YouSaid · the spoken record

Santos Calderón

lines on the record

18

first

2011-09-22

most recent

2023-06-13

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. “We must redouble our efforts not only in mitigation and adaptation but in nature-positive solutions, including conserving high-integrity forests, peatlands, coral reefs and other ecosystems that provide humankind with clean air and clean water. I would like to end by calling on the members of the Council for unity, constructive dialogue and cooperation, not only on climate, peace and security but also on the Council’s mandate as a whole. We are at a moment in history in which the world is at risk of dividing into blocs that compete for power and supremacy over each other, rather than cooperating to address the unprecedented challenges and existential threats that we all face. We must unite to cooperate, or we will perish.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

2. “That includes having more climate and security advisers attached to peacekeeping missions and using climate forecasting as part of the Organization’s prevention toolkits to anticipate and mitigate risk in fragile contexts. There cannot be peace without sustainable development, and there cannot be sustainable development without peace. It is as simple as that. Peace can be maintained only if the very forests, soils and rivers that communities depend on are protected and managed sustainably. Ahead of COP28, the international community must help the most vulnerable to strengthen their resilience. That starts with developed countries delivering on their climate financing promises, including a doubling of adaptation financing by 2025, and multilateral institutions dramatically increasing their financial capacity. We need bold policy action.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

3. “Even though conflict and displacement driven by climate change have a disproportionate effect on women, women have shown great leadership in finding solutions — from resolving local water disputes in Yemen to resisting environmental crimes in Colombia. The Council must step up and play its part in addressing the unprecedented challenge of climate insecurity, working with other United Nations entities and other international institutions to find sustainable and just solutions. There is much that the Council could do to integrate climate more effectively into United Nations operations on the ground, building on the work of the Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

4. “Deepening divisions are continuing to undermine the Council’s ability to deliver on its core mandate. In that regard, I commend the wise decision by the United Arab Emirates — as COP28 host — to put climate, peace and security on the agenda. Despite the desire by some members of the Council to treat climate change and security as separate issues, in the real world the consequences of climate change and conflict very clearly converge. Climate change exacerbates threats to human security and war damages nature and the environment in numerous ways, from the destruction of dams — just look at Ukraine — to attacks on oil pipelines and agricultural land that sustains rural communities. Look at my country.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

5. “The point is that both should act together to recognize and adequately funds the protection of nature so as to ensure its role as a fundamental solution to our climate and biodiversity crises and as a necessary condition to achieving and maintaining peace. I am a member of The Elders, the group of independent leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, whose former Chair was Kofi Annan and today’s Deputy Chair is Ban Ki-moon. The Elders are united in our commitment to peace, human rights, justice and a sustainable planet. It is our mission to call on world leaders to step up and respond to the existential threats facing humankind: the climate crisis, pandemics, nuclear weapons and now also artificial intelligence, which should be urgently regulated. We are worried that people are losing faith in the multilateral system.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

6. “This year’s Climate Change Conference, in Dubai, is of the utmost importance because we cannot keep postponing decisions that are crucial to the survival of humankind. One great achievement for the upcoming twenty- eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) would be to explicitly link the Convention on Biological Diversity with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and identify shared commitments and actions under both. Even better, we could merge them into one convention. I know that in the current circumstances that is an impossible ideal.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

7. “I came back from the Vatican yesterday, where Pope Francis invited 30 Nobel Peace Laureates to the first World Meeting on Human Fraternity. In our declaration we made a call to build environmental fraternity, to make peace with nature, because “everything is in relation to everything”. And that call should be embraced by the Council. We have for too long ignored nature and its critical role in sustaining humankind and the planet. The science is now clear that if we are to reverse the destabilizing impacts of climate change, we must stabilize our relationship with nature. Biodiversity loss and climate change cannot be addressed separately. In countries like mine, preserving the forests turns out to be more net effective and as important as cutting emissions from fossil fuels.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

8. “And, as proof of mission accomplished, I gave the leaders of the Koguis and the Arhuacos three things: a copy of the peace agreement, information on our very aggressive environmental policies and the text of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), approved here in this building in 2015, where Colombia played a key role in its conception. To my surprise, they told me to keep the baton because my mission was not finished. They claimed that in the SDGs the most important dimension was lacking — the spiritual dimension, which means that humans have to accept and understand that life is nature; that rivers, oceans and trees all have life, all have rights and should be treated as equals. And they are right.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

9. “In addition, since nature was also a victim, the protection of the environment is present in all sections of the agreement. Repairing nature is actually one of the sanctions specifically mentioned for those most responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Because the agreement has not been effectively implemented, violence and deforestation in some areas left by the FARC has increased. On the other hand, in many places, former combatants and communities have come together to preserve our forests and rivers and to promote ecotourism, a good example of reconciliation — not only among humans but also of humans with nature. In 2018, a couple of months before leaving office, I returned to the Sierra Nevada to give back the baton.”

