YouSaid · the spoken record

Enele Sosene SOPOAGA

lines on the record

100

first

2006-09-24

most recent

2018-09-24

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5

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un-general-debate

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1. “In conclusion, Tuvalu strongly believes that its collective effort to achieve the aspirations of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to secure global peace, security and prosperity will be severely compromised unless we all paddle together, as a family, to urgently address climate change and save Tuvalu and the world. God bless Tuvalu. God bless the United Nations.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

2. “While holding high our national pride as an independent nation, we fully acknowledge that Tuvalu could never have achieved such status without the due consideration of Members of this body, to whom, on behalf of the people of Tuvalu, I now offer our sincere gratitude. In our striding forward, we acknowledge with deep appreciation, the generosity of all our development partners, particularly our traditional partners: the Republic of China, Taiwan, India, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and many others. As we paddle our canoe forward for the next 40 years, we seek the continuing goodwill of the United Nations family to further advance our achievements based on genuine and durable partnerships.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

3. “I extend our humble invitation to all Pacific Island Forum leaders, our friends and especially our bilateral and multilateral development partners to join us in Tuvalu. It will still be there, I hope. We want to put on record our deepest appreciation to the Government of Taiwan for their generous support in helping us prepare for that important and large-scale regional event. Similarly, I want to acknowledge similar support from the Governments of India, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea in helping us host the next year’s Forum. On 1 October, next Monday, Tuvalu will celebrate its fortieth anniversary of independence.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

4. “Tuvalu believes that the United Nations has to make the arrangements necessary to enable Taiwan to participate in meetings, activities and mechanisms within the framework of United Nations processes, including those of the relevant United Nations specialized agencies. In a similar vein, we believe that the long-standing unilateral economic embargo on trade with Cuba directly constrains the development aspirations of the people of that country. It neglects the human rights and the spirit of cooperation espoused by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Likewise, we believe that the United Nations must also engage with the people of West Papua to find lasting solutions to their struggles. In August 2019, Tuvalu will host the fiftieth Pacific Islands Forum of leaders.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

5. “The oceans are what we are, our culture, our life and our survival, but global warming, acidification, coral bleaching, solid wastes and plastic pollution and diminishing inshore and offshore stocks of fisheries, on which national economies depend, are gravely affecting the oceans. The United Nations must provide the strongest possible leadership to drive genuine partnerships to address those issues. The exclusion of Taiwan from the United Nations system has denied its 23 million people the enjoyment of their fundamental rights to participate in and benefit from the United Nations. Taiwan is already a responsible and able partner with Tuvalu and many other countries in many regions of the world, and could do even more if it were allowed to assume its rightful place and role in our global efforts to achieve sustainable development.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

6. “We also welcome the review of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and hope that that review will truly reflect and respond to the unique circumstances affecting SIDS and their unique economic, environmental and social vulnerability. In the South Pacific region, we are taking small steps to address that vulnerability. We are in the process of developing a Pacific Island climate-change insurance facility. We seek support from the United Nations-wide system to assist us in developing that facility. Our small-island economy is inextricably linked to the oceans.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

7. “In that regard, we call on the Economic and Social Council to create a special category for SIDS so that we can be afforded special considerations in a similar fashion to those received by the least developed countries. We note the recently released report of the Secretary-General on the assessment resulting from the evolving mandates of the small island developing States units of the Secretariat (A/73/345). The expanded responsibilities of the SIDS unit in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States should be matched with expanded resources.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

8. “This year, Tuvalu proposed that it remain a least developed country, because its ability to achieve sustainable development is being severely compromised by its vulnerability to climate change. We noted with appreciation the support that we have received from development partners and friends to advance that proposal. However, it is our earnest belief that the unique and extreme vulnerabilities of small island developing States must be considered as a fundamental criterion for graduation. The particular concerns of highly vulnerable SIDS, like Tuvalu, cannot be ignored. In our national strategy for sustainable development — Te Kakeega — our unique vulnerability is recognized as enemy number one hampering our efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

9. “We welcome the successful conclusion of the intergovernmental negotiation on the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration and commend the spirit of responsible leadership and multilateral cooperation extended to efforts to support the ever- increasing populations that are being affected by conflicts and environmental crises, We believe, however, that all human rights of people displaced as a result of climate change should be protected under an international legal agreement. We therefore reiterate Tuvalu’s proposal for a United Nations resolution on the establishment of a legal process to protect the human rights of people displaced by climate change.”

