Federated States of Micronesia, 2012

I wish to join previous speakers

in congratulating the new President of the General

Assembly and in commending the President of the

Assembly at its sixty-sixth session for his excellent

leadership. Allow me also to convey my deep respect

for the tireless efforts that His Excellency Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon has made as leader of the

Secretariat and as a world statesman.

Today our world continues to face numerous

arduous challenges that require an urgent and collective

response. Many of the gravest threats to the States

members of the Assembly, including mine, the Federated States of Micronesia, are simply beyond the abilities of

our individual countries to single-handedly address,

even with our most aggressive and concentrated efforts.

To speak before this body today is an honour and an

opportunity that I must take to encourage international

cooperation to help address those challenges.

The biggest challenge we face today in Micronesia

continues to be climate change, not just the projections

of future loss and damage, but the dangerous impacts

that my people are experiencing every day. Sadly,

to date no significant progress has been made on

climate-change mitigation. Time and again, I have

asked, “How do I tell my people that their plight and

their future lie in the hands of those most responsible

for greenhouse gases?”

From our point of view, we must step up our

collective efforts to confront global climate change

more urgently and more creatively. What is needed

now is to close the ambition gap. I therefore call on the

major emitters to step up their level of commitment

under the Kyoto Protocol. Our very existence depends

on it. Without international cooperation and assistance,

we are helpless against the adverse impacts of climate

change.

Micronesia has barely contributed to the problem

of climate change; it has, in fact, contributed to some of

the solutions thereto. We actively participate in United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

negotiations and continue to advocate for significant

cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions.

We were therefore pleased with the agreement

reached this summer in Rio to begin cooperation on a

global phase-down in the production and consumption of

hydrof luorocarbons (HFCs). Micronesia first proposed

amending the Montreal Protocol on Substances that

Deplete the Ozone Layer in 2009. Today it remains

the ideal venue for a phase-down of the production

and consumption of HFCs, just as has been done with

respect to similar gases that HFCs were invented to

replace.

To the rest of the world, the map may look fairly

empty on our side of the globe, but to all of us it is

as much a homeland as any continental land mass. We

must treat it accordingly, and we must defend it just as

strongly. And therein lies our second, closely related

challenge: the change in our ocean environment. That

change includes not only rising tides and temperatures

and ocean acidification, but also the damage caused by

harmful and destructive fishing practices, pollutants

such as mercury and oil, and other waste resulting from

unsustainable human activity. The abhorrent practice of

illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing continues

unabated, and urgent actions to reduce by-catch, fish

discards and post-harvest losses must be taken.

For us, as a Pacific small island developing State,

our livelihood, our economy, our culture and our

way of living are tied to a blue economy. We have

recognized that the conservation and sustainable use

of the ocean and its resources are key elements in

achieving sustainable development. We must fulfil our

commitments made at Rio.

My country welcomes the decision taken in Rio

to hold a global conference on small island developing

States in 2014. Micronesia fully supports that decision

and reiterates its call to hold such a conference in one of

the Pacific small island developing States.

The rising cost of global energy continues to pose

a serious challenge to our socioeconomic development

and sustainability. Small island developing States such

as Micronesia continue to rely heavily on imported

fossil fuel despite the abundance of renewable energy

sources. Our unique and particular vulnerabilities

often translate into significantly higher costs for energy

infrastructure and fossil fuels. As a consequence, our

Governments spend a high percentage of our limited

budgets on fossil-fuel procurement alone, often at the

expense of the other sectors of our economies.

To mitigate that situation, small island developing

States adopted the Barbados Declaration on Achieving

Sustainable Energy for All in Small Island Developing

States, which has become an annex to the outcome

document of the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development, adopted last June. That

is a concrete expression of the small islands’ own

determination and ambition to promote renewable

energy, energy efficiency, energy access and low-

carbon development.

However, our transition to renewable energy

requires financing and new, appropriate and affordable

technology. To that end, I must recognize and commend

the bilateral assistance already provided in that area by

the European Union, Japan, China, the United States,

France, Italy and Turkey, as well as others that are also

assisting through other multilateral arrangements. We

urge other partners to join us to ensure sustainability.

We also urge support for the Secretary-General’s

initiative on “Sustainable Energy for All”.

Our health-care system is increasingly under

stress and facing constant challenges from the growing

burden of non-communicable diseases, which has

reached epidemic proportions in the Pacific. While we

accept that the primary responsibility for health rests

with our Government, we are seeking assistance from

the international community in capacity-building,

institutional strengthening and policy formulation.

While we recognize the contributing effects of nutrition

and lifestyle in that epidemic, we are also mindful of the

fact that climate change has magnified the challenge as

a result of the threat it poses to food security and the

traditional lifestyle of Micronesians.

The Federated States of Micronesia supports the

greater participation of women in social, political

and economic development. We look to development

partners to enhance our investment in ensuring that the

potential of women is nurtured and realized through

quality education, health-care services and security

measures against domestic and gender-based violence.

It is only appropriate that measures to empower women

to be true participants in nation-building should be

locally driven. We have embarked on mainstreaming

women’s views, interests and contributions into national

development policies. We recognize and appreciate

the assistance extended by the United Nations system

and our development partners to support our national

policies to enhance gender equality.

Turning to our Organization, the single most urgent

need is to reform the Security Council. Naturally, such

an important step must not be taken in haste. However,

after more than a decade of talking, we should be close

to finding an acceptable formulation. Success on this

issue will strengthen the Organization and stimulate

and renew confidence in the Charter.

My country subscribes to the principles of peace,

security and prosperity, as enshrined in the Charter of

the United Nations. We are horrified by the senseless

killing of thousands of innocent civilians in Syria.

Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed surges

in violence. We join the international community in

condemning violence, in particular the attacks on

diplomatic missions, diplomats and personnel in Libya

and Egypt. We must be bold in our actions to prevent

such attacks. I call on Member States to continue their

efforts to find peaceful solutions to these conflicts,

especially the most challenging ones.

The United Nations has the unique opportunity

to address and solve the many challenges facing its

weakest and most vulnerable States Members. The

challenge lies in how the Organization and its most able

Members can turn their many ambitious statements

into mobilizing the required resources to successfully

protect the citizens of the world.

We in the Federated States of Micronesia, facing

our troubled world, continue to place our faith in the

United Nations as we look towards future. Our isolation

amid the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean no longer

shields us from the threat of international terrorism.

Globalization has long had a foothold on our island

State. Facebook links us to the world.

Allow me to end with a quote from my Constitution:

“The seas bring together, they do not separate us ....

We extend to all nations what we seek from each:

peace, friendship, cooperation and love in our common

humanity”.