Tuvalu, 2006

Everything has been said;

everything has been noted. But while it may be true

that many boats will rise with the tide, others are

bound to sink unless goodwill prevails in this house.

Tuvalu wishes to add its voice of solidarity to the work

of the United Nations and to what has been a highly

enlightening debate.

First, we join wholeheartedly in the high

commendations already expressed with regard to the

election of Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed

Al-Khalifa as President of the General Assembly and

her Bureau, and the sterling efforts of the outgoing

President. Ms. Al-Khalifa and her Bureau have our full

cooperation. We also wish to join others before us in

paying tribute to the work of the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan. His initiatives on development,

security and human rights have taken the United

Nations ever closer to all peoples and have made the

Organization accessible even to small island States

such as Tuvalu. In appreciation, we wish him well and

all the best in the future.

For my small island nation, joining the United

Nations at the dawn of the new century is an

expression of hope. Our hope is that, through the noble

ideals and principles of this great body, Tuvalu, despite

its physical remoteness and insignificance, will be

allowed to paddle its canoe in harmony along with

super-tankers and to share the common future of a

world of larger freedom: a world in which every State,

regardless of its size, is recognized in terms of its

sovereignty, its independence and the human rights of

its people.

We continue to hold fast to that hope. But, in the

present world of interdependence, where great

opportunities are accompanied by great challenges, the

need for collective action and multilateral cooperation

has never been so pressing and urgent. Victory over

those challenges can be won not through political

fragmentation, finger-pointing and confrontation, but

through cooperation.

The showdown of words engaged in by some

countries in this Chamber is unfortunate. We must

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never forget that along with wealth and power comes

responsibility towards others. The risk is high that this

House of humanity will fall apart for lack of

responsibility and leadership. There is a call for

everyone to consistently display the highest degree of

morality, solidarity and respect for one other’s values

and concerns. Otherwise, the ideals of the United

Nations cannot be served. As a small, peace-loving

nation, Tuvalu strongly believes that engaging in open

dialogue and working together in a spirit of mutual

understanding within United Nations frameworks is the

only way to reach our shared destiny in diversity and

with respect for one another.

Tuvalu takes pride in having been part of the

United Nations during the negotiations on its reform

and development agenda. The adoption and

establishment of the Human Rights Council and the

Peacebuilding Commission and of major innovations in

the Secretariat show the benefit of working together.

Those bodies must be supported to ensure peace and

the protection of the human rights of all peoples and

communities. But our work will remain unfinished

until we make the Security Council and its operational

methodologies truly representative of the United

Nations membership. To that end, we support the draft

resolution of the Group of Four countries on expansion

of the Security Council.

The President returned to the Chair.

Development, security and human rights are the

cardinal purposes of the United Nations. The fulfilment

of those purposes demands that we shoulder our

collective responsibility and engage in united action.

The successful conclusion of the World Summit last

year was a reaffirmation of our resolve to fight poverty

and ensure sustainable development through the

internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals,

the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the

Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of

the Programme of Action for the Sustainable

Development of Small Island Developing States.

But devising plans without having access to

adequate resources is akin to presenting a menu to

hungry people: it may be mouth-watering, but without

the necessary ingredients, the dishes it describes will

remain unattainable. It is essential that we fully

implement the Mauritius Strategy by integrating it into

the work programmes of the Commission on

Sustainable Development, United Nations agencies,

conventions — especially the Rio Conventions — and

bilateral cooperation partners. Additionally, the

strengthening of the coordination capacity of the

Department of Social and Economic Affairs with

adequate resources in those areas is imperative.

Two weeks ago, in this very Hall, the General

Assembly undertook the midterm review of the

Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed

Countries. We, as both a least developed country and a

small island developing State, are grateful to the High

Representative for the Least Developed Countries,

Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island

Developing States for his dedicated work, and to the

development partners for the support Tuvalu has

enjoyed over the years.

It is certainly our view, however, that it is

unrealistic and premature to list for graduation Tuvalu

and our Pacific least developed country colleagues that

are also small island developing States. We feel

strongly that, before any graduation can be

recommended, thorough consideration should be given

to our unique economic vulnerabilities and that this

should be done on an in-country basis, not merely

through data analysis carried out at a desk halfway

around the globe. For these very reasons, and with a

view to the achievement of the Millennium

Development Goals, there is a critical need to ensure a

United Nations presence in all Pacific small island

developing States.

