Kiribati, 2012

I bring warm greetings from the

people of Kiribati, on whose behalf I am privileged to

address this body once again. I join with those who

have gone before me in congratulating Mr. Vuk Jeremić

on assuming the presidency of the Assembly at its

sixty-seventh session. We find ourselves in challenging

times. The work ahead of us during this session reflects

those challenges. I am confident, however, that, under

his able leadership, this Organization will continue its work to improve the quality of life for all members

of our global community, in particular those who are

most vulnerable.

Let me also take this opportunity to acknowledge

with appreciation the commendable leadership of his

predecessor, Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, during

the most recent session of the General Assembly.

I also recognize the unwavering dedication of our

Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon. With his hand

on the tiller, he continues to steer our Organization

through the complex realities and challenges facing

our world today towards our objectives. In particular, I

would like to acknowledge with deep appreciation his

personal commitment to the issue of climate change

and the plight of the most vulnerable. We in Kiribati

welcomed the Secretary-General to our country

last year, during the first visit ever by anyone in his

position to our part of the world. We were grateful for

the opportunity to show him firsthand the challenges

of living on the front lines of climate change.

In the President’s opening statement yesterday

(see A/67/PV.6), he reminded us that the core function

of the Organization is the maintenance of peace and

security. It is important that we all reflect on what we

have done as individuals to achieve a more peaceful,

secure and better world. We must ask ourselves if

what we are doing is in the collective interest of all the

peoples of this world or of just a select few. We must

look at our efforts as leaders of this global family and

ask ourselves if we are doing the right thing for our

children and their children. I firmly believe that, with all the information

available to us today, we should know exactly what

needs to be done. We know what we have to do but,

for whatever reason, we lack the courage, the fortitude

and the vision to do it. We lack a sense of responsibility

for each other. We are not willing to step out of our

comfort zone and make the necessary sacrifices for the

security and future of all members of our international

community.

It is never too late to do the right thing. History

shows many examples where global action has resulted

in global good. We have managed to secure a relatively

more peaceful world. We have been able to address

some of the major injustices of the past. We have come

together to face down those who seek to achieve their

objectives through terrorist means. However, we must

remain vigilant, as new and emerging forms of security

threats and injustices are cropping up to threaten our

global family.

This will be the seventh time I have had the honour

to address the Assembly in my nine years as President

of my country. Each time I have sought to convey the

same message. Each time I have spoken of the real

and existential threat to my nation. Each time I have

reminded the Assembly of the need for urgent action

to address climate change and sea level rise so as to

ensure the long-term survival of nations like Kiribati.

I frequently find myself watching my grandchildren

and wondering what sort of a future we shall be leaving

them. For their sake, climate change is an issue that I

will continue to talk about for as long as I have breath in

my body. This is a critical issue for the survival of our

people and for all of humanity. It remains the greatest

moral challenge of our time.

Whether or not we are willing to acknowledge it,

climate change and sea-level rise are the result of the

unsustainable use of our planet’s resources. Economic

growth at all costs must not be our mantra, particularly

when it is those who will benefit the least from this

growth who will pay the ultimate price. The Earth is

not ours to do with as we please. We are merely trustees

for future generations, and we ignore this reality at

their peril.

The Organization was founded on the fundamental

principle of sovereign equality. Security issues

affecting each of us must be given due recognition.

We are grateful that the General Assembly agrees that

climate change is a matter warranting the attention of the Security Council. I applaud the commitment of our

Secretary-General to this particular security threat, but

he needs the support of all nations to take the necessary

action to address it.

We must step up our collective efforts to mitigate

global greenhouse-gas emissions. We continue to urge

major greenhouse-gas emitters to do their part. We also

urge development partners to provide the appropriate

level of resources and technology to enable us to deal

with the current and future impacts of climate change

and sea-level rise.

While we are taking adaptative measures to ensure

that Kiribati remains habitable for as long as possible,

we are also preparing for a future when our islands

may no longer be able to sustain our population. We

are looking to improve the skills of our people to a

level where they will be able to compete for jobs in

the international labour market. We want our people to

have the option to migrate with dignity, should that be

a necessary choice in the future, and all the science is

telling us that that is a real possibility.

We note some positive progress made at the recent

climate change talks in Bangkok, building on the

decisions made in Durban last year. However, action

has been too slow in coming. We inch along, when

it is great strides that are needed. On those issues

where we have consensus, we believe the international

community must move to implement agreed action

without delay, while we continue our discussions on

those matters that remain contentious. If we wait for

agreement on everything, then it is going to be a very

long wait and a long process.

It should not come as a surprise that we are off-

track on many of the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs). While other countries are focusing

their resources on their efforts to meet the MDGs, we,

the most vulnerable countries, continue to spend a

disproportionate level of our limited resources fighting

the onslaught of the rising seas and storm surges on our

homes, livelihoods and public infrastructure. That is a

costly exercise that we cannot afford. We continue to

rely on the goodwill of our partners and members of our

global community in that regard.

