Guyana, 2007

At the outset of my

statement, I wish to offer the President and our

newly appointed Secretary-General my warmest

congratulations and best wishes for the success of the

sixty-second session of the General Assembly, which

has as its main focus the impact of climate change on

global peace and development.

As the recently concluded High-level Event

revealed, there is now a greater awareness of that issue

and of the need to address them with greater urgency.

Like the legendary Rip Van Winkle, we appear to have

finally awakened from a long and deep slumber, only

to find that the world around us is in serious danger of

degradation. Our environment has become frightening.

As a result of the increased consumption of fossil fuels

in past decades, the amount of carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere has increased by more than 25 per cent,

which will, if unmitigated, eventually lead to a rise in

the Earth’s temperature of more than 5 degrees in the

years ahead. Such warming is likely to produce an

increase in sea levels of almost 2 metres. Since one

third of the world’s population lives close to coastlines,

such an elevation will have a disastrous impact on the

living conditions of many millions. At the same time,

the world’s forests are said to be vanishing at a rate of

15 million hectares a year, threatening the loss of

almost 50 per cent of the forest cover in developing

countries. Altogether, those climatic changes will take

a heavy toll on the economic and social growth of

many countries, through a higher incidence of drought,

desertification, flooding and other natural disasters.

The primary responsibility for this environmental

degradation has been laid quite rightly at the

door of those developed countries whose

industrialization policies and programmes have shown

scant regard for preservation of the global ecosystem.

By piggybacking on the natural assets of developing

countries, those States have achieved astonishing

economic and social progress and have created

consumerist societies whose appetites for ever-greater

extravagance know no bounds and must be satisfied at

all costs.

In the face of mounting evidence that climate

change does in fact imperil the Earth and its resources,

some developed States appear willing to accept

albeit reluctantly that carbon emissions must be

significantly reduced to preserve the ozone layer as a

shield from the effects of greenhouse gases. Even so,

they do not seem prepared to accept primary

responsibility for protecting the environment. Instead

of “common but differentiated responsibility”, they

speak of “shared responsibility”, clearly demanding a

greater contribution by developing countries to the

campaign against climate change. This demand often

becomes a conditionality for any development

assistance they offer.

For the many developing countries which suffer

from a chronic lack of resources, this imposition is

clearly unequal and unfair. These States, including

many in sub-Saharan Africa, small islands in the

Caribbean and the Pacific, and low-lying coastal States

like my own, are especially vulnerable to climatic

changes and, consequently, disaster prone. The

Barbados Programme of Action and the subsequent

Mauritius Strategy were both devised for the purpose

of alleviating the destructive impact of the many

natural disasters faced by these disadvantaged

countries. However, despite their initial promise, these

agreements have yet to yield the measure of assistance

needed by small States to overcome the consequences

of climate change. Invariably, these affected countries

must rely on their own limited resources to protect

their environment from harm.

Guyana fully understood and responded to the

challenges of climate change when, more than a decade

ago, it made available to the international community

almost one million acres of its pristine forest for the

study of bio-diversity and the sustainable development

of forestry. However, the future of this project is now

threatened, since financial support from the

international community has become increasingly

scarce. At the same time, as our President stated at the

High-level Event, the Kyoto Protocol rewards quite

perversely, I might add those States which burn and

pillage their resources but punishes others like Guyana

which are committed to preserving their standing

forests. This inequity should no longer be tolerated.

It is very important that any post-Kyoto

agreement be endowed with the resources necessary for

its full implementation. Development assistance

statistics have shown a marked diminution in levels

from past years, with little promise of the additional or

new financing needed for environment-related projects.

There, therefore, needs to be what has been called a

partnership for additionality which, in return for a

commitment by countries to the preservation of the

environment, will provide adequate and predictable

financing to allow them to pursue a path of accelerated

and sustainable development. It is high time to honour

the commitments made at the Monterrey International

Conference on Financing for Development.

As a country which is below sea-level, Guyana

has been further sensitized to the threat of climate

change as a result of frequent floods that wreak

economic havoc on our coastal population. The last

major inundation was in 2005, when the economic loss

suffered was, according to the estimate of the

Economic Commission for Latin America and the

Caribbean, nearly 60 per cent of the country’s gross

domestic product. Unfortunately for us, the tragedy,

occurring as it did around the same time as the tsunami

disaster, did not feature prominently on the

international radar screen and, therefore, received little

notice in the wider community. However, thanks to the

assistance of a few friendly countries and the resilience

of our own people, we are on the road to recovery. That

experience, however, impels us to renew our call in

this Assembly for the strengthening of multilateral

facilities to provide all victims of such natural disasters

with prompt and adequate relief.

As both the outcome of the High-level Event and

the statements heard so far in this Assembly make

clear, the battle against climate change cannot be won

unless a truly global effort is made to save the planet.

In the words of my country’s national poet, Martin

Carter, in his poem entitled “All are involved”:

Like a jig

shakes the loom;

Like a web

is spun the pattern;

all are involved

all are consumed (All are involved)

Therefore, unless all of us, both Governments and

peoples, accept in a deep and meaningful way the

imperative of prudent environmental management, our

civilization, such as we know it, will disappear.

In this new era of globalization, humankind has

been made acutely aware of the deep interdependence

of nations and the concomitant need for cooperation

with one another to ensure our common survival. This

awareness notwithstanding, many in the developed

world continue to practise their misguided “beggar-thy-

neighbour” policy, which effectively precludes

developing countries from satisfying the aspirations of

their people.

Take, for example, the area of trade and economic

cooperation, the main pillar on which globalization has

been built. The developed countries continue to

propagate the thesis that free trade will guarantee

prosperity for all. The reality is that most countries,

including my own, simply cannot compete successfully

in fully liberalized markets unless they are assisted in

making a gradual transition. Instead of assistance,

however, some of the preferences that we enjoyed

hitherto in some markets are being summarily

withdrawn.

Witness the unilateral denunciation last week by

the European Union of the Sugar Protocol, a legally

binding instrument of indefinite duration, which

governs the sugar exports of many African, Caribbean

and Pacific countries to Europe. This step comes in the

midst of negotiations on this issue and is clearly a sign

of bad faith. It has been taken without adequate

consultation and clarification and contradicts the

European Union’s own lectures to us on partnership

and good governance. As a result of this action,

thousands of our citizens, especially the rural poor,

whose lives depend upon the sugar industry, will likely

face great hardship. It is, therefore, imperative that in

the negotiation of future trade arrangements, including

the Doha Round, due regard be paid to the

development challenges of small States.

Similarly, in the area of peace and security there

is continuing blatant disregard of the rule of law by

many States that, in pursuit of their own selfish

national interests, do not hesitate to fan the flames of

conflict in various parts of the world. As a

consequence, millions in Darfur, in Palestine, in the

Middle East and elsewhere are forced to endure

unspeakable pain and suffering pain and suffering

which, in today’s world of instant communication, we

not only hear about but also actually see and feel in

real time. Our common humanity obliges us to call

once again for a return to the purposes and principles

of the United Nations Charter, and in particular the

peaceful settlement of disputes, wherever and

whenever they occur.

In this context, I am pleased to announce that last

month on 20 September an arbitral tribunal of great

eminence under the presidency of Judge Dolliver

Nelson, distinguished former President of the

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, sitting

pursuant to Annex VII of the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea, handed down a

decision regarding the maritime boundary between

Guyana and neighbouring Suriname. The President of

Guyana described the decision as just and erudite; the

President of Suriname called it fair and equitable. It

was another feather in the crown of international law,

another blow struck against the resort to force and

another victory for lawful and peaceful processes in the

settlement of disputes.

Guyana had initiated recourse to the dispute

settlement provisions of the Convention, which, I am

happy to recall, was brought into force by our

country’s ratification in 1993. Under the aegis of a

United Nations regime created by internationalism and

the rule of international law, our two small countries

can now pursue the development of their maritime

space without the encumbrance of a dispute. It is an

example of the peaceful settlement of a dispute that

others might emulate.

In further demonstration of its commitment to the

Charter of the United Nations, my Government has

placed before the General Assembly an initiative

calling for a new global human order based on the

principles of equity and social justice. It is born out of

our conviction that, given the failure of our past

efforts, the world now needs to formulate a

qualitatively different and more holistic strategy,

leading to a stronger political consensus and broad-

based partnership before the General Assembly. The

draft resolution now enjoys the sponsorship of forty-

nine States and will in time, we hope, command the

support of the entire international community.

As this new era of globalization unfolds, with its

many challenges and opportunities, I invite this

Assembly to support fully our appeal for the firm

establishment of a more enlightened and

compassionate model of multilateralism as the

cornerstone of future international relations.