   2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

10. “For a nation like Tuvalu, security and the future are contingent upon urgent action to address climate change. We therefore reiterate our call for the appointment of a special representative of the Secretary-General on climate change and security. We also call on the Security Council to appoint a special rapporteur to produce a regular review of global, regional and national security threats caused by climate change.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

11. “I extend our deep appreciation to the Governments of India and France for their initiative on solar-energy development as part of the International Solar Alliance and to the European Union, New Zealand, Taiwan, Italy, Austria, Japan and the World Bank for their support for energy efficiency and solar-energy development in my country, Tuvalu. I wish to acknowledge the efforts of notable members of the Security Council in bringing climate change to the fore of its peace and security agenda. That represents a genuine commitment to addressing the most important challenges of our time and the greatest single threat to humankind. It is our humble hope that the entire Security Council membership can agree to include climate change as a permanent agenda item. We believe that the nexus between climate change and security is fundamental.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

12. “The next Conference of Parties in Poland is a critically important milestone for climate-change action. We must ensure that the implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement are concluded. We must also ensure that the Talanoa Dialogue process leads to a strong political declaration and decision that respond adequately to the IPCC 1.5°C report and set a pathway for enhanced climate-change action. In that regard, we seek a commitment from every nation to enhance its efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions as a matter of urgency. We in Tuvalu are fully committed to shifting to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020 despite our negligible greenhouse-gas emissions.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

13. “We will fight to protect and save our islands, our people, our culture and our future. We appeal to this noble Assembly not to allow such consequences to happen. Tuvalu, whose islands and lagoons were used by the American forces in the Second World War to conquer the enemy in the Pacific, urges President Trump and the United States of America to rejoin the Paris Agreement so that we can all paddle together to save the world against our single most threatening enemy, namely, climate change. Failing that, Tuvalu proposes that we, the signatories of the Paris Agreement, quickly return to Paris to critically and urgently reassess our mitigation pledges and dramatically increase our efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas pollution. We cannot allow one country to desert the process and derail our collective efforts.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

14. “I repeat once again what I said at the twenty-first Conference of Parties in Paris: “Just imagine if you were in my shoes, how you would feel. And what would you do?” Climate change is a weapon of mass destruction. It is slaughtering fellow human beings throughout the world. The United Nations cannot and must not allow the biggest greenhouse-gas emitters to turn away from their moral duty and responsibility to urgently reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and to save SIDS like Tuvalu by providing the appropriate adaptation support and resources. It would be shameful if all of humankind allowed Tuvalu to disappear. Every single year wasted with no action taken on climate change draws Tuvalu a year closer to its total demise on Earth. But Tuvalu will never give up.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

15. “The current global warming trend spells a very bleak and miserable future for small island developing States, especially for low-lying atolls such as Tuvalu — a future that demands huge investments in mitigation and adaptation that are simply beyond our capabilities. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change offers us a lifeline. But the current commitments contained in the Paris Agreement constitute only a third of what is required in order to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change, which poses a direct threat to our existence and survival. As already established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), unless the global community steps up its actions to significantly lower greenhouse-gas emissions, SIDS like Tuvalu will disappear completely within the next 30 to 50 years — disappear completely.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

16. “It must be followed by meaningful action on the ground to promote healthy lifestyles and diets, supported by adequate financing and monitoring modalities so as to ensure integrated progress. Addressing that issue urgently is critical, and to that end we in Tuvalu have introduced healthy lifestyles with our initiative of afternoon sweat-breaks every Friday provided to all workers in places of work and villages to encourage a more active and healthier lifestyle. We need practical support, however, in the form of funding and resources from the United Nations, as well as the international community. For small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals depends entirely on how we address issues of climate change.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

17. “The recent Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Nauru reaffirmed our commitment to peace and security in the Pacific region. In the Boe Declaration on Regional Security for the Pacific region we called for urgent actions with regard to not only military, but also human security issues. In that spirit, two days ago, Tuvalu signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which provides the international community with an opportunity to ban such weapons. We urge all to take concrete actions to make our world safe. Non-communicable diseases and tuberculosis hit the poor and vulnerable particularly hard and drive them deeper into poverty. We commend the successful outcomes of the high-level meetings of the General Assembly on those issues, but rhetoric alone is not enough.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

