Tonga, 2025

The Assembly will now hear an address of His Excellency Aizake Baliu Ek, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga. I request protocol to score His Excellency and invite him to address the Assembly. Distinguished Heads of State and Heads of Government, His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Ms. Anneta Baerbock, President of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, Distinguished Delegates, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. President, allow me at the outset to bring warm Malawi greetings from His Majesty's Government and the people of the Kingdom of Tonga. It is indeed with profound honour to address this esteemed Assembly at its 80th session. First, I wish to congratulate Your Excellency on assuming the esteemed presidency of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. We commend you, President, on your election to preside over this session and we pledge our full support to your leadership. I take this opportunity to also thank your predecessor, His Excellency Firmin Yeng, for his able leadership throughout the durations of his mandate. We also pay tribute to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his steadfast efforts in advancing the purposes and principles of the United Nations and the roles he has played. Mr. President, we convene at this 80th session under the theme Better Together, 80th Years and Beyond for Peace, Development and Human Rights, a vision to which Tonga pledges its full support. For us, as a small island developing state, these themes resonate deeply. The pursuit of peace, development and human rights cannot be realized without urgent action on climate change, the protection of oceans and the resilience of vulnerable communities. At a time when climate change has become a profound security threat, we must rally around the corrective visions of the United Nations. For only through solidarity and shared responsibility can we safeguard our planet, uphold the dignity of all peoples and secure a sustainable future for generations to come. As I stand before you in commemorating the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, I am pleased to share that Tonga will soon celebrate the 150th anniversary of our Constitution on 4 November 2025. Constitution Day is a profound reminder of our sovereignty, unity and enduring independence. Proclaimed in 1875 by His Majesty King Tubbo I, our Constitution laid foundation for justice, the protections of land and the rights of people. As we mark its 150th anniversary, we celebrate not only a historic milestone, but also a living legacy that continues to guide our nations and inspire our future generations. Mr President, Tonga reaffirms its steadfast commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. First signed in San Francisco 80 years ago, that historical document continues to guide our collective pursuit of peace, security, human rights and development. Its visions endure as a beacon for multilateralism, reminding us that the challenges we face today cannot only be addressed through unity, cooperation and respect for international law. Mr President, Tonga welcomes the UN 80 reform processes as an opportunity to ensure the nation remains fit for purpose in addressing today's challenges. Justice Pacific undertakes its own review of the regional architecture under the 2050 Strategy for the Pro-Pacific Continent. For us, reform is not abstract. It's about survival, dignity, fairness and efficiency. If the UN is to deliver for our people, it must deliver with us, through us and in alignment with the principles our leaders have endorsed. This means anchoring regional integrated platforms within the Pacific Islands Forum, ensuring financing flows respond to regionally determined priorities, safeguarding access for the small administrations, easing reporting burdens and above all, increasing Pacific representations across the UN system and decision-making bodies. Only then can we renew trust in multilateralism, ensure that our voices shape global outcomes and guarantee that the blue Pacific continent benefits from effective, inclusive and responsive multilateral delivery. Mr President, Tonga welcomes the adoption of the Pact for the Future, with its annexes, the Global Digital Compact and Declarations of Future Generations, as both an opportunity to strengthen multilateralism in a time of global crisis and a responsibility to ensure no nation, however small or remote, is left behind. Its focus on climate action, sustainable development, financing and intergenerational responsibility speaks directly to Tonga's priorities as small island developing states on the forefront of climate change, offering a vital framework to accelerate adaptation, close critical financing gap and safeguard a sustainable world for generations to come, while reaffirming the needs for inclusive governance, where Pacific voices help shape the decision that defines our shared future. Mr President, last month, Tonga concluded the chairmanship of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting. The Kingdom was privileged to host Secretary-General António Guterres on our shores. His attendance is a special guest. We affirm the deep partnership between the Pacific and the United Nations, and further strengthen our belief in the indispensable role of this organisation. Tonga's tenure as chair was highly significant, both symbolically and practically. Our representations here at the United Nations this year afforded Tonga the opportunity to assume a leadership role within the Pacific family, guiding corrective priorities and setting the tone for regional co-operations. It enabled us to play a pivot role in reinforcing Pacific solidarity, ensuring that both small and large island states stood together in the negotiation with global partners. It also amplifies Tonga's voice in international diplomacy by carrying the mandate and collective position of the Pacific regions. Above all, it left us with a legacy for resilience, and provided a vital platform for advocacy on issues central to our people's survival and well-being. Mr. President, for small island states, one of the most pressing issues remains the existing threat of climate change. For Tonga, this is not a remote threat, but an unfolding reality that threatens to erase decades of development gains and embarrass the very existence of our island. We therefore continue to call for urgent, ambitious and concrete climate