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The climate, the Council, and the People of the Canoe

"Lacking Effective Global Leadership": The climate, the Council, and the People of the Canoe

Kennedy Graham MP on Friday, July 31, 2015 - 20:27

The Council has had its moments. There was 1956, 1962, 2001 and 2003. But for the most part it has been, at the risk of contradiction, business-as-usual in conflict management – warning errant states, slapping sanctions, renewing peacekeeping missions. Not to understate it, but that is what the Council was set up to do.

What it was not envisioned doing, back in ’45, was to govern the world on behalf of humanity. That’s a bit of a challenge; it takes your breath away slightly, especially if you are Council president, or even witnessing it from the Council floor.

But, in essence, that is what the Pacific leaders did today in the Open Debate on the Security of Small Island States. They effectively challenged the Security Council to save them, as the precursor to saving the rest of us.

The Council is not meant to do everything. But climate change, as the saying goes, changes everything. The 195 states parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, floundering around from year to year, pretending to negotiate a common solution to a problem of the global commons within a rushed deadline, are not going to make it on time; and certainly not when you negotiate for a climate solution as if it’s a trade deal.

You tend to appreciate this when your whole land territory and population are suffering from extreme weather events, as opposed to simply parts of it (deltas, mountain ranges, cities, plains). If an island is submerged, it is an embarrassing challenge to know where to go. And that is the fate of the peoples of the canoe, as the Polynesian Leadership Group call themselves in their recent Taputapuitea Declaration.

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So, when the Council met on 30 July, at the initiative and under the chairmanship of New Zealand, it did not really know what it was in for. Perhaps it should have, but the major powers – well, they are the major powers, and small island states are something they speak of fondly, if at all.

Unless they are forced to get real, in which case they contemptuously dismiss them. As the Marshall Islands delegate recalled, back in 1969, in the nuclear tests debate, when a top diplomat of a major power said of the Marshall Islands: “there are only 90,000 people out there – who gives a damn?”

Everybody does, today. Because what is happening to them today will happen to us tomorrow. If we cannot be moved by our sense of humanity, we might be moved by our instinct for self-interest.

Or not. The Pacific leaders were calling on the Security Council to adopt climate change on its agenda and to do something meaningful about it – without specifying precisely what. But there were other speakers, other interests, also at play.

There were, all up, 77 speakers, which is pretty much a record for an Open Debate. But some, even some of the other islands, were less vocal on the climate, storms and the sea level. They spoke about piracy on the seas and illegal fishing, and on the land, about gun trafficking, drugs and organised crime. And then there were the BRICs: Brazil, Russia, India, China. They prefer climate action to be under the unfocused haze-light of multilateral negotiations. Brazil stated flatly what China had, back in ’07 – there is no good reason for the subject to be mentioned in this chamber.

So there was definite push-back by some of the larger states. New Zealand, in the chair and caught in the headlights, elected not to push for any kind of documentary summation – no resolution, not even a presidential statement. They say that they plan to take stock, and see what the best way forward is. That is understandable, if you are a diplomat, or even a foreign minister, with no compelling mandate from home. And if you have 100 years to sort the matter out.

But there is no 100 year grace-period, and the Pacific leaders carried a mandate – the survival of their people. So, they spoke with unprecedented eloquence and poignancy.

One thing is certain: the Security Council will never be quite the same again. The Pacific leaders have spoken, on the global marae. They have spoken at the highest level of our universal body, and they did not mince words. The Security Council is on notice.

Listen, carefully, to what the Pacific had to say. Listen to the sounds of the peoples of the canoe, assembled together on this sweltering mid-summer day, in New York City.

Samoa (Prime Minister):

“Climate change and its adverse impact is a threat to our security and sovereignty – the very existence of our islands. This should surprise no-one. Without putting too fine a point on it, it is why we are here: a rare opportunity to call on the Security Council to address our challenges, including climate change, as real threats to peace and security of our islands.”

Niue (Premier):

“What does climate change have to do with the UN Security Council? So far, nothing. Have you responded to climate change in the manner you should be doing?”

Kiribati (President):

“The global community has gone past debating what are or are not security challenges. Climate change is lacking effective global leadership, global accountability. It is a security challenge – it can wreck serious damage. It can wipe out cultures – all life on the planet. From the IPCC reports and from personal experience, there is more than ample evidence that something is terribly wrong. We are near the point of no return yet you continue to procrastinate. You wait for neighbours to take the 1st step. We have all come to this event because of its vital importance. What can we expect to come out of this Security Council event? Can we say to our people: yes, your lives are important, no matter how high the sea level rise, we shall take the necessary steps. Please do so, before it is too late. We must provide the global leadership, now. We must agree on a set of actions that can provide security. We owe it to our children and theirs. We need urgent action to confront the existential challenges to front-line states. I appeal to UN Security Council today: as responsible global citizens of the planet, with a moral obligation to ensure its future. We must do the right thing. It is a matter of urgency.”

Marshall Islands:

“Back in 1969, in the nuclear tests debate, a top diplomat of a major power said of the Marshall Islands: there are only 90,000 people out there – who gives a damn? Well, 45 years later, we speak as a sovereign nation before the Security Council. Not only is our security at stake, but we are a barometer of the wider global pressure. … The security of small low-lying islands states should be on the Council agenda. We should not dismiss it on the grounds that it is not relevant to the agenda of this body. There is an overwhelming case for Council treatment.”

Micronesia:

“We face an existential threat posed by climate change. As islanders, we welcome this debate. It is appropriate and expected that this Council address the security issue of our time – climate change. And not just debate it, but make its work relevant to even the smallest of its members. The Council must place the security issue of climate change on its formal agenda. Climate change can only be alleviated by the work of this Council. It has a moral imperative to act. It is possible to see, with awful clarity, what this means. Sea-level rise and extreme weather need no explanation. At stake is nothing less than our disappearance from the face of this planet. We shall remain only as submerged reefs. No amount of adaptation will save us from climate change if it is not adequately addressed in time. Gone are the days when security was all about warfare. We believe the Council should help us pre-empt this new type of threat. It does not come without a price and we cannot do it alone.”

Tuvalu:

“Climate change is the greatest challenge facing Tuvalu. Climate change is a security issue. In the Working Group on SDGs recently, Security Council members consistently noted that climate change is a cross-cutting issue. I note that Ebola was seen by the Security Council as a security issue. Climate change needs the same attention. .. It is an existential issue for Tuvalu, and for others. When Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu, it also devastated us. We have a low elevation, and we are only 24 sq. km. of land, locked by this vast ocean. We were on the periphery but there was devastation. The Council must place climate change on its agenda. Tuvalu and the other atolls are the first to feel the impact, but the whole world will feel it if nothing is done urgently. While we debate and talk, lives are being affected. Four small islands have gone since 2000. Cyclone Pam took two. Here today, gone the next. That is how our islands can disappear – in the blink of an eye. Tuvalu depends on its limited land. There is a basic need for survival, on God’s given homeland. High tides do not lie. Sea level rise demands our urgent attention. We cannot continue along this path. We need the support of genuine partners for climate action. We need to keep the temperature rise below 1.5°C. We must think of the Paris conference in December. The Security Council should review its mandate to include environmental security, and fulfil all human rights. Please let us cooperate to do this, with dignity and honour.”

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