Development
Oceans and small island States at UNGA 81
Raised by 58 of 223 speakers. Read verbatim UN transcript quotes and select a time to hear the speech.
Speeches that raised oceans and small island states
Antigua and Barbuda · Day 6Walton Alfonso WebsonFor small island developing states, these are questions of survival.
He understood what we small island developing states have been telling the world for decades.
The Secretary-General continued to stand with SIDS.
23sentences
Vanuatu · Day 6Odo TeviI bring with me the voice of a nation of more than 80 islands, of many indigenous communities and languages, and a nation whose identity has been shaped by the ocean, by custom, by faith, by resilience, and above all, by commitment to peace.
Your visits to our region reflect an understanding that the concerns of small island development states deserve to be heard at a higher level.
The effects reach our villages, our markets, our schools, our hospitals, our oceans, and our homes.
22sentences
Naoero · Day 1David Ranibok AdeangWhat I ask of the world costs nothing, Join us in recognizing and respecting the identity that is already ours.
Say our name, Nauru.
Mr. President, Nauru is an ocean state.
13passages
Tonga · Day 4Lord FakafanuaIf the United Nations is to remain the principal vehicle through which sovereign nations confront global challenges.
It must transform.
We need a United Nations that enables innovation, one that expands meaningful access to investment and technology, especially for the islands, developing countries, who are too often excluded from both.
11passages
Fiji · Day 3Ratu Naiqama Tawakecolati LalabalavuYour excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
The assembly of Inaka.
and a very good afternoon to you all.
10passages
Solomon Islands · Day 4Matthew Cooper WaleMr. President, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, I stand before this Assembly conscious that I speak on behalf of a nation and a people whose future is being shaped in halls like this one.
I bring warm greetings from the people and Government of Solomon Islands.
a nation of nearly 1,000 islands stretching across as many miles of the blue Pacific.
8passages
Micronesia (Federated States of) · Day 5Aren PalikFor Micronesia, climate impact are a national concern.
We underscore the importance of safeguarding maritime security across the Blue Pacific.
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities, transnational crimes, and environmental degradation threaten not only our economies, but the health of our marine environment as well.
8passages
Palau · Day 2Surangel WhippsI stand before this assembly for a people whose future depends on a healthy ocean and a stable climate, and the sovereign right to determine their own path.
For us, sovereignty is lived in our ability to feed our people from healthy oceans, power our homes independently from distant fuel markets, and protect our shorelines from rising seas and chart our own path.
It is a responsibility that grows more urgent each day, especially as UNEP's latest findings make clear that the world is now certain to exceed 1.5.
7passages
Sri Lanka · Day 6Vijitha HerathAs an island nation situated at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean, and as a country with a large number of migrant workers in West Asia, these developments have direct security, economic and social implications for us.
while safeguarding our neutrality we placed Humanity above all else as president thean has reiterated we will never hesitate to protect Humanity if there are actions that must be taken to protect human lives we will not hesitate to take them under any circumstance this Mr. President is the Sri Lanka we wish to bring before the world, a small island nation with a big heart which believes that even in times of conflict and profound division, there remains space for humanity.
from our early call for an Indian Ocean zone of peace to our leadership at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference.
7sentences
Marshall Islands · Day 4Hilda HeineThis week's UN high-level meeting on sea level rise has helped achieve new understanding in international law.
It is the seas that are rising around us, and not our islands which are sinking.
Our boundaries and baselines of today, the political footprint on the map, will endure in the face of aggressive sea level rise scenarios.
6passages
Tuvalu · Day 4Feleti TeoThe second is the Tuvalu Digital Arc Initiative, which seeks to preserve Tuvalu's culture and historical heritage in digital form.
Mr. President, Less than 24 hours ago, Member States endorsed in this very building the landmark United Nations political declaration on sea level rise, a monumental and gratifying achievement for Tuvalu, because Tuvalu was at the forefront of global efforts demanding such a declaration.
For Tuvalu, sea level rise is not a future threat, it is a present reality.
6passages
Grenada · Day 6Ingrid JacksonHer election would represent a historic milestone for Caribbean region and a powerful affirmation that every region including small island developing states can contribute to leadership at the highest level of a multilateral system.
Mr. President, as a small island developing state, Grenada understands resilience.
Small island developing states should not be viewed simply as victims of climate change.
6sentences
Seychelles · Day 1Mathew Antonio Patrick HerminiePeople is vital to maritime security.
