Nauru, 2011

Allow me to congratulate

Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his assumption of

the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-

sixth session. Allow me also to commend his

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss, for his

capable leadership during the sixty-fifth session.

I would like to begin my statement by thanking

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his historic visit to

Kiribati and Solomon Islands earlier this month. That

was the first time that a sitting Secretary-General

visited a Pacific island country, and it demonstrates his

commitment to addressing the needs of all countries,

no matter how small or remote. From my conversations

with the Secretary-General, I know he left the region

with a much clearer understanding of the special

challenges we face as small island nations. I look

forward to working with the Secretary-General on

finding ways for the United Nations system to be more

responsive to the unique and particular needs of small

island developing States (SIDS).

While on his tour of the Pacific, the Secretary-

General observed that

“Next month, the 7 billionth citizen of our world

will be born. For that child, and for all of us, we

must keep working to fight poverty, create decent

jobs and provide a dignified life while preserving

the planet that sustains us. That is why I have

said that the sustainable development agenda is

the agenda for the twenty-first century”. (see

SG/SM/13780)

Sustainable development and poverty alleviation

have been the overriding priorities of my presidency

since I assumed office, in 2007. We have made great

strides domestically, but we will still fall short of our

ambitious goals until the international community

chooses to create an environment in which all countries

have the opportunity to realize their sustainable

development aspirations.

Nauru’s culture and economy, like those of most

Pacific SIDS, are heavily dependent on a healthy and

productive marine environment. The ocean is the

foundation of our food security and is a major source

of Government revenue. It is for that reason that the

Pacific SIDS are calling for the next Earth Summit in

Rio to recognize the importance of the “blue economy”

to small island and coastal States. I would like to thank

Maldives, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the

Secretary-General, for standing with the Pacific SIDS

on this issue.

We have identified three priority areas for the

Rio+20 outcome. First, we must enable SIDS to enjoy

a greater share of the economic benefits derived from

their marine and coastal resources. Secondly, we must

reduce, and eventually eliminate, overfishing and

destructive fishing practices. It is imperative that we

ensure that our fisheries are sustainable. Finally, we

must build up the resilience of coral reef ecosystems to

the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification.

Adopting our proposals would begin to create the space

needed for small islands to thrive.

My Government is not sitting still while it waits

for the international community to act. This past

summer, Nauru’s application to the International

Seabed Authority was granted, which will enable my

country to engage in new and innovative ways to

generate economic growth and move towards aid

independence. Nauru is not endowed with terrestrial

resources, and therefore has chosen to look to the

oceans to expand its opportunities for economic and

social development.

The proceeds from our exploration and

development of copper, nickel and manganese

resources will go to two fully Nauruan-owned funds,

one that supports education and training, and the other,

health and environment. This Nauru-controlled,

domestically driven initiative will adhere to the highest

international environmental standards.

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The sustainable development challenges of SIDS

are widely recognized by the international community;

however, our success in addressing them has been

mixed at best. At last year’s High-level Plenary

Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals, it was

determined that progress for most Pacific islands had

been lagging in many areas. Targeted assistance to

address the unique and particular vulnerabilities of

SIDS is urgently needed. It is Nauru’s position that the

most effective way to accomplish this objective is for

the United Nations to recognize a formal SIDS

category, with dedicated support mechanisms.

Unfortunately, all of our best efforts will have

been for naught if we do not take immediate action to

address climate change. As Pacific island leaders

recognized earlier this month, climate change

represents the single greatest threat to the livelihoods,

security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific.

The seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change, to be held in Durban, must make significant

progress towards a comprehensive, legally binding

agreement that can ensure the survival of all nations.

The parties must agree to a second commitment period

under the Kyoto Protocol, so that new commitments

are in place by 2013. The parties must also

operationalize the agreements reached at Cancún,

including more ambitious mitigation commitments and

actions, the operationalization of the new Green

Climate Fund, and a mandate to conclude a new legally

binding agreement based on the work of the Ad Hoc

Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action.

