Saint Lucia, 2011

Not since the

prelude to the two world wars have there been so much

uncertainty and anxiety within the international system.

The sands are indeed shifting, as the President of the

Assembly stressed at the opening of this sixty-sixth

session (see A/66/PV.1).

The shifts in the struggles for freedom and the

struggles for rights, some of which we in Saint Lucia

take for granted; the shifts in the number of natural

disasters that devastate country after country; financial

meltdowns, increases in the price of energy and food,

and food shortages have all converged and met at a

moment when the challenge to cope weighs upon us

all. However, the weight carried by a small island State

bears down like an elephant on an ant, and although the

ant is capable of carrying many times its own weight, it

would never choose to carry an elephant.

The current world economic and financial

situations are not of our making but they affect us more

than anybody else. It continues to confound us how the

States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with

the exception of Haiti of course — small island States

like us, with limited resources, limited populations,

limited land mass and small economies — can be

classified as middle-income. With that classification,

we are not eligible for special arrangements in finance

and trade. There must be something wrong with that

classification. We continue to argue that the

methodology employed for such categorization puts

small island developing States (SIDS) at a great

disadvantage in terms of receiving favourable aid and

trade packages, thereby adversely affecting our

development strategies.

The continued attrition of trade preferences at the

multilateral level challenges our very small — and, I

reiterate, very vulnerable — economies and requires

our Governments to employ creative structural

arrangements and adjustments and fiscal exercises to

keep our economies afloat. The present application of

the terms of trade and conditions of aid are very

unfavourable to us.

Emphasis therefore has to be placed on the

consideration of a balanced approach to foreign

investment and environmental integrity, and investors

must not place undue pressure on small States. Rather,

there should be an understanding of our challenges and

our willingness to work in a win-win situation.

Favourable mechanisms for finance and technology

transfer would enable small island States to take

advantage of the benefits that these offer as

prerequisites for sustainable development. This is all

we ask, nothing more — a chance to claim our part.

We stress our vulnerability to natural disasters

and their disproportionate effect on small island

economies, and we seek rapid and meaningful response

mechanisms at the regional and international levels in

order to enable our vulnerable economies to recover as

quickly as possible. Almost every year, gains made

during the first half of the year are eroded in the last

quarter by weather-related phenomena.

Saint Lucia is still recovering from Hurricane

Tomas, which struck the island in October 2010. Let

me take this opportunity to thank those who

contributed so generously to our recovery. Of course,

we will still accept any generous contributions.

Saint Lucia, like other SIDS, recognizes the vital

role that oceans play in national and global economic

development. In light of this, the Government of Saint

Lucia remains committed to ensuring the sustainable

development of both coastal and marine resources.

For a number of years now, Saint Lucia has had

legislation in place that speaks to effective fisheries

management with laws on open and closed seasons for

certain fisheries such as lobsters and, in order to

prevent the capture of juvenile fish, mesh-size limits

for nets and fish-trap fisheries. The Government is also

targeting large pelagic fish and other species not

traditionally harvested by local fishers, in order to

reduce pressure on coastal and reef fishing. In addition,

a number of marine reserves and marine management

areas have been established, with the most well-known

of these being the Soufriere Marine Management

Association, which has been used to inform the

establishment of other marine parks within the

Caribbean and, I may add, globally.

The Government of Saint Lucia has adopted an

institutional framework for integrated coastal zone

management and is working towards ensuring its

successful implementation through a Caribbean coastal

zone management unit and a coastal zone management

advisory committee.

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I dwell on the issue of oceans and seas because

the impacts of climate change and sea-level rise are

real to SIDS, and Saint Lucia, through a number of

projects and programmes, is seeking to build the

island’s resilience to these impacts through the formal

adoption of a national building code and the

development of environmental impact, physical

planning and development regulations.

Nevertheless, Saint Lucia has recognized the

importance of having access to data and models at the

national and local levels in defining and informing the

country’s response to climate change, and in this regard

is taking a number of steps to build the requisite

database by working with various national, regional

and global organizations.

The Caribbean Sea is an important international

shipping route for both tourism and trade. Considered

by the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP) to be a biodiversity hotspot, the Caribbean Sea

is and will remain our livelihood. It keeps us afloat, but

it can also drown us if we do not manage it properly;

that is what seas do. It therefore needs special

attention, and our Government is promoting an

integrated management approach to the Caribbean Sea

area in the context of sustainable development. We

therefore support the work of the UNEP Caribbean

Environment Programme, and we hope that funding

will be made available to that programme to enable us

to achieve our goals.

For all these reasons, Saint Lucia would like to

call on the international community to ensure that there

is a strong focus on oceans in the preparatory

negotiations for the upcoming United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). We

cannot forget the importance of oceans to SIDS in

providing energy and food security, and to the world as

a whole in regulating our climate. Oceans are a

regulatory mechanism for climate.

As countries worldwide prepare for the Rio+20

Earth summit, we note that the green economy is a

major theme for discussion. Renewable energy and

energy efficiency are at the heart of the green economy.

Petroleum giants like British Petroleum and Shell are

now turning to investments in solar and wind energy.

Countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Brazil

have positioned themselves as strong proponents of

renewable energy. Sustainable energy technologies

have been and continue to be a subject of significant

research and development, with very promising results.

At the policy level, a number of countries,

including my own, have articulated noble and

ambitious energy policies to steer us into the future. In

negotiations taking place pursuant to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,

climate change mitigation is inextricably linked to

sustainable energy development and continues to

generate much debate as State parties seek to find

lasting solutions to the problem of greenhouse gas

emissions.

But while the United Nations endeavours to

promote equity and equality among individual

countries, our capacities are not the same. Countries

like ours yearn to enjoy the benefits of sustainable,

renewable energy sources, but despite having

significant potential for renewable energy, we have not

yet been able to meaningfully develop these resources.

It is therefore imperative that the international

community take decisive action to assist small island

States, isolated as we are, in achieving energy security

through renewable energy and energy efficiency

programmes. Financing is a critical element in the

development of new and renewable forms of energy.

So far, SIDS have largely been overlooked, as

investments are made in larger economies where

greater economies of scale and profits beckon. Even

with the existence of avenues such as the clean

development mechanism, which should also promote

sustainable energy projects, the results have not been

very encouraging for SIDS. We hope that, not too long

from now, that situation may change.

We applaud the efforts and resources put into the

conservation and preservation of the world’s forests to

reverse desertification. We think, however, that

considerable attention should also be given to what I

term “small stands of trees” in our small island States.

Although we call them forests, to those who have very

large forests they are small stands of trees, but they are

important to us because they are critical and crucial to

soil fertility and therefore guarantee production and

productivity in agriculture, thereby promoting food

security and the alleviation of poverty.

Similarly, Saint Lucia welcomes the adoption of

the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing

and is grateful to the Government of Japan for

providing an implementation fund for developing

9 11-51687

countries. We see that as a great opportunity to help

our communities to benefit from their biological

resources and the traditional knowledge associated

with them, so that they too can play their role in the

conservation of biological diversity. In accordance with

the declaration of 2011-2020 as the United Nations

Decade on Biodiversity, we urge all countries to work

closely together to conserve biological resources for

the present day and posterity.

The recently concluded High-level Meeting on

non-communicable Diseases provided an opportunity

to deepen relations and collaboration with Member

States, regional and international agencies and

development partners, and to share technical expertise,

best practices and resources as we continue to strive to

meet clearly defined goals and objectives. As a

member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM),

which spearheaded this initiative, Saint Lucia wishes to

place on record its appreciation for the commitment of

all Member States, United Nations agencies,

particularly the World Health Organization, and other

interested groups in addressing the scourge of

non-communicable diseases. We nevertheless need to

set targets, implement programmes and measure

success if we are to make progress beyond just another

meeting.

Saint Lucia, like all of the other CARICOM

member States, is grappling with security threats

engendered by the illicit trade in small arms and light

weapons and trafficking in narcotics. The associated

rise in crime and violence involving the use of firearms

has had a significant adverse effect on the socio-

economic and human development of our countries.

Saint Lucia will therefore spare no effort in working

towards concluding an arms trade treaty that is legally

binding, robust and comprehensive; contains the

highest possible standard for the transfer of

conventional arms, including small arms, light

weapons and ammunition; is effective in regulating the

arms trade, particularly in preventing diversion; and is

universal in subscription.

Saint Lucia welcomes the Republic of South

Sudan as the most recent member of our community

and wishes it progress, peace and prosperity. We look

forward to welcoming the State of Palestine to this

body after successful negotiations have been

concluded. That is our hope.

The anachronistic, half-century blockade imposed

on the people of our neighbour, Cuba, suffocates that

people’s right to prosperity and progress. The outdated

mechanism’s illogical application does not fit twenty-

first century geopolitics, economics or

humanitarianism. We therefore add our voice to others

that have spoken before us in calling for an end to this

blockade and to all limitations on the rights of the

Cuban people to progress and prosperity.

In the spirit of the greater good, we are pleased

that, since 2009, Taiwan has been able to participate in

the World Health Association (WHA), in recognition of

the fact that global health issues require universal

participation and cooperation to overcome those major

problems that affect the peoples of every corner of the

globe.

Sustainable development, like health, is one of

those issues that require global participation and

cooperation. Taiwan is a leading economic and

technological powerhouse and can contribute

substantially not only to health but to a range of global

issues that face the world today. We urge the United

Nations to find suitable means to permit Taiwan to

participate in its specialized agencies and mechanisms,

including the International Civil Aviation Organization

and the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change all of which have worldwide

implications, along the lines of the WHA model.

Surely, 25 million people living on planet Earth can

contribute to this body of peoples.

In conclusion, the shifting sands are revealing an

international system on the brink of change. We are at

a moment when a decision taken here in this great

Assembly will reverberate throughout history.

Decisions taken here can create a State or divide a

State; they can bring peace or bring renewed conflict.

The theme for this general debate — “The role of

mediation in the settlement of disputes by peaceful

means” was well chosen. Let it guide our work this

year and beyond.