   2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

10. “And they asked me to come back when I had completed my mission. As the Council very well knows, after six years of negotiations, we ended 50 years of war with the FARC, and that guerrilla no longer exists. I want to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude for the great support the Council has provided over many years to the Colombian peace process. That support remains instrumental, and it shows that when the Council is united, it can make a significant contribution to peace and security around the world. The Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, the Colombian peace agreement, is unique in many ways. It includes a gender and an ethnic chapter, and the victims and their rights became the centre of the negotiations.”

    2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

11. “Mr. Santos Calderón: It is an honour to be back at the Security Council. I want to thank the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates for the invitation. Allow me to start with an anecdote. The day I was going to be sworn in as President of Colombia, I went to the Sierra Nevada, one of the most biodiverse and beautiful mountain ranges in the world — and birthplace of our Permanent Representative — to ask for permission from our elder brothers, the Koguis and the Arhuacos, the indigenous peoples who live there and who are known to best preserve pre-Hispanic civilization. They gave me their blessing, with a baton and a mandate: “Make peace with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), but also make peace with nature. Peace among humans will not be successful unless you makes peace with Mother Nature too”, they warned me.”

    2023-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9345 (2023) · source

12. “Let us take off the shelf these instruments for prevention and settlement of disputes provided for in Chapter VI of the Charter and put them into practice. More prevention and less intervention: this must be our common goal, and this is the proposal and invitation that Colombia is making.”

    2011-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6621 (2011) · source

13. “It would be ideal not to have to resort to Chapter VII, and therefore we must make every effort to strengthen preventive diplomacy and make it more efficient and more agile. The Charter provides us with all the proper tools to do that, such as direct negotiations, good offices, mediation, fact-finding, conciliation, arbitration and judicial settlement, as well as the possibility to call upon the parties to settle their disputes by pacific means and to suggest and recommend procedures for adjustment. We only have to decide to use these mechanisms and this power. I want to conclude my intervention by making a call to the Council that we assume our responsibilities with a long-term vision.”

    2011-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6621 (2011) · source

14. “The most propitious moment to resolve a dispute is when it is just emerging, before it starts escalating. For this reason, the early intervention by the United Nations or regional organizations and even the good offices of certain countries in regional settings are fundamental for the prevention and settlement of conflicts. I also want to stress the important role that regional organizations and arrangements can play in this context, as recognized in Chapter VIII of the Charter. This has been acknowledged by the Security Council on numerous occasions, most recently in today's meeting. When the Security Council acts under Chapter VII, the dispute has already acquired such proportions that it is more complex and more difficult to solve, so much so that the Council is empowered to impose sanctions and even to authorize the use of force.”

    2011-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6621 (2011) · source

15. “We are talking about mediation that works, that sets goals and time limits, and is useful in ending conflicts, not in perpetuating them. We share the Secretary-General's assessment in his 2009 report (S/2009/189) that is surprising that although mediation has demonstrated its effectiveness as a means for the settlement of disputes, it has attracted little attention and has not drawn many resources from the United Nations system. That is why we were pleased with the recent adoption of a General Assembly resolution (resolution 65/283) that strengthens the role of mediation in conflict prevention and resolution. That document is destined to become the roadmap of mediation. In international disputes, just as with one's health, it is always better to prevent than to correct.”

    2011-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6621 (2011) · source

16. “A recent experience in our region was the successful mediation carried out by Colombia and Venezuela in order to assure the return of Honduras to the Organization of American States and to contribute to resolving the crisis that arose in that nation in 2009. Today more than ever before, the recognized leadership of institutions, Governments and high- profile personalities, both in the world arena and in the regional sphere, has a role to play in contributing to the attainment of peace through good offices and mediation. By the same token, international organizations should encourage and promote these processes. We are referring, of course, to mediation processes between States in which the United Nations carries out its mandate, and not to situations involving illegal actors who act outside the system and even against it.”

    2011-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6621 (2011) · source

17. “We should not underestimate any of these means; each has virtues of its own and they all have the same purpose. I would like to stress, however, that some are especially useful, in particular the less formal means for dispute settlement, such as good offices and mediation. The intrinsic advantages of mediation are evident if one looks at international practice. The mediator must enjoy the parties' trust. Without trust, there is no point in even setting the process in motion. This is why the existence of conditions conducive to reaching agreement is essential if mediation is to proceed smoothly.”

    2011-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6621 (2011) · source

18. “Allow me to begin by congratulating you, Sir, on having assumed the presidency of the Security Council and convened this high-level meeting, which highlights the commitment of your Government to the high aims of international peace and welfare. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General for his valuable report (S/2011/552) and for his briefing today, both of which enlighten us about the actions and accomplishments of the United Nations in the field of preventive diplomacy. Colombia is pleased and grateful for the Security Council's decision to consider as a main topic of debate that of conflict prevention through the peaceful settlement of disputes, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. Our task today is to ensure that the means for the prevention and settlement of disputes become ever more agile and efficient.”

    2011-09-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6621 (2011) · source