In a world grappling with climate change, financial instability and social inequities, Tuvalu stands at the frontline of these pressing challenges.
At the Summit of the Future, Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Teo delivered a passionate plea, emphasising the existential threat climate change poses to his small Pacific atoll nation.
“For Tuvalu, climate change-induced sea level rise is the greatest and most devastating manifestation of climate change,” Teo stated.
“The ocean that used to define us as a people and a community and a nation, will soon engulf us if sea level rise is not halted or the resilience of our land is not reinforced.”
Despite contributing minimally to climate change, Tuvalu faces some of its most severe consequences.
“Tuvalu carries the firm belief that we are only temporary stewards and caretakers of the ocean and the environment on behalf of future generations.
“Climate change-induced sea level rise risks the lives and livelihoods of present and future generations of my people, but Tuvalu contributed negligibly, if at all, to the cause of climate change,” he stressed.
“That is how grossly unfair and inequitable the world we live in today.
“Tuvalu and other vulnerable states at the forefront of the devastative impacts of climate change-induced seal level rise suffer first and the worst.
“Our decisions today will have profound implications for future generations, and we must act with the utmost respect and care for them.”
Amid this, Teo urged the global community for a renewed commitment to multilateralism and international cooperation.
“The Summit presents a timely opportunity for the global community to recast and reform the global architecture of multilateralism,” he stated. “Such reforms are essential for addressing the challenges of today and the years ahead.”
He firmly expressed Tuvalu’s support for the Pact for the Future, the Declaration on Future Generations, and the Global Digital Compact, describing them as “a well-crafted and delicately negotiated set of commitments and recommitments by the global community.”
Teo emphasised that fully enacting these commitments would be crucial for strengthening international cooperation based on the principles of the United Nations Charter.
He said the interconnectedness of sustainable development, environmental preservation, and peace, encapsulated in the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Achieving one goal depends on achieving all others,” he highlighted, calling for a united global effort to eradicate poverty, ensure quality education and health, and combat climate change.
As he reflected on the current state of multilateralism, Teo posed a critical question: “Does the current architecture of multilateralism and international cooperation remain effective?” The response, he implied, has not been favourable, and he urged the summit to rise to the challenge, proposing essential reforms to foster a spirit of solidarity and collaboration.
He said that the “world that we live in today, is a world that is characterised by the multiple crises that we must endure.”
“Crises that are unfortunately of our own making, be it environmental and climate change, arm conflicts, financial crises and gross social inequities.”
Teo highlighted the urgent need for a multilateral system that is responsive and robust enough to tackle shared global challenges.
“Tuvalu is leading and supporting the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT) Initiative to garner international support on a binding treaty arrangement that limit the use of fossil fuel with the ultimate objective of total phase out.
“Despite our best efforts, we cannot solve these problems alone. We need international cooperation.”
As the Summit progressed, Teo expressed hope that the commitments outlined in the Pact for the Future would provide a much-needed reboot for global multilateralism and the United Nations system.
“The global community must seize this opportunity to reaffirm and recommit to multilateralism and international cooperation,” he urged, emphasising the need for a more equitable global system where no nation, especially those at the frontline of climate change, is left behind.
