Tuvalu, 2009

I am greatly honoured to

have this opportunity to speak in this body on behalf of

the people and the Government of Tuvalu, who wish

me first of all to convey their warmest greetings and

felicitations to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth

session.

At the outset, let me associate myself with

previous speakers in extending our special

congratulations to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on his

election as President of the Assembly at its sixty-fourth

session, as well as to reassure him of our support

during his presidency. I also wish to highly commend

his predecessor for his exemplary leadership and

dedication to the work of the Assembly during his

presidency over the past year.

As we begin the sixty-fourth session of the

Assembly, the effects of the global financial and

economic crisis loom over our heads. For a small

island economy like Tuvalu’s, which is highly

dependent on the import of products from overseas, the

impact of the global financial and economic crisis has

been severe. The price of basic food items has risen

dramatically. My people are suffering from events that

are not of our making. The financial and economic

crisis and its impact on development and the

achievement of the Millennium Development Goals is

a global crisis that requires the cooperation of all

countries. Unfortunately, as is always the case, it will

be poor small countries such as Tuvalu that will have

to bear the burden.

Globalization has also left its mark in the context

of swine flu. Tuvalu has not been immune to that

pandemic. We are grateful that the World Health

Organization has issued a call to action to help poorer

countries respond to the outbreak of swine flu.

Outbreaks such as this highlight the need for trade

reforms with respect to access to medicines. In that

context, the right to health and access to affordable

medicines should not be a right for rich nations only.

Every human being has the right to a healthy life.

This year is a special one for the people and the

Government of Tuvalu, not because of something that

we have achieved and are proud to celebrate but,

strangely enough, because of something that has

happened for the very first time in the history of my

country and that we strongly condemn. This has to do

with the actions of pirates off the coast of Somalia. For

four long months, 12 Tuvaluan seafarers were held

captive by Somali pirates aboard a German-registered

ship. Those brave Tuvaluan seamen were subject to

various privations and will suffer the effects of that

unlawful imprisonment for a long time.

The international shipping community cannot be

held hostage to the demands of such thieves and

criminals. This scourge must end. We strongly

condemn that inhumane form of organized crime and

strongly urge the United Nations and the international

community to bring the pirates to justice through the

application of the principle of universal jurisdiction, as

well as to take immediate action to tackle the problem

head-on. We also call on the United Nations to

establish a special task force to address the issue of

piracy.

The year 2009 will hopefully be a watershed in

the global fight against climate change. In a few

months, we will meet at Copenhagen to seal the deal

on climate change. As the leader of one of the countries

of the world most vulnerable to the impacts of climate

change, I hold out great faith for that Conference. But

my faith will be diminished if key milestones are not

achieved. Allow me to refer to some of those

milestones.

First, the international community must commit

to a rapid course of action to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions so that global temperatures do not increase

by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial

levels. Anything higher would be disastrous for Tuvalu.

Global emissions must peak by 2015, and decline

dramatically thereafter.

Secondly, while we work to develop a new

climate change agreement in Copenhagen, we must not

abandon the Kyoto Protocol, which is a cornerstone of

action to address climate change. Let me repeat: we

must not abandon the Kyoto Protocol. I fear that some

countries are hoping that the Kyoto Protocol will

disappear so that they can make weaker emissions-

reduction commitments. I hope that will not happen, as

it would certainly be a significant step backwards.

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Thirdly, we need serious commitments from key

greenhouse-gas-producing countries. The United States

must take a leadership role and drastically reduce its

emissions. I strongly appeal to President Obama to

deliver a significant commitment on emissions

reductions. We also call on key developing countries to

dramatically reduce their emissions. Since the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

was developed, in 1992, the economies of a number of

developing countries have grown rapidly. They must

now contribute their fair share to emissions reductions.

Fourthly, we need a strong commitment in terms

of financing and resources to help vulnerable countries

build their resilience to the impacts of climate change.

That means that we need a commitment to new money.

It would be foolhardy to simply reshuffle existing

overseas development assistance to support actions to

address climate change. This is a new threat, and we

must find new money to address it.

Fifthly, we need to reduce emissions resulting

from deforestation and forest degradation, but in a

coherent way. In that regard, carbon markets will not

deliver climate change outcomes. We must develop

new funds to carefully build the capacity of forested

developing countries to reduce their deforestation

rates. Whatever actions we take, we must ensure that

the rights of indigenous peoples are properly protected.