Climate change threatens to undo all of our recent

development gains if the major biggest polluters

continue down the path of business as usual. Some

Pacific islands may disappear entirely. It is an

unfortunate reality that there is so much carbon in the

atmosphere that many of the negative impacts of

climate change may now be unavoidable. For that

reason, Nauru applauds the recent open debate in the

Security Council on climate change. While the final

presidential statement was not as strong as we had

hoped, it clearly recognizes the threat posed by climate

change to international peace and security and lays the

foundation for future work by the Council on the issue.

Few countries doubt the connection between

climate change and security, but there is still

disagreement as to the way forward. Allow me to

reiterate the proposals of the Pacific SIDS.

First, the Secretary-General should appoint a

special representative on climate and security to

analyse the projected security impacts of climate

change, so that the Council and Member States can

better understand what lies ahead. Secondly, the

Secretary-General should assess the capacity of the

United Nations system to respond to the likely security

impacts of climate change, so that vulnerable countries

can be assured that it is up to the task. These two

proposals represent the absolute minimum necessary to

prepare for the greatest threat to international peace

and security of our generation.

The Security Council must grapple with the most

urgent security threats of our time if it is to remain

relevant. Likewise, it should evolve along with

emerging geopolitical realities and become more

representative and inclusive. It is for this reason that

Nauru supports an early reform of the Security Council

through an enlargement of both the permanent and

non-permanent categories and an improvement in its

working methods.

We believe very strongly that new members

should be geographically diverse. However, it is

equally important that aspiring members demonstrate

their commitment to addressing the most urgent

security issues facing all Member States. As an

example, I would like to highlight Germany’s bold

leadership of the Security Council this past July, when

it took the politically courageous decision to host the

open debate on climate change. As I said earlier,

climate change is the overriding security threat facing

the Pacific region, and Germany’s efforts will not be

forgotten.

In a similar vein, the United Nations should

ensure that all citizens of the world have the

opportunity to participate in its activities. We cannot

continue to ignore the more than 23 million people

who live in Taiwan, who have repeatedly demonstrated

that they are a nation committed to peace and regional

cooperation. We therefore support enabling Taiwan’s

meaningful engagement in connection with the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

and the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The recent renaming of the Group of Asian

States, to the Group of Asia and the Pacific Small

Island Developing States, is a welcome change that

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exemplifies the inclusivity that should characterize all

aspects of the United Nations system. I commend the

Group for having taken this symbolic step and

recognizing the 20 per cent of the membership that

resides in the Pacific Ocean region.

However, we must move beyond symbolism to

concrete action that addresses the actual concerns of

small and vulnerable countries. Once again, I implore

the Assembly to support the appointment of a special

representative on climate and security for the benefit of

the many nations around the world for whom climate

change is a grave and, in some cases, existential threat.

My Government is preparing for a new challenge.

In 2012, Nauru will assume the chairmanship of the

Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). I would like

to recognize the Government of Grenada for its

inspirational leadership and able execution of a

supremely difficult task.

I am humbled by the trust placed in us by our

fellow AOSIS colleagues and have no illusions

regarding the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead.

We are entering a period in history when countries are

turning inward, despite decades of evidence that

cooperation is the surest path to prosperity. We must

resist the urge to engage in zero-sum politics and

recommit to the principles of multilateralism enshrined

in the United Nations Charter. Durban will be the next

opportunity to embark on a more sustainable path and

create a world we are proud to leave for future

generations. We should not let this opportunity slip

away.

For years, leaders in the Pacific have implored

the peoples of the world to come to our islands and see

the impacts of climate change for themselves. The

Secretary-General answered our call, and now he truly

understands the urgency of our situation.

Earlier this week, he spoke of a little girl named

Tamauri he met while in Kiribati (see ).

Frightened by the rising tides around her islands, she

asked what the United Nations could do to help her

people. She is not alone. The children in all of our

countries — Cook Islands, Fiji, Micronesia, Palau,

Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Niue, Samoa,

Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and my own,

Nauru — wonder whether they will have a future. I

look forward to working with the Secretary-General to

meet the challenge of the climate crisis so that we can

tell them that they no longer need to be afraid. May

God bless the Republic of Nauru and may God bless

the United Nations.