Last month a new Government was elected to

power in Tuvalu and has pledged good governance and

media freedom as its guiding principles. It has adopted

the Tuvalu Sustainable Development Strategy, known

as “Te Kakeega II: Vision 2015”, as its framework for

development partnerships and looks forward to

working with the rest of the world in its

implementation.

Security challenges continue to create havoc, fear

and uncertainty worldwide. Tuvalu strongly deplores

terrorism in all its forms and expressions. We in the

Pacific are not immune from acts of terrorism. We must

therefore collectively continue to make the strongest

efforts in our campaign against these forces and be

resolute in ensuring effective global anti-terrorism

action.

We also encourage the continuing role of the

United Nations in working towards a solution to the

Palestinian question and in ensuring peace for the

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people of Afghanistan, Darfur, Timor-Leste and other

regions.

Clearly the United Nations has done well in

preventing and resolving deadly conflicts throughout

the world. But despite those achievements, the non-

representation of Taiwan in the United Nations and its

agencies remains an issue of great concern. The threats

posed by China’s deployment of missiles aimed at

Taiwan and the use of force in the Taiwan Strait are

real, for the East Asian and Pacific region and for the

world as a whole. We urge that immediate peaceful and

preventive actions be taken in the Taiwan Strait for the

sake of all.

No other challenge to global security is more

serious and threatening than the impact of climate

change. Climate change is a global problem and can be

resolved only through global collective action.

Addressing climate change must therefore must be

placed at the centre of the work of the United Nations.

As is well known, small island developing States like

Tuvalu are extremely vulnerable to the impact of

climate change and sea-level rise, and already evidence

of devastation is prevalent in all regions of the small

island developing States. Over the past few years,

Tuvalu has witnessed unusual flooding of the main

islands with seawater and king tides, as well as severe

attacks on fresh water, vegetation, foreshores and coral

reefs.

We are frightened and very worried by all these

things, which are the result of the actions of others. If

nothing is done urgently and we are forced out of our

islands, there is no other Tuvalu to which to move.

There is still time to act. Once again we appeal to this

body for help and for real action.

We strongly believe that we have reached a

dangerous level of greenhouse gas concentrations in

the atmosphere and that urgent action is required to

accelerate the necessary responses. The options are

available; what is clearly lacking is political will.

Unless climate change is addressed, all our efforts for

development, security and protection of human rights

will be severely undermined.

Clearly it is urgent that the international

community take more aggressive action to reduce

greenhouse gases. All countries, industrialized and

developing, must do their part, with the industrialized

countries taking the lead, including through the full

implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.

To help developing countries contribute in a

committed way, we need stronger incentives to

promote the development and distribution of renewable

energy and energy efficiency technologies. We need a

global fund to support such efforts.

It is disappointing to see some large

industrialized countries’ continued denial and the

absence of enough political will on their part to support

vulnerable countries such as small island developing

States to adapt to the impacts of climate change. We

must recognize the “polluter pays” principle and ensure

that the countries that are producing the greenhouse

gas emissions pay for the damage they are causing to

the vulnerable countries.

There is also a need to generate considerably

more funds to underwrite the costs of adaptation,

including international levies to generate income to

boost funding for adaptation and insurance in small

island developing States. The mainstreaming of the

Mauritius Strategy into the work of the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change, as

required under resolution 59/311, is crucial in that

regard.

Defining the way forward with respect to future

commitments and actions in the area of climate change

will require strong political will on the part of all

countries. The upcoming twelfth session of the

Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change

Convention and the second meeting of the Parties to

the Kyoto Protocol, to be held in Nairobi, must come

up with clear and practical timetables for accelerated

action on mitigation and adaptation. It is imperative

also to improve access by small island developing

States and least developed countries to Global

Environment Facility climate-change resources and

convention-related funds. The Nairobi meetings must

also decide on governance and management

arrangements for the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund

to facilitate its early operation.

Finally, we strongly believe that the General

Assembly should host, as soon as possible, a summit at

the level of heads of Government aimed at bringing

forward workable proposals with strong, high-level

political endorsement so as to address climate change

beyond the year 2012.

Our call for urgent action on climate change is

not self-serving. Tuvalu and the small island

developing States may be the first to suffer from the

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impacts of climate change, but the consequences of not

taking real action now will be felt by all around the

globe. We all must work together on climate change in

a spirit of strong solidarity.

The people of Tuvalu have full confidence in the

United Nations and in its ability to ensure the

achievement by all peoples of its cardinal purposes of

development, security and human rights. It cannot fail

the world on climate change; it cannot dash our hopes.

Please do not let Tuvalu sink.

God bless the United Nations family. God bless

Tuvalu.