UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Statement by H.E. Mr Don MacKay
Ambassador and Permanent Representative
of the New Zealand Mission to the United Nations
on behalf of the Pacific Island Forum
Second Committee
Item 94(d): Implementation of the programme of action for the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing states
and
Item 95: Implementation of Agenda 21, the programme of action for the
further implementation of Agenda 21, and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
New York
20 October 2003
Mr Chairman
As Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, I have the honour to speak on behalf of the members who are represented at the United Nations, namely, Australia, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and my own country, New Zealand. I will be addressing my comments to Items 94(d), Small Island Developing States, and 95, the Implementation of Agenda 21 and WSSD.
Item 94(d), Small Island Developing States
Mr Chairman
Next year’s International Meeting on Small Island Developing States, to be held in Mauritius in August and September, is of key interest to all members of the Pacific Islands Forum Group.
We hope that Barbados + 10 will see member states strongly reassert our collective commitment to addressing the sustainable development of SIDS, through the implementation of commitments under the Barbados Declaration and Programme of Action, the Millennium Declaration, the International Conference on Financing for Development, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Samoa hosted a successful Pacific regional preparatory meeting in August. This meeting reaffirmed the importance of the BPOA, and noted SIDS’ vulnerability had increased in the decade since Barbados. The Samoa meeting called for strengthened international support to implement Barbados. Pacific Island Forum members will participate actively in the interregional meeting scheduled for January in The Bahamas, and in the International Meeting itself, which Mauritius has kindly offered to host.
Mr Chairman
There is no need for the Mauritius meeting to renegotiate Barbados, nor for that matter the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The Mauritius meeting should acknowledge progress and lack of progress in the implementation of Barbados, and clearly identify further priority action for the sustainable development of SIDS. It need not produce a lengthy document. In keeping with the spirit of our decision in last year’s General Assembly (57/262), the focus should be on mobilising political support for these aims, and ensuring that the outcomes from this process are tightly focussed, action oriented and time-bound.
As we have said elsewhere in this Committee, it is important that Barbados + 10 addresses climate change issues as they relate to our members. Pacific Islands Forum Group members would like to see the Barbados + 10 outcome deliver a clear signal that clear further commitments must be made by all major emitters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It should also address the ongoing need to identify and implement a range of adaptation options, particularly for extreme weather and climate events, and call for these to be supported at regional and national levels, including through the Global Environment Facility.
Barbados + 10 should also address new and growing challenges for SIDS: rising poverty; HIV/AIDS; capacity building, the need to strengthen governance; the need to develop ICT; the importance of renewable energy technologies, and security. We need to continue to take special account of the vulnerability of SIDS. And we need to ensure that they, along with other developing countries, are able to participate in a fairer, more open, world trading system.
As “large ocean states” responsible for a significant portion of oceans and seas and their resources, SIDS also attach great importance and interest to conserving, protecting and restoring coastal and marine ecosystems. Barbados + 10 should strengthen the call for improved governance of oceans, including through regional cooperation.
Mr Chairman
Our Group has invested effort into designing and implementing post-WSSD “Type II” partnership initiatives to foster sustainable development in the region. Our regional donors have supported these and we encourage other donors to do likewise. Barbados + 10 should provide space to further develop innovative partnerships, including with non-traditional donors.
The Pacific Islands Forum Group will do all it can to make Barbados + 10 a success.
Item 95I, Agenda 21, the further implementation of Agenda 21 and WSSD
Mr Chairman
Let me now turn to item 95, Agenda 21, the further implementation of Agenda 21 and WSSD.
The Pacific is a diverse region, encompassing least-developed, developing and developed countries. Despite these differences, our Group worked closely together during the World Summit on Sustainable Development, helping to secure what we thought were useful outcomes for small-island developing states, in particular chapter VII of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
A major part of our work at Johannesburg was concerned with the launching of regional “Type II” partnership initiatives, covering a range of regional sustainable development activities including capacity building, governance, renewable energy, biodiversity, and oceans. These activities have been coordinated by regional bodies including the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, and have been supported by regional donors including Australia and New Zealand. We would encourage other donors to consider supporting these useful and constructive initiatives.
Mr Chairman
One of the major outcomes of WSSD was the drive to reform the Commission on Sustainable Development to enable it to better facilitate the implementation of the agreements and plans the international community has made in the field of sustainable development. Members of the Pacific Islands Forum Group fully supported this decision. We are encouraged by the commitment shown thus far by the CSD12 Bureau, and in particular its Norwegian Chair Minister Brende, towards realising the vision for CSD that our leaders expressed in Johannesburg, and that we elaborated last year at CSD11. The Pacific Islands Forum Group supports their efforts.
Thank you Mr Chairman.