The oceans are the lifeblood of global trade.
When maritime routes are threatened by piracy, geopolitical friction, or armed aggression, the shocks ripple far beyond regional waters, devastating vulnerable island economies.
5passages
Malta · Day 4Robert AbelaThey are constant and existential threats.
For a small nation like Malta, a small island in the Mediterranean, that relies on our connections to the rest of the world, they are, yes, existential threats.
Tackling them must be a priority, the priority for this United Nations.
5passages
Samoa · Day 4Mulipola Anarosa Ale MoliooCritically, such reforms must not weaken the operation of the UN multi-country offices or the resident coordinator system.
We, Samoa, reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the United Nations As the premier forum to address global crisis, we also caution against premature decision taken without the full consideration and endorsement by member states.
Excellencies, climate change remains the single greatest threat to Samoa and the global community.
5passages
France · Day 1Emmanuel MacronAnd we did it.
Just look at the oceans.
A few years ago, everybody said it was impossible to craft agreements so as to protect marine areas, protect the oceans.
4passages
Belgium · Day 1Maxime PrévotWe can defend our interests while accepting that others have rights too.
And when rules are clear and predictable enough, a space of competition can still remain a space of cooperation.
The ocean, moreover, are far more than the highways of our trades.
4passages
Bahamas (the) · Day 4Philip Edward DavisThe sea does not negotiate.
It does not read communiques, and it does not recognize a veto.
In 2024, for the first time, the world was more than 1.5 degrees warmer for an entire year.
4passages
Cabo Verde · Day 5Francisco Avelino Vieira de CarvalhoWe have learned to confront drought and scarcity, to transform sea from a barrier into a bridge.
But above all, we have learned that a nation's greatest wealth lies in its people.
We even have a word for this wealth, which is.
4passages
New Zealand · Day 6Victoria Louise HallumBiodiversity loss and pollution are impacting key natural resources in our oceans.
We thank you for your visits to the Blue Pacific and for your attention to the unique situation of Pacific Island countries and other small island developing states.
We also call on you to safeguard the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the constitution for the oceans, which provides the framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.
4sentences
Dominican Republic · Day 2Luis Rodolfo Abinader CoronaFor a small island country, climate change is not an abstract matter, ladies and gentlemen.
Our vulnerability is not a statistical category.
It's the reality that we're experiencing.
3passages
Kiribati · Day 4Taneti MaamauIt must be strengthened through implementation, accountability and results that improve the lives of our people.
For Kiribati, the theme reaffirms our shared duty to strengthen the United Nations and ensure it serves everyone.
Mr. President, Kiribati is an ocean nation.
3passages
Maldives · Day 4Hussain Mohamed LatheefThis small state can be highly vulnerable to external threats and acts of influence.
In response, this Assembly adopted resolution 44/51, an initiative led by the Maldives, affirming the importance of protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of small states.
That was true then, and it is true even today.
3passages
Monaco · Day 4Christophe MirmandAfter 80 years, the principality hopes that women candidates will be seriously considered.
The organization would do well to demonstrate at its helm the equality for which it stands.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is one area where multilateral trust has recently produced tangible results, and it is dear to the heart of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, and that is to say, the ocean.
3passages
Saint Kitts and Nevis · Day 4Geoffrey HanleyStates must reduce emissions, strengthen adaptation, honor climate finance responsibilities, and cooperate with countries bearing consequences vastly disproportionate to their contribution to this crisis.
Mister President, those contributions, lease, must not pay the greatest price.
Our oceans must also move from promises to protection.
3passages
Mauritius · Day 4Dhananjay RamfulMauritius also supports the call for SIDS to have a seat on a reformed Council.
On the question of the veto, Mauritius aligns itself with the position of a growing number of states that in the event the veto is retained, Any new permanent member must have the same rights as the original permanent members.
Mauritius also supports the Franco-Mexican initiative on the suspension of the veto in cases of mass atrocities.
3passages
Sao Tome and Principe · Day 5Ilza Maria dos Santos Amado VazIt is on the basis of this experience that we reaffirm our confidence in dialogue, diplomacy, cooperation, and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
Mr. President, for small island developing states, geographic, economic, financial, and social vulnerabilities are compounded by the effects of climate change.
In Sao Tome and Principe, these impacts are already affecting our coastal areas, infrastructure, marine resources, and livelihoods, despite our negligible contribution to global emissions.