18. “That is the leadership that the world needs in order to succeed against the defining global challenges facing the United Nations, in particular in connection with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the role of that Agenda in combating climate change and environmental degradation. This year was characterized by the fear of a potential nuclear war, as if we had not learned from the wrongs of our past. Now we have nuclear weapons that are much more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Numerous nuclear tests in our Pacific region have caused unimaginable damage to the environment and the health of our people. Some of our islands continue to cope with the effects of nuclear radiation decades after those tests.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

19. “We also want to acknowledge with sincere affection the passing of the late Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General, and his outstanding contributions to the work of this body while leading us from the dusk of the previous century into the dawn of the twenty- first century, which included the considered admission of my country to this great Organization. We welcome the critical theme of the current general debate, “Making the United Nations relevant for all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies”. It rightly reminds us that we now need responsible global leadership more than ever — leadership that values multilateralism and trust and takes seriously the moral responsibility to help those who need help.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

20. “It gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the Government and the people of Tuvalu, to address the General Assembly and to congratulate Her Excellency Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés on her election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session. Tuvalu has full confidence in her leadership, which will, together with the Secretary- General’s support, further advance our work in the United Nations. Tuvalu also reaffirms its commitment to the noble values and principles of the United Nations, of which Tuvalu has great pride in being a Member since it joined in 2000.”

    2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)

21. “It is our hope that, with this global pact on the environment and the Paris Agreement, we can save Tuvalu. If we can save Tuvalu, we can save the world.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

22. “We cannot ignore and risk leaving behind those who hope for a decent life but are being constrained by violence, natural disasters, violation of human rights, atrocities and the impacts of climate change. We cannot leave anyone behind. Finally, I wish to express Tuvalu’s strong support for a global pact on the environment, as initiated and proposed by France. We need an internationally legally binding agreement that protects our rights to a safe and clean environment. We are but on one big canoe for humankind and, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this morning, no one country has the right to jump ship on climate change. We must either paddle together to keep the canoe afloat and safe, or allow the canoe to sink and drown.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

23. “Of similar concerns, the people of West Papua should be enabled to exercise their fundamental right, with the intervention of this responsible Organization, to determine their own development aspirations and future. The West Papuans are a distinct people with Pacific roots, with their own land, history and culture. The violation of human rights in West Papua is a matter of constant and great concern to us. Tuvalu strongly believes that the United Nations must engage in setting a clear pathway to address these issues and the issue of self-determination for the people of West Papua. We must embrace the genuine partnership of those who can contribute to the realization of a decent life in our marginalized communities.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

24. “This is unfortunate, given that our 2030 Agenda needs genuine global partnerships to mobilize all available resources to be successful. Under its principle of universality, the United Nations should allow the 23 million people of Taiwan to enjoy their fundamental right to participate fully in the United Nations system and to benefit and contribute effectively to its programmes. In the same vein, the people of Cuba must be allowed to freely exercise their rights to determine their own political, economic and social systems. With their rights and trade restricted by the unilateral blockade imposed by the United States, the people of Cuba are denied effective participation in our Sustainable Development Goals programmes.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

25. “We must agree at this session of the Assembly to commence work on developing a legally binding agreement to give protection to biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions. Our 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is universal and holistic in that it applies to all countries and actors and covers all aspects of sustainable development. Critically to its success, the agenda is rooted in human rights and genuine partnerships. But the vibrant democracy of Taiwan, which has long been an active and responsible development partner to many countries, including Tuvalu, is being denied participation in the United Nations system. It cannot be right that the twenty-second-largest global economy, with a notable capacity to contribute, cannot effectively participate in our 2030 Agenda.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

26. “We are heavily dependent on the ocean, and the ocean is central to our achievement of sustainable development. We firmly believe that once we have established our baselines under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, these baselines, as well as the identified maritime zones, shall remain forever. This is irrespective of sea-level rise. The ongoing discussions on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction must ensure that small island developing States, with our particular vulnerabilities, are provided the necessary financial and technical support to guarantee our equal and fair participation in the management and sharing of benefits from this instrument.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

27. “To enhance further adaptation work, access to appropriate infrastructures, maritime ports on the islands, airports, technology connectivity, health care, quality education and renewable energy are critical areas of particular priority. Tuvalu will welcome the development of genuine and durable partnerships, as aspired to under the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway. In regard to the issue of LDC graduation, it is our view that a country must graduate only when it can achieve sustainable development, not merely when it should be able to achieve it. The unique vulnerability of SIDS and LDCs such as Tuvalu must be the central criteria of consideration for LDC graduation. As small islands surrounded by vast oceans, we interact with the ocean every day of our lives.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

