Leaders ‘must address rights of island nations’

President James Michel has made a powerful call on world leaders to listen to the developing world and vulnerable communities most affected by climate change.

The leaders should, together, address the development challenges faced by small island states and developing nations in the face of global warming, he added.

Mr Michel was speaking yesterday at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, which was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

In his speech the President repeated the demand that small islands have consistently asked to be met – that atmospheric carbon dioxide should be capped at 350 parts per million, and for the earth’s surface temperature increase to be kept within 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“We continue to repeat this call, because amidst all the debates, amidst all the polemics, we can’t change the facts,” he said.

“The facts tell us that climate change will delay our efforts at sustainable development. The facts indicate clearly that climate change will affect our fisheries, our agriculture, our water resources, hence our ability to feed our people.

“And the facts tell us that climate change will inflict poverty and threaten our very existence as a nation. But we will always continue to fight for our right to exist because island nations are on the frontline of climate change.”

Mr Michel said the trends of global governance show that the world is moving towards increased marginalisation of small island states rather than increased support. 

“The rules will have to be changed. We could start by democratising the Bretton Woods institutions to make them more relevant, more responsive to contemporary realities,” he said.

“The global governance architecture has to be modified to reflect justice, fairness and realism. The most recent United Nations human development report completely ignored 10 Small Island Developing States and left them unranked. 

“Small islands have been asking for increased recognition for many years. The reality is that small islands are at real risk of falling between the cracks of international development architecture."

The President stressed the right of small island states to exist as nations and asked nations that seek to ensure their economic prosperity above other considerations to consider the human rights implications of their decisions.

“But what about our right to exist as a people, as a country, as a nation?” he asked.

“When some make decisions or pursue, obstinately, principles to maintain their own economic targets and interests to the detriment of the wider community of nations, are they not creating conditions for whole nations to disappear from the face of the earth? Is that not another form of crime against humanity?” 

Mr Michel commended India for its work to develop clean energy solutions. He said renewable energy is the next frontier that can transform the world economy, adding that “India has pioneered several innovations in renewable energy, water resources management and sustainable agriculture, to name a few, and is today poised to sustain its growth potential through technologies and practices that are sustainable”.

Among those present at the summit were Afghan President Hamid Karzai; Dr Leonel Fernandez, President of the Dominican Republic;  Dr Farooq Abdullah, the Indian Minister for New Renewable Energy; Jairam Ramesh, the Indian Minister for Environment and Forests; Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, former PM of Norway, along with ministers from 19 countries.

Three Nobel laureates were also there – Professor Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University, USA; Dr Yuan-Tseh Lee, president of Academia Sinica, Taiwan; and Sir James A Mirrlees, professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge and master of Morningside College Chinese University of Hong Kong.

 

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