actions from the national community, actions grounded in the principle of equity, justice and common but differentiated responsibility. It is in this connection that Tonga supports Australia's bid to host COP31 in partnership with the Pacific as a Pacific COP. We see this as an unique opportunity to bring the voices of small island developing states to the forefront of the global climate agenda, ensuring that the realities of our peoples are not only heard, but drive the urgency of action. Hosting COP31 in our regions would symbolize a global commitment to climate justice and amplify the call for solutions that safeguards the most vulnerable. Mr. President, Tonga welcomes the landmark advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on 23 July, a historic decision affirming that climate change is not only an environmental crisis, but also a profound challenge to international law, human rights and the survival of our island nations. For Tonga, this opinion is more than a legal milestone. It is a moral victory that amplifies the voices of the world's most vulnerable, strengthens our call for urgent actions to cut emissions, accelerate adaptations and deliver on lost and damaged finance, and reinforces our shared duty to secure climate justice, resilience and protection for present and future generations. It also affirms small island developing states' special case for sustainable development by use of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, MVI, a more managed approach to international financial standards, and recognises the need to scale up ocean finance. Mr. President, Tonga welcomes the Compensatory Surveillance Adopted at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development earlier this year. For Tonga, this commitment is especially significant. It calls for a more inclusive, fair and transparent global financial system, one that better responds to the realities of countries most at risk, including small island developing states. This speaks directly to Tonga's priorities, mobilising equitable financing for climate resilience, disaster preparedness and sustainable development, addressing debt sustainability and ensuring that no country is left behind because of its size, geography or vulnerability. We see this as a framework that can help transform inequality into opportunity, and reaffirms our goal for development finance that delivers for our people, for our future generations. Mr. President, Tonga joined the international community at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France. Another theme, accelerating actions and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, where we underscore the centrality of sustainable ocean-based economies to Pacific island countries that rely on the ocean for food security, trade and culture. And we call for integrated ocean governance, stronger financing for marine conservation, resilient maritime infrastructure and sustainable transport across our islands, while reaffirming our commitment to the Nice Ocean Action Plan and the political declarations. At home, Tonga has taken concrete steps with the Ocean Management Bill 2025, a landmark framework to conserve biodiversity, manage resources sustainably and protect our marine environment for the benefit of our people and the future generations. Mr. President, Tonga is proud to have joined the Pacific family in the adoption of the Ocean of Peace declarations, declaring the blue Pacific continent as an ocean of peace. This is more than symbolism. It is a shared regional vision that peace, security and sustainability are deeply interconnected with how we treat our ocean, how we protect our environment and how we safeguard our communities. Tonga supports these declarations fully and calls for the principle to be embedded in our international ocean governance, climate actions and sustainable development efforts. The ocean must not only be protected, it must be honoured as a foundation of our security, of our economies, our way of life, our legacy of resilience. Mr. President, it is in this spirit of resilience that Tonga is proud to host the Pacific Resilience Facility, the Pacific-led, member-owned and regionally managed financing mechanism dedicated to strengthening climate and disaster resilience across our blue Pacific continent. Tonga acknowledges with gratitude the commitments and contributions already extended by our development partners and friends of the Pacific. We continue to urge global partners to support a Pacific-led solution, the PRF, designed to bridge the financing gap for small, high-impact adaptation projects. In doing so, we not only strengthen resilience in the Pacific, but also demonstrate our regionally-owned solution to advance global climate and sustainable development agenda. Mr. President, Tonga continues to strengthen laws to protect our children, especially those who are susceptible to harm from technology in this digital age, and empower our youth, recognising them as the foundations of our nation's future. We remain firmly committed to safeguarding public health and addressing the dual threats posed by the scourge of drugs and the rise of non-commutable diseases. At the same time, we acknowledge the complex challenges of migration and deportees, while valuing the enduring contributions of our diaspora to national development. We also view economic development as a vital pathway to opportunity and resilience, harnessing trade and sport as a privacy of growth, unity and national pride. Together, these priorities embody Tonga's vision of a just, healthy and prosperous society, where no one is left behind. And lastly, may I remind this Assembly to seek wisdom and strength beyond ourselves. Let us first ask God for guidance in our shared pursuit of peace, in advancing sustainable development, in safeguarding the dignity and human rights of all peoples, in humility, we recognise that our common challenges are greater than any one nation. In closings, may I share the national motto of Tonga, Tuamotonga Kahoktofia, which translates that God and Tonga are my inheritance. It is from these foundations that I draw strength to serve with humility and dedication. A reminder that with faith, solidarity and collective actions, we can rise to above and beyond, turning trials into pathways for hope, guided by compassion and a spirit of service to humanity. God bless the United Nations. Malo Aupito. Thank you. On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga,