4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES: AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL STATEMENT4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES: AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL STATEMENT
Tuesday 28 May
Statement by H.E. Mr James Larsen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
Excellencies and distinguished delegates;
Australia extends its condolences to the Government and people of Papua New Guinea and stands in solidarity as they recover from this tragedy.
Excellencies,
Australia has long been a champion and close partner of SIDS.
We have all benefitted from the leadership of SIDS in finding innovative solutions and driving action on sustainable development.
Excellencies,
SIDS are among the most remote and climate-vulnerable countries in the world.
SIDS have led the way on climate action for a long time. They have delivered significant global outcomes.
Because of SIDS leadership, the world is striving to keep 1.5 alive.
Because of SIDS leadership we are establishing a loss and damage fund.
And because of SIDS leadership we have groundbreaking legal initiatives through the ITLOS and ICJ Advisory Opinions.
SIDS leadership has also been influential in Australia’s recent and significant step up in climate change action.
Australia is supporting SIDS leadership and innovative thinking in our immediate region.
I was pleased to hear our friends from the Cook Islands and Tonga highlight the importance of the Pacific owned and led Pacific Resilience Facility. Australia will make an anchor investment of $100 million. We encourage others to invest alongside us.
We recognise the urgent need to invest in locally-led approaches which build resilience to climate change, reduce disaster risks, and respond to loss and damage.
And globally, we have re-joined the Green Climate Fund. And we have advocated strongly for SIDS to be at the front of the queue for both GCF and loss and damage funding.
But one of the most important actions the Australian Government is taking is to reduce Australia’s own emissions and to build our clean energy industries and working with our key trading partners to help them transition their economies.
Excellencies;
Our understanding of the impacts of remoteness on SIDS has traditionally centred around supply chains and access to markets. We feel this does not comprehensively capture the breadth and depth of the challenges SIDS face.
The unique characteristics of remoteness add an additional dimension of vulnerability for SIDS.
Australia is committed to better understanding how to support states with these unique challenges.
Central to this commitment is Australia’s long-held position that decisions about eligibility for international support mechanisms for SIDS should not rely solely on income measures such as Gross National Income [GNI].
Australia continues to advocate for an improved understanding of vulnerability across the multilateral system and international organisations. We see the UN Multidimensional Vulnerability Index process as an important first step.
Excellencies;
The “The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS [ABAS] – Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity” is anchored in the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs].
This programme of action is our blueprint to turn political commitments into action – for SIDS and with SIDS.
Engagement, commitments, and deliverables must be balanced across all dimensions of development: the economic, environmental, and social.
Climate action and resilience, biodiversity conservation, sustainable economic governance, data and statistics, and global partnerships are integral to our work. And they must be achieved with consistent respect for human rights, including gender equality.
Gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is essential for sustainable development.
If we closed the gender gap in economic participation, we would add at least twelve trillion US dollars a year to global GDP. Closing the gender gap would generate three times more money than the amount needed to achieve the SDGs.
Let me conclude by thanking the government and the people of Antigua and Barbuda for your warm Caribbean hospitality and congratulate you on hosting this important Conference.
I would also like to acknowledge the substantial contribution of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
Australia reaffirms our steadfast commitment to ensuring SIDS perspectives are genuinely heard and understood by all partners.
Thank you.