His Excellency Mr. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Conference Secretary-General Mr. Li Junhua, Ms. Rabab Fatima, High Representative of OHRLLS, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
I am delighted to be with you for this closing session of the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States.
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Allow me to begin by expressing my deep gratitude to our Antiguan friends for their warm and generous hospitality.
I also thank Member States, the UN system, international financial institutions, the private sector, civil society, and youth who have united as a team in St. Johns behind a shared ambition – to get the development journeys of SIDS back on track and deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
This is a critical juncture for SIDS as has been highlighted consistently over the last days.
SIDS are at the frontline of climate change.
Sea-level rise and more frequent extreme weather events continue to threaten SIDS despite their insignificant contribution to carbon emissions.
Record temperatures demonstrate we are not on track to meet the 1.5 target that SIDS depend on.
Over the last four years, sustainable development prospects for SIDS have worsened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and continued economic turmoil, adding to an already challenging landscape because of their unique vulnerabilities.
Yet, we have reasons for great hope and optimism.
The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS provides concrete guidance to our collective efforts to support SIDS achieve resilient prosperity.
The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS presents a vision for the future SIDS want:
Where SIDS’ economies develop the resilience that will allow them withstand shocks.Ìý
Where their populations continue to enjoy the uniqueness of island life and are safe, healthy, productive, and prosperous; where access to food, energy, and water is secure.Ìý
Where biodiversity is protected, the ocean and its resources are conserved, and action on climate change meets the urgency of the moment.Ìý
The Center of Excellence with its Data Hub and the Debt Sustainability Support Service for SIDS - will foster SIDS-led solutions and will serve as a platform for private sector engagement with SIDS.
To achieve the ambitions, the ABAS calls for the recognition and measurement of vulnerabilities and for significant new financing – at scale and directed to where it matters most.Ìý
Upon the request of Member States, the Secretary-General convened a high-level meeting on mobilization of resources resulting in a Call to Action that sets out transformative priority areas, from reforms to the international financial architecture to give SIDS a seat, to the inclusion of vulnerability criteria for the allocation of concessional finance.
The path has been set, yet success is not automatic.
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Success relies on each of us stepping up in partnerships that are timely, robust, and effective.
Over the course of the last four days many of you have made commitments to make the ABAS a reality.Ìý
We have heard announcements about the ratification of the BBNJ, about knowledge hubs, facilities, and mechanisms to support efforts for the stewardship of the oceans, fisheries, renewable energy and energy efficiency, about South-south cooperation around green and blue bonds and pledges for the rechanneling of Special Drawing Rights to provide additional financing for SIDS and to mobilize public and private investments towards SIDS initiatives.
Early warning and anticipatory responses to safeguard food security have been highlighted in your discussions, in particular in light of worrying forecasts of what to expect in the context of El Nino and in the future.
Your discussions have also drawn attention to the aspirations of SIDS for inclusive and shared prosperity, with commitments towards increased social protection and availability of insurance schemes, support for children as they bear the burdens of SIDS’ systemic vulnerabilities, nature-based livelihood models and harnessing of digital tools, science and innovation to create opportunities for everyone, everywhere, and as a means to overcome remoteness and limited capacities.
Allow me to join many of you in insisting about the need for inclusive and meaningful engagement with civil society, including women organizations and youth, in the implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS).Ìý No effort should be spared to ensure that the voices of vulnerable and marginalized groups in SIDS are heard, including persons with disabilities, older persons, and indigenous peoples.
We recognize the commitments that have been brough to the table, the EU, Netherlands, Germany, the US. We hope others will also step up.
The UN will heed the call for more effective support of SIDS. We are committed to delivering a robust monitoring and evaluation framework, accessible for SIDS to effectively account for our efforts to implement the ABAS.
Our UN family will join your efforts at all levels- globally we will work with you to meet the 1.5 target, towards increased finance and simplified processes; at the regional level connecting multi-country offices and SIDS teams with the expertise and skills that are needed for the implementation of the ABAS and at the national level where change needs to show in the quality of people’s lives.
On the ground, our Resident Coordinators and UNCTs will be working hand in hand with all partners to support SIDS in their transition to digital, green, and blue economies that deliver resilient prosperity and sustainable development for the populations of the SIDS.
Looking ahead, the Summit of the Future in September will be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalize multilateralism to achieve more fair and effective outcomes, delivering on the promise to leave no country and no one behind.
I call on all of you to channel your contributions, innovations, and ingenuity, as demonstrated over the course of the last four days, into this convening.
We must aim towards a strong and ambitious outcome that reflects the aspirations of SIDS which are not different to our collective aspiration for a prosperous sustainable future.
In 2025, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development will address critical financing issues and support reform of the international financial architecture and we must work towards COP 30 to ensure we get the renewed, ambitious NDCs we need.
SIDS have set out their vision, and these again will be opportunities to take the agenda forward.
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
As we prepare to leave Antigua, let us remember that this Conference marks the beginning of a journey.
Our responsibilities do not stop here.
The ABAS must guide our efforts toward 2030 and for the next decade.
When we meet in ten years’ time, I hope that we are speaking of how the work we have begun here made Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement a reality, transforming the lives of the people living in islands stretching from the Pacific to the Caribbean, to the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea.
And how we have paved their path to resilient prosperity for future generations.
Let us go forward with renewed hope and determination and commit to a decade of delivery for SIDS.
Thank you.Ìý
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