needed special international measures for SIDS to be identified and, naturally also, that some order be put in the definition of SIDS, as a necessary condition for making SIDS a genuine, internationally accepted special category of countries.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“SIDS status and SIDS- specific treatment are truly what our small island States are in need of, just as the least developed countries (LDCs) need the special treatment extended to them by the international community. Thirdly, we would like to reply to those, within and outside the United Nations, who have been arguing that the case for special treatment of SIDS is not and should not be on the United Nations agenda, because special treatment of SIDS would imply the existence of a SIDS category, and apparently, we are told, SIDS cannot be considered and dealt with as a special category. Therefore, SIDS are only an abstract notion deliberately kept undefined, because any clarity or debate on what they are and what precisely could be done for them would be too challenging or disturbing.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We have seen nearly 20 General Assembly resolutions on SIDS adopted since the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, held in Barbados, and numerous reports of the Secretary- General on the subject. Two United Nations conferences on SIDS have been organized, and now new momentum is gathering towards a third conference in 2014. Secondly, there is no part of the SIDS work in the United Nations that has ever generated international support measures specially reserved for SIDS. In other words, in 20 years the United Nations has not been able to hear and answer the pleas our island States have been making for special treatment.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Today, 12 years later, we consider this lasting concern almost totally unanswered. That may sound surprising to some representatives, as we all tend to be under the impression that much work, time and energy has been spent over the past two decades for the benefit of SIDS. Without going into detail on the state of the SIDS agenda, I would like to make three observations on the subject and outline Tuvalu’s intentions in the same vein. First, as much as we appreciate the work of various United Nations departments and programmes on SIDS, we observe that this work has been almost entirely focused on stating and indefinitely reiterating the challenges and problems SIDS are facing.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“The United Nations should also seek to ensure participatory planning in the design of any engagement so that we co-opt and work together with the existing diverse fabric of our societies, whose issues we are trying to address and assist with. The United Nations should also align its programmes and activities with those of the host country’s needs and action frameworks, heeding the distinctiveness of our membership. When Tuvalu became the 189th Member of the United Nations in September 2000, we were conscious of the complexity and breadth of the United Nations agenda in comparison with our relatively modest capacity. Yet there was one issue that we were confidently determined to bring to the fore. Does the United Nations hear the plea of small island developing States (SIDS) for fair treatment by the international community?”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We concur fully with the President’s vision that we cannot be defeated by terrorists, extremists and the sponsors and supporters who back them. The world we want to give our future generations is not one of terrorism and fanaticism, or of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, maritime piracy, organized crime, drugs and narcotic smuggling, child labour and trafficking, slavery and religious intolerance. In the United Nations, we strive for international peace and security; that is the world we want to give to all future generations. Faced with globalized agendas, the United Nations must cooperate and seek engagement with other organizations and their memberships for partnerships in development activities.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“In view of circumstances facing the world today, there is certainly an urgent and critical need for the United Nations and for each Member State in particular to address those issues, individually or collectively. As a small and peace-loving nation, Tuvalu welcomes and fully supports the important services provided by the United Nations and other organizations in the maintenance of peace and security around the world, especially in conflict regions. We firmly believe that the use of force through military or violent action as a means for settling disputes and conflicts should be avoided at all costs. It is also important that countries involved in such disputes should be encouraged and supported in discussing the root causes of their differences among themselves in a non-confrontational manner.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“It is my great honour and pleasure to participate in the general debate of the Assembly on behalf of the people and Government of Tuvalu. As Tuvalu will commemorate the thirty- fourth anniversary of its independence on Monday next week, 1 October, let me take this opportunity to acknowledge with profound appreciation the continued assistance and support given us by the United Nations, the international community and in particular our traditional development partners in our pursuit of our development goals. The overarching theme, “Bringing about adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations by peaceful means”, together with a myriad of core issues that have been chosen for the Assembly’s sixty-seventh session, is fully supported by Tuvalu.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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 15 09-52586 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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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. 09-52586 14 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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“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.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“More than ever, we need a significant increase in direct financing, technology and capacity development, as recognized under the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation, to cope with our unique island challenges. Mr. Derrick Sikua (Solomon Islands), Vice- President, took the Chair. My Government firmly believes that the next 12 months will be an extremely critical time in the history of the United Nations. We must act promptly and decisively to address climate change, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and to respond to the global crises on food and energy. These issues are closely linked. We must rise to these challenges. God bless the United Nations. Tuvalu mo te Atua.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Therefore, we believe it is time that the United Nations properly addressed the issue of Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the United Nations specialized agencies. My Government strongly supports Taiwan’s aspirations to meaningfully participate in the United Nations and its specialized agencies, recognizing Taiwan’s own political and economic achievements and its constructive contribution to international development, trade, health, education and technology. We appeal strongly that Taiwan’s aspirations to participate as a full member of specialized agencies of the United Nations be given proper and urgent attention. Finally, our story on the achievement of the MDGs is mixed. For small island developing States like Tuvalu, addressing our sustainable development challenges is not simply poverty reduction. It is the MDGs-plus.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We also believe that a seat should be allocated for a representative from a small island developing State in the reformed Security Council. In the broader context of United Nations reforms, I support the Secretary-General’s remarks that “Our changing world needs a stronger United Nations. … “we need to be faster. … We need to pay less attention to rhetoric, and more attention to results — to getting things done.” (A/62/PV.4, pp. 1-2) I could not agree more. To this end, I appeal again to the United Nations for the earliest establishment of its Joint Presence office in Tuvalu in order to facilitate better coordination of United Nations interventions. Tuvalu believes strongly that nations have the right to self-determination. The United Nations must uphold this principle.