Tuvalu, 2001

I am honoured to address

the General Assembly. Speaking on behalf of the

people and the Government of Tuvalu, I extend

Tuvalu’s greetings to the Assembly at its fifty-sixth

session and our congratulations to the President and the

Vice-Presidents of the Assembly on their election. I

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also pledge Tuvalu’s full support and cooperation

during their term of office.

As we come to the end of this general debate, we

are still overshadowed by the loss of many innocent

lives and property as the result of the barbaric terrorist

attack on America in September. We are further

saddened by the losses earlier this week resulting from

the plane accident in our host state, New York, and our

host country, America. Tuvalu therefore joins others in

reiterating to the people and Government of America

our strong condemnation of the terrorist attacks and our

pledge of strong solidarity with the United States of

America.

Let me also convey Tuvalu’s deepest sorrow and

sympathy to the families of the victims of the plane

crash, and offer our prayers to the people and

Government of America, and equally to the people and

Government of the Dominican Republic. We wholly

share their bereavement and grief.

As the newest Member of the United Nations,

having joined on the eve of the historic Millennium

Summit last year, Tuvalu is more than ever aware of its

responsibilities to the United Nations and what the

Organization stands for. In June this year, Tuvalu

established its Permanent Mission here in New York.

Although this has been costly, Tuvalu believes the cost

is offset by what the United Nations stands for. Our

presence in the General Assembly reflects a basic

belief we hold true: that the United Nations, through its

enfranchising activities, can help Tuvalu and other

countries like us by being an advocate with regard to

the issues that concern us most.

Tuvalu is proud that the Nobel Peace Prize for

2001 was awarded to our Secretary-General and the

United Nations itself. This award is a telling

recognition of the vast contributions the United

Nations has made in so many fields and on so many

fronts: to peace around the world; to the protection of

the individual, no matter his or her origin or

circumstances; and to the upholding of the basic United

Nations principle that every human being should have

every opportunity to lead a better and more fulfilling

life. We congratulate the Secretary-General and the

Organization for this recognition.

There is no doubt in Tuvalu that peace and

stability are indispensable to the well-being of

freedom-loving people everywhere. The world cannot

ignore threats to peace and stability, no matter what

their causes may be, be they economic, social or

environmental. The terrorist attacks in the United

States of America and what has happened around the

world since 11 September have made those of us here

in this great Hall today feel very anxious. However, the

very cause of this anxiety points clearly to the proper

role of the United Nations. The General Assembly

must be a strong advocate of what the Secretary-

General, in his new road map, calls a new “culture of

prevention”.

In our view, pursuit of this new culture is worthy

and must take advantage of the new spirit of

cooperation that is now emerging to facilitate the

elimination of the causes of terrorism and threats to

peace and stability. In this regard, it is imperative to

address problems in an open and representative

dialogue based on consensus and mutual respect and

understanding.

The consensus-building approach that we in the

Pacific region often call the “Pacific way” may well

prove useful in our collective venture for universal

cooperation. Tuvalu is committed to its obligation to

adhere to the United Nations resolutions to eliminate

terrorism, and thus is taking steps to accede to the 12

United Nations and international conventions on

terrorism. But to honour such obligations in practice is

easier said than done. We need technical and financial

support from the international community to build up

our legislative, surveillance and enforcement tools if

we are to have any hope of meeting these obligations

beyond our present capabilities.

Also, we must not lose sight of the need for

strong coalitions to deal with other pressing global

issues, including conflicts and wars; the challenges of

globalization; poverty and underdevelopment; and the

effects of environmental degradation and climate

change.

Universal cooperation against threats to peace

and stability cannot, however, be fully achieved as long

as the United Nations lacks the will to recognize fair

and just representation within it of a democratic and

economically developed State with a population of 23

million. The Republic of China on Taiwan is also

suffering in the aftermath of the 11 September terrorist

attacks, having lost innocent lives as well as property.

Like us, they suffer from the onslaught of natural

disasters; epidemics and diseases, including the HIV/

AIDS pandemic; and other threats of instability.

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Yet in all these crises, and despite their enormous

contribution to the world economy and international

development — including technological

advancement — as well as their consistent

demonstration of international responsibility, the

people of the Republic of China on Taiwan have been

left to fend for themselves, denied the right to proper

representation and collaboration, not only in the United

Nations and its specialized agencies, such as the World

Health Organization, but in nearly every other

intergovernmental body. The voice with which they

could share their plight and thereby benefit from world

cooperation is silenced. However, the irony is that for

more than 50 years, no authority other than the

Republic of China on Taiwan itself has had full

sovereign control over Taiwan, its population and the

running of its affairs. To visit the country, for example,

one must have immigration papers issued by its own

authorities.

While we welcome the wise decision of the

World Trade Organization last week to admit the

Republic of China on Taiwan, it is Tuvalu’s strong

view that the United Nations must take the lead and

seriously reconsider United Nations membership for

the Republic of China on Taiwan, beyond the politics

of exclusion and on the basis of the reality of things.

In Tuvalu and many other countries in the Pacific,

we know that our economic vulnerability is fertile

ground for forces of terror that can threaten the security

and survival not only of the islands, but also of the

region and the world. We are worried about the

growing global interdependence and what that may

bring to our shores. We need to improve our ability to

share and disseminate information on transnational

crimes, particularly those involving drug trafficking,

money laundering, bogus investments, and other

dangerous and dubious schemes that often arrive in the

Pacific islands under the pretext of being legitimate.