3passages
Liechtenstein · Day 4Sabine MonauniAnimals and pollinators are dying out.
Liechtenstein commits to working with all states to address these harms and to reverse these trends as much as we still can.
We support the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on climate change.
2passages
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Day 4Godwin FridayWe in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines experience firsthand the vulnerability of living on the front lines of climate change.
Having experienced only two years ago.
The sudden destructive power of a category five hurricane.
2passages
Belize · Day 5John BriceñoBut let us be honest with one another.
Not one of us could fault the people we represent for questioning its delivery.
The world is on course to exceed the 1.5 degree threshold.
2passages
Philippines · Day 5Ma. Theresa LazaroLook to the Philippines, one of the world's most climate-vulnerable nations.
Since August alone, ferocious monsoons and storms have battered our islands, affecting more than 2.7 million families, destroying homes and shattering livelihoods.
We share these vulnerabilities with many developing countries, particularly small islands and coastal states.
2passages
Jamaica · Day 5Kamina Johnson SmithWe had put in place disaster risk financing, including catastrophe insurance, and an independently sponsored catastrophe bond.
Those measures gave us immediate liquidity.
But no level of prudent national planning can fully insulate a small developing state from a climate event of that magnitude.
2passages
Chile · Day 1José Antonio Kastall of its causes rather.
We are committed to the high seas agreement known as the BBNJ and we proposed Valparaiso as the headquarters of its executive secretariat.
That means that we now have the first UN body to ever have had a headquarters in Latin America and this is an agreement which brings together many different sectors in Chile to play this role.
1passages
Luxembourg · Day 1Guillaume of LuxembourgMadam President, Climate change reminds us perhaps more clearly than any other challenge that we cannot solve global problems by acting alone.
It transcends borders and generations.
Small island developing states already experiences consequences that threaten their very existence.
1passages
Republic of Korea · Day 1Lee Jae MyungWe are ready to share our experience and best practices with the international community.
Co-hosting the fourth UN Ocean Conference with Chile in 2028, reflects our commitment to leading discussions on the sustainable development of our oceans.
Third, the Coalition for Global Energy Supply Chains.
1passages
Suriname · Day 1Jennifer Geerlings-SimonsLikewise, we underscore the relevance of a dedicated representation for small island states and low-lying coastal developing states.
Mr. President, regional and international partnerships remain indispensable to achieve our economic and social objectives As Suriname continues to actively engage in various regional bodies and mechanisms, including CARICOM, CELAC, ACTO, and the Brasilia Consensus.
As Suriname prepares to be the chair of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, in 2027, we are also committed to further strengthen our partnership globally in different areas of shared interest.
1passages
Dominica · Day 1Sylvanie BurtonWe have chosen not only to adapt to climate change, but to demonstrate what a climate-resilient economy and country can look like.
And we have chosen to move from dependence to greater resilience.
Mr. President, in 2017, Category 5 Hurricane Maria demonstrated with devastating force the vulnerability of small island states like Dominica.
1passages
United Republic of Tanzania · Day 1Deogratius NdejembiMr. President, Tanzania joins small island and coastal states in pushing for a workable solution to address sea level rises.
We commend the President for convening today the high-level event addressing the existential threats posed by sea level rise, and we look forward to the adoption of the UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise, which will provide a comprehensive framework for international cooperation, scientific advancement, adaptation resilience, and legal stability.
We welcome the declaration's legal affirmation on the stability of maritime zones under United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas and the continuity of statehood, even in cases of physical land loss, while encouraging strengthened international cooperation and the protection of human rights.
1passages
Trinidad and Tobago · Day 1Kamla Persad-BissessarTransnational organized crime, continues to pose a serious threat to the security and development of small island states.
Small states face serious challenges from sophisticated criminal networks that move people, that move weapons, that move narcotics, and illicit finance across national borders.
For Trinidad and Tobago, this is not an abstract threat.
1passages
Japan · Day 1Takaichi SanaeJapan will continue to promote its diplomacy towards Africa so that Japan and Africa can become more resilient and prosperous together.
For example, we will promote industrial development, job creation, and enhanced connectivity in Africa.
Furthermore, next year, I will host the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, PIM, in Yokohama, Japan, which Japan has convened together with the Pacific Islands region since 1997.
1passages
Latvia · Day 2Edgars RinkēvičsAnd nature respects no borders either.