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Yet this special vulnerability has never been given serious recognition in the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, let alone recognized as the main criterion for LDC graduation. I therefore call on the United Nations to work seriously towards reform of the graduation rule so that no LDC that is recognized as highly vulnerable is forced to lose its LDC status. Tuvalu wishes to commend the ongoing reforms within the United Nations but would also note with grave concern that progress is slow. We clearly need to restructure and expand the Security Council in order to properly reflect regional balance. We must take a fresh look at the membership so that the Council can properly address emerging global peace and security challenges, including climate change.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Also, they have in common the fact that they are highly vulnerable in economic and environmental terms. But this vital criterion of vulnerability does not seem to be taken seriously enough. In short, our countries are or could be losing LDC status because of progress they have made on per capita income, despite the fact that the sustainability of that income is challenged by our vulnerability. My second point has to do with the serious lack of coherence within the United Nations system. For several years the high level of vulnerability of small island developing States has been recognized and reiterated in many different United Nations circles — in Rio, Barbados, Mauritius and Johannesburg, as well 08-52265 16 as in several other major United Nations events, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit Declaration.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Our economic and environmental vulnerabilities cannot be ignored. The enormous threat of more severe weather events and a rising sea level hangs overhead like a large storm cloud. It hinders investment in our country and potentially puts into question our very survival. We therefore make a strong and heartfelt appeal to the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and our development partners to carefully reconsider the criteria for LDC graduation. Two issues are of particular concern. First, it is remarkable that nearly all recent graduates and potential graduates are small islands — including my own country, Tuvalu. The small island States that are also LDCs eligible for graduation all have improved their per capita income and their human assets.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Tuvalu recently attended the High-Level Conference on World Food Security. We share the grave concerns regarding the current global issue of high food prices, food shortages and their associated social problems for humanity, which are made worse by high fuel prices. We highly commend the initiative taken by the Secretary-General in establishing the High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, and the formulation of a Comprehensive Framework for Action. We sincerely hope that this Framework will produce concrete results in countries experiencing the food crisis. One of the most sensitive issues for small and vulnerable island developing States like Tuvalu has been the lack of recognition of our unique vulnerability in the consideration of the question of graduation from the least developed country (LDC) status.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We strongly believe that it is the political and moral responsibility of the world, particularly those who caused the problem, to save small islands and countries like Tuvalu from climate change and ensure that we continue to live in our home islands with long- term security, cultural identity and fundamental human dignity. Forcing us to leave our islands due to the inaction of those responsible is immoral, and cannot be used as a quick-fix solution to the problem. In the context of all this, therefore, Tuvalu also strongly supports the draft resolution on security and climate change submitted by the Pacific small island developing States, to be reintroduced at this sixty-third session. We urge others to co-sponsor this very important draft resolution and properly address the issues raised in it.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“As a first step, we believe, a special coordination committee should be established under the auspices of the General Assembly. Thirdly, the blueprint proposes the establishment of an international climate insurance pool. This would be an internationally sourced pool of funds for an insurance mechanism to provide support to the most vulnerable communities to meet the costs of rebuilding after climate-related disasters. Those are only three ideas we have elaborated in our blueprint. There are a number of others. We encourage the President to look closely at the blueprint and develop the ideas further.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We also believe that new and additional sources of funding must be identified and channelled through the recently established Adaptation Fund to help fund concrete adaptation projects in-country to adapt to the impacts of climate change, while ensuring long-term survival and livelihoods of our God-given lands. While we welcome, therefore, the recent launch of several new funding initiatives on climate change, we must caution against the fragmentation of international efforts, and warn of the need, not to do more studies, but to fulfil obligations to urgently save those suffering from climate change. Secondly, we need collaborative action by United Nations institutions and non-governmental organizations to develop a comprehensive approach to long-term adaptation action.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“This blueprint highlights a number of areas where we envisage greater collaboration within the United Nations system. Let me highlight a few. First, it is very clear that financial resources for adaptation are completely inadequate. Last year Oxfam International suggested that the adaptation needs of developing countries will cost a minimum of $50 billion per year. We must work together to find these additional funds. One means of increasing the 15 08-52265 funding for adaptation is through the creation of what we call a burden-sharing mechanism. Funding for this mechanism could come from levies on the share of the proceeds from emissions trading and international aviation and maritime transport.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“In the little way we can, we in the small island developing States are also committed to contributing to emission reduction through use of renewable energy. While we call for urgent action to reduce emissions, we know that the impacts of climate change are upon us. For a highly vulnerable small coral atoll nation like Tuvalu, the consequences of the impacts of climate change are frightening. The survival and security of our entire nation, along with fundamental human rights and its cultural identity, are under threat; Tuvalu is right on the edge of existence. Climate change could well push us over that edge. Last year Tuvalu produced an international blueprint on adaptation which we presented as a submission to the Conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We must work together to ensure that all countries make a substantial effort to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. We need to find the right incentives to ensure that all countries contribute to dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This requires a substantial collective effort. It also requires strong political leadership. Tuvalu observes with great disappointment the clear absence of this leadership particularly emerging from the recently concluded Group of Eight (G-8) Summit. We need stringent, short-term targets by all major developed countries. Based on the principle of the polluter pays and common but differentiated responsibilities, the industrialized world must show strong leadership in advancing real actions on climate change. But all countries must also act.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“The central message to us, world leaders, of both the International Panel on Climate Change reports and the Sir Nicholas Stern report on climate change is crystal clear: unless urgent actions are taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions by shifting to a new global energy mix based on renewable energy sources, and unless there is timely adaptation, the adverse impacts of climate change on all communities will be catastrophic. This great family, the United Nations, must not fail to take heed of these timely warnings, and to save us all, particularly the small and most vulnerable, from this man-made catastrophe. The next 12 to 18 months are crucial in the context of negotiating a new international agreement on climate change, based on the Bali Action Plan.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)