YouSaid · the spoken record

Ralph Gonsalves

lines on the record
14
first
2020-12-04
most recent
2021-02-23
sittings or episodes
2
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. “In crafting its mandates, the Security Council should also pay close attention to what the Governments of conflict-affected States outline as their principal climate-security challenges and approaches, including in their nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans. Further, the recent establishment of an Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security comprised of Security Council members is a promising development of which Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is proud to be a part. It is time for the Security Council to rise to the extant challenges associated with climate-related security risks in this seventy-sixth year of the United Nations. Climate change has rendered obsolete the traditional approaches to managing conflicts.”

    2021-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/198 (2021) · source

  2. “It is evident that among the major contemporary drivers of global insecurity is the bundle of issues arising from the impacts of climate change. No country escapes the consequences attendant thereto. There are solutions to these man-made crises. In order to effectively address these complex situations, we must integrate climate perspectives into the Council’s work. To this end, we support enhanced reporting by the Secretary-General on the relevant issues and decision-making on the basis of climate-risk data; the appointment of a special envoy on climate and security; further training of United Nations personnel to deal with the security implications of climate change; and the incorporation of climate advisers in peacekeeping missions.”

    2021-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/198 (2021) · source

  3. “We stand in solidarity with conflict-affected countries where climate change exacerbates food insecurity and humanitarian crises, stokes conflicts over resources, fans the flames of political turmoil and creates significant socioeconomic challenges. Our sister island Haiti is among the most susceptible to the impacts of increasingly intense and frequent climatic hazards. These natural disasters hit Haiti hard, partly due to the felling of its forests, the misuse and abuse of woodland resources and the obligations they have to pay externally imposed debts. Another awful example is the Sahel: we will not see an end to the complex cycles of conflict S/2021/198 without striking at the heart of the battle for dwindling resources amidst climate change and drought.”

    2021-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/198 (2021) · source

  4. “Climate change is an existential challenge to us all but it continues to disproportionately affect the most vulnerable among us, including small islands and conflict-affected countries. As a small island developing State, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines knows all too well the impact of increasingly intense climatic shocks due to unique vulnerabilities and structural fragilities. In our Caribbean region, it has become distressingly commonplace for an entire year’s gross domestic product to be washed away by a hurricane overnight, even as we are hindered by a lack of sufficient access, on favourable terms, to the global financial architecture. Our fellow islanders in low-lying States are faced with a clear and present existential threat that poses significant concerns for their sovereignty and, by extension, international peace.”

    2021-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/198 (2021) · source

  5. “Saint Vincent and the Grenadines reiterates that the first step to prevent or contain climate-security risks is for the major, and historical, emitters to fulfil, and indeed exceed, the commitments made in the Paris Agreement. Global action must be accelerated to keep temperatures below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in line with our common but differentiated responsibilities. Indeed, we have, gathered around this virtual table, those who can have the greatest impact on preventing climate-fuelled conflict by rationally and comprehensively reducing emissions and by upholding financial commitments towards adaptation measures, separate and apart from already agreed official development aid obligations.”

    2021-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/198 (2021) · source

  6. “As such, it is time for the Council to seriously consider a draft resolution on the matter and to map out a coherent approach, aiming for a working consensus. We reaffirm that the UNFCCC is the primary body dealing with climate change and the Paris Agreement is a major component of our rules-based international system. At the same time, we recognize that the Security Council has a role to play without encroaching on the work of the inclusive decision-making body of the UNFCCC. Similarly, we must engage with the Peacebuilding Commission and the General Assembly in order to effectively address climate and security risks across the joinder of issues touching and concerning humanitarian support, sustainable development, health pandemics, peace and security.”

    2021-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/198 (2021) · source

  7. “Saint Vincent and the Grenadines commends the United Kingdom for this opportunity to address climate-related security risks. We applaud its continued dedication and leadership in this matter, particularly ahead of the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). I also thank the briefers for their insightful remarks on this vital subject. As the primary organ for maintaining international peace and security, the Security Council has a responsibility to address the consequences of climate change, in line with its mandate. Failure to tackle the debilitating impacts through the lens of peace and security means, in part, an abdication of our duty.”

