Marshall Islands, 2010

I bring the warm greetings of

“Yokwe” from the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Every September since the country became a

member of the United Nations in 1991, leaders of the

low-lying Republic of the Marshall Islands have been

reminding the international community of the need for

full global action on climate change.

We have no mountains or high ground; we have

only our narrow archipelago resting a metre above the

ocean. There has been enough talk, and too much

repetition. It is now time for meaningful action,

creative cooperation and visible results to address

climate change. If we fail in the short-term, the

economic and moral costs for our low-lying islands —

and eventually the whole world — will be beyond

calculation.

The global commitment at Copenhagen to

safeguard the most vulnerable faces a true litmus test:

will our local communities see visible results leading

towards a climate-resilient future? I urge that by the

time of the climate change talks in Cancún nations

build political trust through “fast start” finance, by

providing transparent information and actively turning

commitments into results.

We cannot wait for the uncertain path to achieve

a full multilateral climate agreement, and we cannot

allow laggards to set us back. Those most vulnerable

and those willing to confront the challenges facing us

must take leadership in this process by putting forward

our own agreement spelling out real and ambitious

commitments and actions to address climate change.

And we urge others to follow.

To work in true partnership we must first show

our own commitment. The Marshall Islands

Government has endorsed a new climate change road

map, spelling out specific actions to cut our own

emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, and concrete

strategies to ensure that the growth of our local

communities is safeguarded from climate impacts.

The Marshall Islands has made important

progress towards achieving several Millennium

Development Goals, but much remains to be

accomplished. With our international partners, we must

also better address climate change risks in the context

of our core development.

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Practical and “shovel ready” adaptation actions

taken now — water security, resource conservation and

infrastructure protection — will sharply reduce the

long-term risks to our security and sovereignty. But we

cannot ignore such threats. It should be a matter of

serious concern to the Secretary-General that we are

actively contemplating risks to our territorial integrity

and United Nations membership, that we are

considering options to safeguard our population’s

political rights if our land —and our thin water table —

becomes unusable in the face of rising seas.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is known to

the United Nations as a small island developing State,

but we are first and foremost a large ocean nation. Our

thin atolls may appear tiny on a map, but our exclusive

economic zone is over 2 million square kilometres. As

Chair of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, I address

the United Nations on behalf of a unified political bloc

vested in ensuring the future of the Western and

Central Pacific, the world’s largest viable tuna fishery.

The development pathways of the Parties to the

Nauru Agreement are narrow and limited, and at the

highest levels we have committed to putting a firm stop

to the unrestricted global harvest of our resources. The

status quo of overfishing is unacceptable; it has

strangled our development and threatened the viability

of our resources. We have closed off surrounding

pockets of international waters, and if our development

and ecosystem needs so demand, we will close off

more.

We currently realize only a tiny fraction of a

multibillion-dollar industry — only one penny from

each can of Pacific tuna — and we are seeking global

support and economic partnership to grow our benefit.

Without political and economic cooperation in regional

fisheries decision-making, and unless fishing targets

are in line with science, the collective economic

development of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement

will remain at a standstill as our coastal resources

decline. We have already driven our partners to achieve

positive action. However, far greater efforts are

needed, from both United Nations agencies and

regional fisheries management organizations, to

identify time-bound strategies which assist us in

realizing a greater share of benefits from our own

resources.

The United Nations must make faster progress

towards reflecting modern twenty-first-century

dynamics. The Security Council should be restructured

to accommodate those nations whose size, leadership

and responsibility — in particular, the Group of Four

of Japan, Germany, India and Brazil — indicate a

deserved role as permanent members. Further efforts

should also ensure that Africa and small nations,

including island States, have an improved voice.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands welcomes

the progress achieved on both sides of the Taiwan

Straits. The pragmatic and moderate actions of Taiwan

should not be overlooked by the United Nations, and

deserve further encouragement. I call upon the United

Nations system and Member States to be open-minded

and identify appropriate means to accept Taiwan’s

participation within specialized agencies, including the

International Civil Aviation Organization, and in the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change. In particular, recognizing the commitment to

reduce emissions by the 23 million people of

Taiwan — a fellow island nation — in addressing

climate change is in the common interest of us all.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands welcomes

the leadership of the United Arab Emirates as host of

the International Renewable Energy Agency. We look

forward to pursuing increased partnership with the

United Arab Emirates and to establishing a dialogue

with the Arab League on investment and development

assistance in the Pacific region.

Finally, I must address one of this year’s most

important issues within the United Nations. Member

States and leaders must improve progress towards

achieving the goal of stopping the spread of nuclear

weapons and pursue the peace and security of a world

without them.

The Marshall Islands has a unique reason for

seeking the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

During our time as a United Nations Trust Territory,

67 large-scale surface tests of nuclear weapons were

conducted on our homeland, explicitly authorized

under two United Nations resolutions, in 1954 and

1956. No people should ever bear such a burden. For

decades, we have told the United Nations about our

communities who are still displaced, about the

deliberate use of our people in scientific experiments

and of ongoing health impacts inherited through

generations. We continue to face the challenges of a

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United Nations-era nuclear waste storage site,

surrounded by rising waters, towards dealing with

which we lack resources or technical capacity.

We acknowledge important and positive actions

already taken by partners, including our former

administrator, the United States, but we need, and

deserve, improved attention and assistance from the

United States, as well as from the United Nations

system and multilateral bodies.

I also acknowledge the support of the Pacific

Islands Forum, including the leadership of the outgoing

chair, Australia, as well as of the Non-Aligned

Movement, in ensuring that this year’s Review

Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons acknowledged

the need to address sites contaminated by testing. I

fully expect that Member States of the United Nations

will be willing to further recognize that a special

responsibility exists towards former United Nations

Trust Territories adversely affected by nuclear testing.

As the United Nations maps a global future of

non-proliferation, the past legacy of nuclear activities

can no longer be ignored.

The message is the same for nuclear weapons,

global security and freedom from terrorism, or climate

change: international law is not an empty promise.