The possible security implications of climate

change on the livelihoods and well-being of the most

vulnerable countries, especially small island

developing States such as my own country of Tuvalu,

cannot be ignored. Instead, they should be recognized

and addressed vigorously by the United Nations as part

of the collective efforts by all its appropriate subsidiary

bodies.

Despite the concerns expressed by some Member

States on the engagement of the Security Council on

the issue of the security implications of climate

change, I am pleased to note that the Assembly’s

resolution on the possible security implications of

climate change (resolution 63/281), which was initiated

by Pacific small island developing States more than a

year ago, was finally adopted by consensus at a plenary

meeting of the Assembly in June of this year. Tuvalu

looks forward to the Secretary-General’s report on the

possible security implications of climate change, as

required under that resolution.

Globalization has made Tuvalu a very vulnerable

country. It is vulnerable to global economic shocks,

highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and,

not least, vulnerable to disease outbreaks. However,

despite the wide recognition given and reiterated with

regard to our vulnerability in many different United

Nations forums, such as the Rio, Barbados, Mauritius

and Johannesburg conferences and in several major

United Nations events, including the Millennium

Summit, the General Assembly and the Economic and

Social Council have not taken it seriously into

consideration when addressing the question of Tuvalu’s

graduation from least developed country (LDC) status.

We strongly believe that Tuvalu’s economic and

environmental vulnerability, like that of any other LDC

and small island developing State (SIDS), cannot be

totally ignored, especially in view of the impact of the

current economic global crisis. Although we are

pleased to welcome the latest decision of the United

Nations Committee for Development Policy not to

recommend Tuvalu for graduation from LDC status for

the next three years, we continue to appeal to this

Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and our

development partners to carefully reconsider and

review the criteria and graduation rules for LDC

graduation. We strongly believe that no LDC that is

recognized as highly vulnerable should be forced to

lose its LDC status.

One of the priority areas highlighted in the

President’s statement at the opening of the sixty-fourth

session of the General Assembly is United Nations

reform and democratization. We could not agree more,

especially on the necessity and importance of the

reform and revitalization of the General Assembly and

the Security Council to enable them to fulfil their roles

comprehensively.

We commend the progress of the

intergovernmental negotiations on the question of

equitable representation on and increase in the

membership of the Security Council and other related

matters. We fully recognize the need to restructure and

expand the Security Council to reflect a fair and

balanced representation of all regions. In this context,

we believe that small island developing States should

be allocated a seat on the Security Council.

As a full Member of the Organization, Tuvalu is

proud to be part of the United Nations family and

enjoys a sense of ownership through the establishment

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of a long-overdue United Nations joint presence office

in Tuvalu in May this year. Although we appreciate its

establishment, we hope that it will not create another

layer of bureaucracy among United Nations

implementing agencies, but that it will be more

responsive to the aspirations and needs of Tuvalu in a

more coherent, efficient and effective manner. More

importantly, it is crucial that the office focus on the

establishment of more concrete development projects

on the ground for the benefit of the people of Tuvalu

rather than mostly on enabling activities.

I am compelled again to draw the attention of

United Nations Member States to the plight of the

people and Government of Taiwan. As a proud nation

of 23 million people, Taiwan must be given the right to

self-determination — a principle that must be upheld

by the United Nations. Taiwan also has all of the

hallmarks of nationhood. It has a democratic system of

Government and it is certainly a responsible

international player in world trade, development and

diplomatic relations; not least, Taiwan has a clearly

defined territory.

Although Tuvalu appreciates the long-overdue

courtesy finally accorded to the Government of Taiwan

to participate as an observer to the World Health

Organization’s (WHO) World Health Assembly this

year, Tuvalu strongly believes that Taiwan deserves to

participate more fully as a member of WHO and other

United Nations specialized agencies. Tuvalu therefore

reiterates its strong appeal for Taiwan’s aspirations and

desire to participate meaningfully as a full member of

the specialized agencies of the United Nations to be

given the proper and urgent attention they deserve.

In conclusion, my Government acknowledges

with full confidence that globalization and its impact in

every corner of the globe cannot be denied. This makes

the role of the United Nations even more important.

However, we need to conclude the long-overdue

reforms of the United Nations, especially the Security

Council and the General Assembly, to enable the

Organization to deliver its services in a more

transparent, coherent, efficient and effective manner.

We must work together to rebuild the global

economy. We must work together to combat climate

change, with special recognition given to the plight of

the most vulnerable countries, especially the LDCs and

SIDS. Not least, we must work together to ensure that

everyone enjoys a healthy life. We will continue to

support the United Nations and sincerely hope that it

will not abandon the concerns of a small island country

like Tuvalu.