    2021-02-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/198 (2021) · source

  8. “Indeed, no country is an island unto itself, and our contemporary threats to international peace and security can be solved only through collective action and solidarity. To that end, we encourage a further deepening of the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union to fashion comprehensive development and reparative solutions to the main causes of insecurity, including those grounded in historical wrongs committed against our global African civilization. As we seek to build back better from the coronavirus disease pandemic, we must remain ever mindful that a peaceful and prosperous Africa is a central pillar of a safe and secure world.”

    2020-12-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/1179 (2020) · source

  9. “We also encourage both Councils to communicate more regularly in a manner that allows African perspectives to be fully reflected in Security Council decisions on African issues, and to pursue in earnest all modalities for information-sharing, including through joint field visits. Finally, we echo the calls of the African Union to end all unilateral economic sanctions imposed on African countries so as to assist in the creation of conditions conducive to economic recovery, growth and stability. The immense challenges of today cannot be solved through incrementalism or an outmoded zero-sum game of militarism. Instead, we need principled and pragmatic multilateral solutions.”

    2020-12-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/1179 (2020) · source

  10. “The Security Council should also consult with the AU regularly on the implementation of mandated priority tasks for peace missions in those areas, such as security-sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, in which the African Union has a wealth of expertise and can provide operational guidance. We have also borne witness to the comparative advantages of the African Union playing a more involved role in peace operations in a number of contexts, such as the African Union Mission in Somalia and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. To that end, our delegation fully supports the use of United Nations assessed contributions for AU-led peace operations.”

    2020-12-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/1179 (2020) · source

  11. “At a time when the world is facing the complex and overlapping effects of the coronavirus disease pandemic, rampant climate change, growing ecological destruction, mass human displacement, the proliferation of violent extremism and other contemporary drivers of human insecurity — many of which are felt most acutely in African countries — deeper coordination between the Council and the AU Peace and Security Council would significantly improve our collective security efforts both in conflict-affected countries and those in post-conflict settings. The nuanced perspectives and principled advice of the African Union should be sought out, systematically and as a matter of priority, ahead of all mandate renewals and mission transitions for peace operations on the African continent.”

    2020-12-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/1179 (2020) · source

  12. “We have seen the tangible benefits of this growing partnership in the positive developments in the peace processes of the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Sudan. And with the adoption of today’s presidential statement (S/PRST/2020/12) on Burundi, we are pleased that that country can now be removed from the Security Council’s agenda. We believe that lasting solutions can never be imposed but must emerge organically from within. In that regard, we maintain that the positions and priorities as articulated by the African Union, including in the Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want and the Silencing the Guns initiatives, present the surest pathway to lasting peace and security across the continent.”

    2020-12-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/1179 (2020) · source

  13. “The strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union (AU), as envisaged under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, is a critical instrument in our global security architecture, and one that significantly bolsters the international community’s efforts to maintain international peace and security. Since the signing, in 2017, of the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, the partnership has grown from strength to strength, not only as a mechanism for sharing the collective burdens of security, but also as an avenue for the international community to gain access to and benefit from the immeasurable expertise of local and regional actors, grounded within the unique historical and contemporary realities of the African continent.”

    2020-12-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/1179 (2020) · source

  14. “It is a pleasure to see you, Your Excellency and my brother Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, presiding over this virtual meeting. We thank the Republic of South Africa for convening this important and timely discussion, and we express our gratitude to Secretary-General António Guterres; the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, His Excellency Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat; and the Presidents of the Niger and Tunisia for their insightful remarks. As a committed member of the A3+1 group — the three African members of the Security Council and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — and of the sixth region of Africa, we place particular emphasis on the theme of today’s debate.”

    2020-12-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/1179 (2020) · source