31 July 2015

Global Community loses opportunity on climate change

With the lack of a formal document on climate change from New Zealand’s term as President of the Security Council, the Global Community has lost a critical opportunity to do the right thing on climate change, said the Green Party today.

Dr Kennedy Graham, the Green Party’s global affairs spokesperson, has been following the Open Debate on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) from the floor at the Security Council.

“New Zealand’s presidency of the Security Council was an opportunity to make a real difference to the Pacific Island states. We needed to get a formal acknowledgment of the threat of climate change – and unfortunately we did not achieve that,” said Mr Graham.

“The leaders of Pacific Island states have time and again pleaded with New Zealand to show leadership on this issue, and that was echoed again today, with unprecedented eloquence and poignancy. It is a great shame we couldn’t act on their pleas.

“It was never going to be an easy task, but the world lost a critical opportunity to do the right thing on climate change.

“We could perhaps have been a bit more creative, a bit more assertive, but I am not convinced the Prime Minister had his heart in the issue to push it as far as it needed to go.

“There are two stark world views on climate change one that sees the security of SIDS as essential to peace and security and the other that says small states are dispensable – the latter won out today.

“New Zealand couldn’t get it across the line today, but one thing is certain. The Security Council will never be quite the same again. The Pacific leaders have spoken. They have spoken at the highest level of our global body, and they have not minced words. The Security Council is on notice.

“We have another opportunity when we are President again next year, I hope New Zealand will show more leadership then because if we don’t we are going to lose many of our dearest neighbours -- literally.”

ends

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