28. “On our own part, Tuvalu has developed its national strategy for sustainable development, known as Te Kakeega III, premised on building resilience through good governance, inclusive participation and capacity measures for mitigation for LDCs, with targets of 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020, as well as coastal protection adaptation on all islands, in order to protect and save Tuvalu. We are grateful to the members of the international community for their generous support through the work of the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme, as well as through other donors and bilateral partners. While grateful for their goodwill, we have established our own Tuvalu Climate Change and Disaster Survival Fund as a facility to help people respond quickly to the impacts of climate change.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

29. “This preparation must include developing the appropriate international legal tools to cope with the complex and multifaceted challenges posed by climate change. In particular, the current refugee regimes that were developed to cope with traditional threats do not adequately protect people forced to leave their homes by the impacts of climate change. We therefore reiterate our proposal for a United Nations resolution on the establishment of a legal process to protect the human rights and, ultimately, save the lives of people displaced by the impacts of climate change. As a least developed country (LDC) and a small island developing State (SIDS), we need enhanced global support to overcome the structural challenges we face in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

30. “Sadly, displacement owing to the impacts of climate change has not drawn the same international concern and response, despite the fact that it has the very real potential to become a serious threat to global peace, security and human rights. Uncontrolled mass migration into Europe as a result of conflicts and natural disasters, for example, has taught us the very important lesson that we should have had in place effective international institutions and systems to control, manage and protect the rights of migrants. In exactly the same manner, we must now formulate effective international systems to protect the human rights of people displaced by the impacts of climate change and avoid further uncontrolled mass migration and mass violation of human rights.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

31. “Secondly, we all know that membership of our global family of the United Nations has the tools and resources to save Tuvalu and low-lying States from the impacts of climate change. It is only a question of whether we have the will and the courage to help these people. We have come together to face grave risks before. Over many years, the international community, guided by the Charter of the United Nations, has cooperated on many fronts to deal with threats such as Ebola, cholera, violence, natural disasters and, subsequently, the lives and rights of people displaced by such threats. The international response was immediate because these threats were potential global threats to humankind. For others, however, their response was driven by political and economic interests.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

32. “It remains so today, and the situation grows more urgent every day. Under current warming trends, our islands may be submerged under the sea within the next 50 years. If and when that happens, we will be forced to abandon our islands, even though we contribute the least to global warming and sea-level rise. This forced relocation or displacement of our people is an injustice and an infringement on our fundamental and basic human rights. It is for this very reason that we continue to call for enhanced global commitment and partnerships in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. We cannot give up on this campaign, for two very simple reasons. First, relocation and statelessness are totally unacceptable, as many of us here in the Hall would agree.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

33. “For Tuvalu and many of the low-lying islands, our peace and security are not imperilled by traditional threats of conflict, violence, drugs, weapons, famine or disease. Instead, as the Male’ Declaration on the Human Dimension of Climate Change recognized in 2007, “the impacts of climate change pose the most immediate, fundamental and far-reaching threat” to individuals and communities in these most vulnerable States and threaten a wide range of human rights, including “the right to life, the right to take part in cultural life, the right to use and enjoy property, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to food and the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. Ten years ago we recognized that climate change was the single greatest major threat to our peace, security and, ultimately, survival.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

34. “We are likewise heartened by his dedication to rallying the United Nations system to better support Member States by mobilizing resources and strengthening partnerships in their pursuit of climate action. Indeed, without enhanced commitment and genuine partnerships, the Paris Agreement will not save us all, especially the most vulnerable. Climate change is a risk multiplier on all factors of development. Its challenges are complex and continue to change. It is for this reason that we reiterate our call for the appointment of a special representative on climate change and security in order to enhance international focus, coordination and commitment. In the same vein, we call for climate change and security to be a permanent item on the agenda of the Security Council, given its direct threat to global peace and security.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

35. “We are nevertheless encouraged this morning by the strong leadership of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron on climate change. We thank them and highly commend their courage. We welcome the Secretary-General’s intention to convene a dedicated climate summit in 2019 to mobilize political support. It will be an important opportunity, in our view, to review our progress and momentum and, most importantly, to enhance our commitment to taking urgent and credible actions to reverse global warming. We are also encouraged by the Secretary-General’s commitment to intensifying high-level political engagement to limit the temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and aiming at limiting the increase to 1.5°C.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