We believe that, if we are left on our own, these

threats will continue to expose Tuvalu and other Pacific

island countries to forces outside our control. It is vital,

therefore, that individual Pacific island Governments

be given the back-up that is needed to boost their

ability to tackle security threats and fight crime. The

existing regional security arrangements under the

Pacific Islands Forum and its sister regional agencies

in the Pacific can, indeed, play a vital role. However,

they need to be further strengthened to enable them to

complement national security efforts more effectively.

Further solidifying of cooperation between our regional

organizations and the United Nations, moreover, is

fundamental to the success of national and regional

efforts vital for regional and global security.

I should like to add here that Tuvalu highly

commends the role played by the United Nations and

other international organizations and major countries in

helping restore peace in the Pacific following the

recent turbulence in the region.

Tuvalu is not in a good position to take advantage

of the opportunities offered by trade liberalization.

Like many island countries, Tuvalu currently lacks the

know-how, trained people and adequate infrastructure

to reap the benefits that are enjoyed here. If there is

benefit for Tuvalu in a free trade world — and we

believe there is — then surely Tuvalu must have in

place the means that would allow us to reap that

benefit.

In more ways than one, small island developing

States such as Tuvalu are at the sharp end, the cutting

edge, of development. For us, overseas development

aid is indispensable to the development and sustenance

of basic services necessary for security and survival.

Our priorities continue to be education, health services

and fresh water.

While we commend with great appreciation the

generosity of our development partners, particularly

our traditional partners, it has to be noted that Tuvalu

and other small island developing States, like the

landlocked and least developed countries and other

developing countries, will for some time continue to

rely on external financing through official development

assistance to address their unique development needs.

In our view, the International Conference on

Financing for Development and the World Summit on

Sustainable Development, both of which will be held

next year, must also capitalize on the premises laid out

under the reviewed Barbados Programme of Action for

the Sustainable Development of Small Island

Developing States, the outcome of the United Nations

Conference on the Least Developed Countries and the

Secretary-General’s road map towards the

implementation of the United Nations Millennium

Declaration as the key tools to address the unique

circumstances and vulnerabilities of small island

developing States. Ultimately, this must lead to more

effective delivery of assistance that is flexible and

more responsive to the sustainable development needs

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of small island developing States and of developing

countries in general.

With limited exploitable resources, Tuvalu, like

many other small island developing States, relies

heavily on the surrounding seas for its food security

and economic development. The proper protection of

the oceans from hazardous pollution is therefore vital,

and the sustainable management and exploitation of

fisheries and other marine resources is extremely

important to our sustainable development and survival.

Building local capacity to conserve, manage and

harvest marine resources in a sustainable manner is

crucial and should therefore be supported.

As has already been said in this debate, the

biggest long-term threat to the people of Tuvalu is

posed by the effects of climate change, in particular

rising sea levels. Recent reports released by the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have

confirmed beyond doubt the correlation between

accelerated atmospheric warming and sea-level rise. In

Tuvalu too it is our strong belief that the weather is

growing more severe, hotter and drier, and that there

have been unusually high seas eroding foreshores and

intruding into freshwater lenses. We believe that the

cumulative effect of carbon dioxide emissions in

industrial and other countries into the atmosphere has,

in sum, created a future that is very uncertain in

Tuvalu.

It may not be known in this Hall but unique

within the United Nations membership are the

Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Those four countries are the only Member States that

consist entirely of low-lying coral atolls and reef

islands. In the event of further rising sea levels, where

are we to hide? Eventually asking countries to take us

in as environmental refugees is not what Tuvalu is after

in the long run. What we prefer is that our great-

grandchildren should grow up the way I did and the

way my wife and our brothers and sisters did in our

island communities, learning the traditions, customs

and culture of Tuvalu, and living our way of life.

Tuvalu is not alone in sharing that view. Tens of

millions of people who live on islands or in coastal

communities face the gloomy onslaught of rising sea

levels. Such vulnerable geography is everywhere. How

ironic it would be if decades from now the last Member

to enter the United Nations, Tuvalu, were the first

Member State to withdraw because it had disappeared

without a trace.

In the shrinking world we live in, environmental

pollution has never known artificial boundaries. The

presence of higher than normal levels of greenhouse

gases in the atmosphere is a legacy of development in

industrial countries spanning the past 200 years. I hope

that industrial countries realize that nature is now

imposing a penalty for that development.

Unfortunately, it is Tuvalu and others with little or

nothing to do with the causes which are now forced to

pay.

While we are heartened by the positive outcome

of the seventh Conference of the Parties to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,

held at Marrakesh, and while we are looking forward to

the full implementation of that Convention and of the

Kyoto Protocol commitments, we would also hope that

goodwill will prevail beyond instruments and

conventions to assist those most affected to adapt to the

immediate and long-term effects of climate change.

This is not the time to shrink from environmental

and survival responsibility. Like the international war

being waged against terrorism, a global solution to the

threat posed by climate change and sea-level rise will

save Tuvalu and many other small island States from

disappearing. Our collective resolve to remove causes

of terrorism and threats to peace and security, including

poverty and underdevelopment, HIV/AIDS and

environmental degradation, will ensure a truly peaceful

and secure village for all of humanity.

May God bless the United Nations; may God

bless its peoples.