We are a nation of water. We are a very-large-ocean

State. We believe that, given the right support, we

can achieve sustainable development through the

utilization of the available resources of our vast

exclusive economic zone. We believe that, in so doing, we can reduce our reliance on development assistance.

I also believe that we may even be able to do away with

development assistance altogether, if we are provided

with the support we need now to develop our capacity

to harvest and process our own resources.

Fisheries remain a major economic resource for my

country, providing between 40 and 50 per cent of our

revenue. Our aspiration is to maximize returns from

that resource, given the current rate of return of between

5 and 8 per cent after landed value alone. We have

started establishing our fish-processing plant through

a public/private partnership. Seabed mining is another

potential source of revenue. However, we are mindful

of the need to take a precautionary approach towards

that particular industry, given the potential damage it

could cause to our pristine marine environment.

We acknowledge the fundamental role of our

environment as a pillar of sustainable development.

Maintaining the health and biodiversity of our oceans

and ecosystems will be critical. Our contribution to

those efforts is the Phoenix Islands Protected Area,

which was once the world’s largest marine protected

area. We have set aside that area as a haven for

marine biodiversity, and that is our gift to humanity

in recognition of the value of protecting our common

heritage.

Ocean conservation is beyond the resources of

any single country. Collaboration on cross-border

initiatives is therefore essential to advancing our

efforts in that regard. At the recent Pacific Islands

Forum meeting in the Cook Islands, the United States

and Kiribati announced plans to collaborate in building

links between our adjoining marine parks in the

Phoenix Islands, under the umbrella of the Phoenix

Ocean Arc. That effort is our joint contribution to the

Pacific Oceanscape Framework. We want to take this

opportunity to invite the international community to

partner with us in that endeavour.

Our message to the international community is that

conservation of biodiversity and marine ecosystems

in the Pacific is not only important to the sustainable

development of Pacific island people. It is also of vital

importance to the rest of the global community. The

international community needs to support those efforts,

not as a hand-out but as an investment for this planet’s

future generations.

In June, we met in Rio de Janeiro to review our

progress 20 years on from the 1992 Earth Summit. Twenty years ago, we agreed that the protection of our

global environment was critical for our future survival

and that the pursuit of development must be based on

the long-term sustainability of our natural resources.

Unfortunately, our track record in delivering on our

undertakings has not been good. In fact, in many

respects, our environment is worse off today than it was

20 years ago. The fine balance keeping our planetary

ecosystem together has been adversely affected by

our pursuit of individual benefits at the expense of the

collective good. While some members of our global

family continue to benefit from the unsustainable

exploitation of resources, others are having to pay the

ultimate price. We do not believe that there is justice

in that.

We renewed our commitment in June to achieving

the future we want. That future will require our

Organization to evolve to reflect the realities of our

time, a time in which new and emerging security

threats and injustices, such as climate change, are

challenging the credibility of our international system

of governance; a time in which the future survival

of some nations is seriously in question; and a time

when all those countries with the ability to do so must

contribute to the prevention of such a calamity or be

forever judged by history. If we are to provide a secure,

peaceful and prosperous future for our children, then

we must go beyond business as usual and deliver now.

In fact, we should have delivered yesterday.

We accept the reality that, during these uncertain

times, there is a need for the United Nations to remain

as relevant and responsive as possible to the ever-

changing needs and challenges of this world. In our

discussions earlier this morning, I was most encouraged

to be assured by the Secretary-General’s commitment

to ensuring that our Organization will undergo reforms

in order to become more efficient, more transparent

and more accountable. We also welcome the Secretary-

General’s proposal to strengthen partnerships with civil

society and the private sector.

In fact, I believe that such a partnership must begin

at the community and national levels before extending

to the regional and international levels.

The fundamental fabric that binds us together as

a family and as humanity is unravelling at the seams.

Maintaining security and ensuring the survival of

people in conflict areas, particularly in the Middle

East and North Africa, remain a major challenge to our

Organization. Let us pray for the sake of those on the front line of the major global challenges that a greater

understanding and stability will prevail.

It is gratifying to note the continued easing of

tension and the improvement of relations across the

Taiwan Straits. We also welcome the inclusion of

countries such as Taiwan in the international activities

of the World Health Assembly. We hope that a

similar understanding will prevail in respect of other

international institutions and processes so that Taiwan

can participate and contribute meaningfully for the

good of humanity.

As we chart the path towards the future that we

want, we must address the fundamental threats to the

very existence of the members of this family of nations.

As a family, we must guarantee the survival of the

members of our community. Climate change must be

resolved before it is too late for those countries on the

front line and, indeed, the whole of humanity.

We need compassionate, visionary and responsible

leadership at this time in order to direct our path

towards a more secure and just future. We owe it to

our children and their children’s children to act and act

soon. So let us pray that God will give us the common

sense to do the right thing for the future of humanity.