36. “These are the marginalized, the vulnerable, the poor, the women and the children who suffer the most from climate change, especially those who live on low-lying islands and incoastal areas. There are already tens of millions of these people, and their number is increasing at an alarming rate. Domestic, economic and political interests are often short-term and benefit only a few. They should not be pursued at the expense of a decent life for us all, current and future generations, on a sustainable planet. That is the spirit that underpins our twenty- first-century development system. We therefore urge the United States to reunite with us and to allow all of us, in particular the most vulnerable, the best possible chance to save ourselves and the sustainable future of humankind.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

37. “The entry into force of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change last year raised our hopes that, in recognizing the existential threat to us all, Member States would commit to the common cause of fighting climate change, adapting to its impacts and strengthening the ability of developing States, especially the most vulnerable, to deal with them. The Paris Agreement is our common hope of a decent life on a sustainable planet. For Tuvalu, it is our hope of security and survival. This hope, however, dimmed with the announcement by the United States that it will abandon the Paris Agreement. This decision risks undermining our global efforts to save and protect the livelihoods of the people who are at risk from the impacts of climate change.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

38. “Just yesterday, and with pride on behalf of my country, Tuvalu, I signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a further demonstration of our commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons and to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free-Zone Treaty, which was negotiated and drafted at the 1984 Pacific Island Leaders Forum, held in Tuvalu. It is our fervent hope that nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, including the trade in materials and the development of technologies to produce such weapons, are totally banned, outlawed and prohibited worldwide by the United Nations. Humankind must be advanced neither on the principles of fear and deterrence nor on the adage of “might is right”, but rather on moral justice for humankind, equity, trust, respect and the full enjoyment of basic human rights.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

39. “We are particularly concerned with the threat to global peace and security posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We acknowledge the persistent efforts of the Security Council to de-escalate tensions. A renewed engagement with inclusive diplomatic dialogue is, in our view, the only option for solving the crisis on the Korean peninsula. We believe that a military response would lead to unimaginable destruction and loss of life. In this vein, Tuvalu maintains its commitments in support of all international legal instruments against violence and terrorism. It is critical that we support international law for the protection and promotion of human rights. We commend the establishment of the Office of Counter-Terrorism to ensure the effective and balanced implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

40. “These unfortunate events clearly show the magnitude and urgency of global work still required of the United Nations to better prepare, protect and save peoples and humanity from such calamities. We also share the devastating grief of the people of Mexico, including young schoolchildren, following the earthquake this week, as well as other peoples suffering similar disasters and violence around the world. We pray that God brings comfort and a speedy recovery to the affected people and their loved ones. Horrific acts of violence and terrorism continue to plague our world. Countless innocent lives are destroyed and lost. Violence in any form is a direct threat to peace and security and seriously undermines our efforts to achieve sustainable development. We therefore condemn violence and terrorism in all their forms and manifestations.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

41. “In short, without sustainable development, there will be no peace and no security. I congratulate Mr. Miroslav Lajčák on his election to the presidency and on his vision of focusing on people during the seventy-second session. I also congratulate the outgoing President of the General Assembly, Mr. Peter Thomson of Fiji, on his efforts and outstanding leadership on many fronts. I want to express the deepest sympathy of Tuvalu, as a small and vulnerable island nation, to the people of the United States of America and the Caribbean islands who are suffering or have been affected by the destruction caused by the recent hurricanes and tropical cyclones in that region.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

42. “I record Tuvalu’s sincere gratitude to the United Nations and its specialized agencies, development partners — especially our traditional partners in the Pacific, regional bodies of the Pacific — friends in Asia, India, South Korea, Japan, the Republic of China, the European Union and others, for all their support to my island nation of Tuvalu. We welcome the friendship and partnership of United Nations Members and other entities as we move forward. Tuvalu applauds the theme of the seventy-second general debate, “Focusing on people: Striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”. It captures the undeniable linkage between peace, security and sustainable development. It underscores that, without peace and security, our 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will not deliver a fair globalization for all.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

43. “Next week, on 1 October, Tuvalu will mark the thirty-ninth anniversary of its independence. It gives me great pleasure, therefore, on behalf of the Government and people of Tuvalu, to thank the United Nations and all its membership for granting Tuvalu the recognition of full sovereignty in October 1978. Twenty-two years later, on the eve of the twenty- first century in September 2000, Tuvalu was admitted as the 189th Member of the United Nations, with the rights of full participation as a member of the United Nations family. Our joining the United Nations is a journey of hope — hope in the noble values of this great body, the United Nations, and trust in its ability to assure humankind, including small and vulnerable countries like mine, peace, security and prosperity for our survival.”