Heat waves do not stop at checkpoints.
Rising seas threaten to raise island nations.
1passages
Timor-Leste · Day 2José Ramos-HortaOur young people are increasingly connected to the region and eager to learn, work and contribute.
As ASEAN works towards community vision 2045, Timor-Leste will support a united, people-centred and resilient ASEAN.
We will also support ASEAN centrality and constructive relations with all external partners.
1passages
Panama · Day 2José Raúl Mulino QuinteroWe are a country that protects 33% of our territory and 54% of our seas.
Last year, we announced here our Pact for Nature and the Natural Panama Fund, which are initiatives that we're already progressing on.
Today, I am announcing that Panama will lead internationally an effort to recognize the universal rights of nature.
1passages
Honduras · Day 2Nasry Juan Asfura ZablahWe have crystal clear waters and reefs in the Bay Islands.
We have the great Copan ruins and the legacy of the Mayan civilization.
And all of these things mean that we offer the world a unique combination of nature, history, and culture.
1passages
Ghana · Day 3John Dramani MahamaThe small island states threatened by rising oceans belong to humanity.
The poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalized belong.
They belong to our common human family.
1passages
Comoros · Day 3Azali AssoumaniFor a small island state such as ours, income indicators alone do not capture our multidimensional vulnerability.
And that is why we in the Comoros call for a profound reform of the international financial architecture.
Such reform is essential to guarantee our right to development and to ensure that multilateral banks finally take account of our vulnerabilities in their allocation policies.
1passages
Gambia (Republic of The) · Day 3Mohammed JallowThe rule of law is one of the foundations upon which trust is built.
The continued development of multilateral treaties and the entry into force of the agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction also demonstrate what is possible when states negotiate in good faith and perseverance.
The Gambia commends Ghana for its historic resolution on declaration of trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity and to go for the resolution on correcting the map at the General Assembly.
1passages
Portugal · Day 3Luís MontenegroWe maintain close collaboration and continued support for countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
And we are investing in innovative solutions, such as agreements to convert debt into green investment.
Climate change and freedom of navigation share a common priority of our policy, the sea and ocean.
1passages
Barbados · Day 3Mia Amor MottleyFrom climate and security and illicit armed armed flows.
To organize crime and displacement.
And yet despite constituting one quarter of the world states.
1passages
Australia · Day 3Anthony AlbaneseAnd addressing climate change, which threatens their very existence through rising sea levels and increasing salinity.
Accepting the science of climate change and acting upon it is rightfully the entry point for engaging with these vital nations of the Pacific, or as we call it, the Blue Continent.
It's why we are partnering with the COP31 President, Tokia, and Pacific nations to sponsor a Pacific pre-COP meeting in Fiji and Tuvalu.
1passages
Nepal · Day 3Balendra ShahIt is about procedural justice, who has a voice.
It is about whether the future of mountain communities, small island states, landlocked and least developed countries, and generations yet unborn count equally.
Starting tomorrow at the Sagarmatha to Sea side event right here at the United Nations, Nepal is ready to help lead this conversation.
1passages
Lesotho · Day 4Samuel Ntsokoane MatekaneLesotho is increasingly experiencing severe floods and droughts, resulting in unparalleled land degradation and extensive damage to critical infrastructure.
Despite contributing minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions, least developed countries like Lesotho bear a heavy brunt of climate impact.
Global warming and rising sea levels pose terrible threats, particularly to small island developing states.
1passages
Papua New Guinea · Day 4James MarapeSecretary-General Guterres, on behalf of my 11 million people, Papua New Guinea thank you for your service to the United Nations and to humanity.
We remember fondly your three nights You stayed with us in the mountains and islands of Papua New Guinea.
Thank you for being a strong voice of not just Papua New Guinea, but small nations, especially my small Pacific Island nations.
1passages
Norway · Day 4Espen Barth EideAnd they are increasingly competitive from an economic perspective, as seen by the fast falling costs of renewable energy.
But we can only succeed if we cooperate.
We cannot put fences around our own climate, our own biosphere, or deal with the ills of our oceans on our own.
1passages
Singapore · Day 5Vivian BalakrishnanAnd I would ask all of you to recollect the BBNJ Agreement, which entered into force this year.
This is clear evidence that even in this time, we can still build common rules for shared challenges.
And Singapore is proud that our Ambassador Rena Lee presided over the negotiations that concluded this agreement by consensus.
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