YouSaid · the spoken record

Marles

lines on the record
11
first
2011-07-20
most recent
2011-07-20
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

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

  1. “We owe it to ourselves, to future generations, and to the future of the planet itself to anticipate and act to reduce that threat.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  2. “In conclusion, Australia recognizes that climate change is a threat to the stability of individual countries and regions and has broad implications for future global security. That is why we have supported this debate. We also support calls for a report from the Secretary-General on the capacity of the United Nations system to respond to those impacts and on how that capacity can be improved. Failure to act now on the potential security implications of climate change will exacerbate risks in the future. Improving resilience, integrating climate risk into vulnerable sectors of our economies, and strengthening our disaster management capabilities are just some of the urgent responses we must make to address these security challenges. No serious Member State can deny that climate change is a primordial threat to our planet.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  3. “The overwhelming nature of the challenge of climate change means that the responsibility lies with all of us, in every forum. Australia remains seriously committed to helping developing countries tackle climate change. Least developed countries, small island developing States and Africa have been given the highest priority in the allocation of Australia's fast- start package because they need it most urgently. These are not the countries most responsible for the current crisis we face, but they are the countries that will bear the greatest burden. Of our $599 million fast-start funding commitment made at Copenhagen, Australia has so far allocated $498 million, more than 80 per cent.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  4. “In this process, it seems to us that the Security Council has a role to play as the principal organ directly responsible for maintaining international peace and security. That role includes consideration of the root causes of conflict and political and social crises. The Council addresses those issues through many topics, including, for example, poverty and HIV/AIDS. A focus on the potential security implications of climate change is therefore relevant to its mandate and does not - and should not - compete with the mandates of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council or the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. But ultimately, the question as to where the responsibility for the issue of climate change lies is an easy one.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  5. “Its unique and indisputable legitimacy reflects the voice of its 193 members. Our commitment to that role of the General Assembly is why Australia was such a strong proponent of its resolution 63/281 in June 2009, which specifically stated that the overarching responsibility for sustainable development issues, including climate change, rests with the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. We considered it right and essential that this matter be first addressed by the General Assembly. It was the General Assembly that then invited all the relevant organs of the United Nations to intensify their efforts in order to consider all aspects of climate change, including its possible security implications.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  6. “First, let me reaffirm that, in Australia's view, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the primary intergovernmental instrument for addressing climate change. Australia's commitment to that process was demonstrated by our domestic policy reform inspired by the UNFCCC. On 10 July, Australian Prime Minister Gillard announced that we will legislate a carbon price to take effect from 1 July 2012. This has been a difficult political debate in Australia but a fundamentally critical piece of public policy reform. In 2020, our carbon price will have reduced Australia's carbon pollution by 160 million tons - the equivalent of taking 45 million cars off the road by 2020. Secondly, let me equally reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental role of the General Assembly.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  7. “Vulnerability to climate change is not limited, of course, to island countries. Drought, flooding and soil erosion exacerbated by climate change pose significant threats to agricultural productivity and food and water security in Africa and elsewhere. Desertification has already consumed significant areas of land and will continue to reduce the amount of arable land as climate change worsens. The only way to tackle the global challenge of climate change is through robust global cooperation and strong domestic action. Both are indispensable. Both are complementary. We know that there has been some concern about where responsibility for addressing climate change lies within the United Nations system.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  8. “When one stands on Majuro as I have, with nowhere else to go, and sees the sea on either side of that thin and flat strip of land, there is a sense of the intense vulnerability felt by those living on small islands. The sea, which is everywhere and has long been a source of food, sustenance and comfort, is being transformed into a source of anxiety and threat. In the short-to-medium term, a combination of sea-level rise, storms of greater intensity and inundation will put greater pressure on coastal settlements and may lead to further local displacements of populations. In the longer term, if internal resettlement is no longer an option, climate change could cause destabilizing population movements as peoples" lives and livelihoods are increasingly subject to risk.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  9. “In our region, one of the most significant impacts of climate change will likely be sea-level rise caused by a thermal expansion of the world's oceans and melting glaciers and ice caps. Sea levels may rise by up to 1 metre by the end of this century, resulting in more severe storm surges, coastal inundation and loss of territory. Never before has the international community had to grapple with the reality that islands and low- lying territories might become uninhabitable as a result of sea-level rise. For low-lying island States such as the Marshall Islands, a l-metre rise in sea level could result in the erosion and loss of as much as 80 per cent of the nation's capital, the Marshall Islands Majuro Atoll.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  10. “Increased extreme weather events could further worsen food and water security challenges, undermine community development, compromise critical infrastructure, weaken State governance and strain social cohesion. All countries will face the adverse impacts of climate change, but the most vulnerable peoples worldwide, who are least responsible for the global challenges we are now facing, will suffer the most. As the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, I have travelled to some of the countries that will be most affected by climate change. Indeed, 20 of Australia's 22 closest neighbours are developing countries, most of them small island developing States.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source

  11. “May I start by thanking Germany for the opportunity to address the Council on the security implications of climate change. May I also say what an honour it is for me to follow, in addressing the Council, my colleague and good friend, His Excellency Mr. Marcus Stephen, President of Nauru. Climate change is a global threat, not an abstract concern. It is already seriously affecting the planet. Carbon dioxide levels are at their highest point in more than a million years. It is an existential threat to many small island developing States and low-lying countries. The effects of climate change could reshape the future global security environment by affecting the political and social stability and economic security of vulnerable countries.”

    2011-07-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6587 (2011) · source