    2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)

44. “We must place God at the centre of our human efforts and the endeavours of the United Nations, to ensure that we successfully reach our destination together. Next week, Tuvalu will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of its independence. I ask Members to partner with Tuvalu and with God as we journey forward. I wish the Assembly success in reaching its goals the current session. I would like to reiterate that Tuvalu is fully committed to multilateralism. We believe that we cannot survive as a State without our United Nations. If we save Tuvalu, and SIDS, through the SDGs, particularly through Goal 13, on climate change, and Goal 14, on oceans, we will save the world. May God bless the United Nations. May God bless Tuvalu.”

    2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)

45. “The Pacific Island countries were instrumental in ensuring that oceans were included in the SDGs. The oceans provide the basis for our life. We therefore stress the need for collective action to properly address illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, ocean acidification, the protection of biodiversity beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, and reforms to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, so as to protect the natural resources of our islands. Instead of singing the same old tune about good governance and political solutions, we need moral probity and soul-searching in dealing with the oceans. More than ever, we need the helping hand of Almighty God to guide us in our work.”

    2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)

46. “Let me assure both members and partners of GCF of Tuvalu’s total commitment to ensuring the success of the approved project, and, of course, our full cooperation in future partnerships with GCF. We are also very appreciative of the assistance that we received following Tropical Cyclone Pam in 2015. However, we believe that there is a need to establish a more systematic mechanism to respond to disasters in small island development States, particularly those in the Pacific. We have proposed the establishment of a Pacific climate change insurance facility to help us receive assistance in a timely manner during disasters, without having to wait for partnerships and responses from partners. We welcome the Oceans Conference to be held next year by the United Nations.”

    2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)

47. “In that respect, we are deeply grateful for the support that has come bilaterally and from the agencies of the Council of Regional Organizations in the Pacific, from various United Nations bodies in the Asia and Pacific region, as well as to the work of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and its Board. Tuvalu is currently one of only two SIDS in the Pacific with approved funding for adaptation work on the ground. We thank the United Nations Development Programme for partnering with Tuvalu in the development of our proposal. We also thank the two co-Chairs and Board members of GCF, and in particular our own SIDS representation on the GCF Board, for their favourable consideration. While we appreciate past assistance, we continue to need help in building our national capacity with respect to writing project proposals and reporting on progress.”

    2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)

48. “We are committed to reducing our greenhouse-gas emissions, as we stated in our Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, and by 2020 we shall have reached our target of 100 per cent electricity generation from renewable sources. Tuvalu has also established a Tuvalu Climate Change Survival Fund, using its own meagre financial resources, as a mechanism to show that we are serious in saving our people and enabling them to forever remain on the islands. The Survival Fund is now also a catalyst to engage in meaningful partnerships with the world. However, on our own, we are quite unable to afford the immense cost of adapting to the impacts of climate change.”

    2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)

49. “We must ensure that our commitments under the Paris Agreement are all met. Tuvalu has exerted every effort to contribute its voice — however small, however low — at the global level, and we are proud to have been part of the negotiations on climate change since the Rio Summit, and through thick and thin, and heat and cold, until the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with its successful outcome: the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Tuvalu was among the first countries to sign and ratify the Paris Agreement here in April. In practical terms, we are not giving up. We will never give up.”

    2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)

50. “We must not experience again the shortfalls that befell us under the MDGs. There must be genuine partnerships to deal with our unique and particular challenges. Irrespective of how well-intentioned or how well written our national strategies for sustainable development may be, our efforts and long-term survival and security will be seriously compromised unless urgent actions on climate change are taken at all levels. In our view, the cause and effects of climate change, including the threats to the survival of people worldwide, especially in SIDS, have been thoroughly explained, first in the plethora of United Nations documentation, and now in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The time for talking is over; it is now time to walk the talk and ensure the full elaboration and implementation of what has been agreed upon.”

    2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)