REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY HERSEY KYOTA

REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY HERSEY KYOTA,

THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU AMBASSADOR TO, THE UNITED STATES OF

AMERICA, ON THE OCCASION OF THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT OF THE

UNITED NATIONS

NEW YORK, NY

08 SEPTEMBER 2000

Mr. Secretary General, Heads of States and Governments, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon and thank you for the privilege of addressing you all today. Before I continue, I would like to extend the warm greetings of His Excellency Kuniwo Nakamura, the entire leadership and the people of the Republic of Palau. It is truly an honor and special pleasure to be here with so many leaders and luminaries on the auspicious occasion of the Millennium Summit. This summit represents a very special opportunity to review the great achievements of the United Nations, take note of the vast global change which has occurred since the inception of the U.N. and which continues to occur at a dizzying pace, examine the challenges which such change poses, and consider how to ensure that the United Nations can best meet the goals and serve the purposes set before it in the new millennium.

The Republic of Palau, being the last of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands under the Trusteeship Council to achieve independence, obviously had no opportunity to be heard when the original collaboration on the direction of the United Nations occurred. However, this is a new world with a new order, and a genuine need for new directions for the U.N. has risen. Palau is extremely pleased to welcome this opportunity to be heard on the subject this time around. The Republic of Palau firmly believes and hopes that the United Nations would strive to embrace the remaining non‑member countries around the world, and in achieving that WE THE PEOPLES can together forge a stronger international will and commitment to face all challenges before us in this new century.

As a former Trust Territory under the administration of the United States of America, Palau had the advantage of being able to safely observe the sometimes rough and tumble developments of the post‑World II, post‑colonial, nation‑building era which followed the establishment of the United Nations from beneath the protection of a superpower's umbrella. We were able to observe the many different models for addressing and adapting to the sea‑changes, which accompanied the period while avoiding the need to adopt any one model ourselves. We thus were able to learn without the process of trial and error and all the costs and harms, which frequently come as the cost of such a learning process. The stewardship of the United States of America provided Palau with the secured environment we needed to prepare ourselves to fully participate in the global community. For that, we express our sincere gratitude to the United States of America.

While part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Palau did not slumber. As noted, we were actively observing the world around us, noting its changes, marking the pros and cons of various systems as they rose and fell with the ever‑shifting realities, which surrounded them. We concluded, as virtually all international actors, governmental and non‑governmental, have come to realize, that the most stable system, the one most resilient to change, the one most capable of growing from and even embracing dramatic change, is the system which offers the greatest opportunity for active participation by the widest margin of its members. Time and again, the flexibility required for such a system to operate on its own right enabled the system to effect a positive response to external challenges, including paradigm shifts outside its membership. This observation suggests to Palau two salient points for the future operations of the United Nations.

Firstly, participation in the United Nations must be as wide as possible. The papers prepared by the United Nations Secretariat for this summit correctly indicate that the old world view of discrete nation‑states has been overtaken by the realities of modern life. As it used to be said that no man is an island, the vast growth of transnational communications, multinational corporations, regional integration, and non‑governmental organizations now makes it possible to state that no island is an island either. In a very real and practical sense, there simply is no such thing as an entirely independent state today. In light of that fact, the standards for membership to this august body must be revised and made more inclusive. There are a number of international actors, which play a vital role in regional and global developments, and will continue to play such a vital role for the foreseeable future, yet are denied participation in this body. At least one such actor, Taiwan, also meets the criteria set for in standard, traditional definitions of a State, yet still has no recognition from the U.N. That is simply untenable and compromises the inclusive objectives of the United Nations, objectives repeatedly acknowledged in the U.N. Secretariat papers. Instead, and in order to maintain and further the effectiveness of the United Nations, we should acknowledge the passing of the old views of the international community and provide for full, formal participation in the U.N. efforts based on practical considerations of the significance of an entity as an international actor.

The second point, which needs to be made, is that participation must be as substantial as possible. By that, Palau means that decisions at every level of the U.N. must be open to real participation, that is, effective participation, on at least a representational basis by all members. As the most obvious example of the failure of the U.N. to meet that need, we need only review a few basic facts concerning the Security Council. While the membership of the U.N. has increased from 51 percent at inception to 189 today, the membership of the Security Council has grown by only ten members, none of whom are permanent. The number and, more importantly, the identity of the permanent members have remained unchanged. As a result, the vast majority of all members are denied genuine participation in what is arguably the most important organ of the U.N. body. This, too, is untenable. There needs to be real reform of the Security Council with a view to expanding real participation in that body. The Republic of Palau foresees that a significant step towards this goal would be welcoming Japan as a new permanent member to the Security Council.

Palau maintains that the steps‑suggested today are extremely important if the United Nations is to maintain and further its institutional effectiveness in the new global system. With that in place we can then effectively address the challenging developmental issues facing the world in the new century. One primary challenge in the work of the United Nations is an environmental issue that we must all individually demonstrate the necessary political will, from each and every member‑state, to effectively combat once and for all.

That one alarming environmental issue we have inadequately provided with remedy and threatening not only the survivability of small island‑states but also every country in the world is environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability is everybody's challenge. Industrial activities and agribusiness production continue to adversely impact our soils and waterways. In many developing countries, massive deforestation, harmful farming practices and uncontrolled urbanization are major causes of environmental degradation. All those specific problems must essentially be collectively looked into and provided with a scale of solid efforts whereby every country continues to meet its economic needs without compromising the ability of our planet to provide for the needs of the future generations. In particular, my country strongly believes every country must unequivocally demonstrate rigorous political commitment to address one alarming environmental phenomenon known as climate change.

Evidence continues to mount and demonstrate the inevitable reality of the inauspicious impact of the emission of the so‑called greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming. The earth's atmosphere is warming at an alarming rate, and sea levels have risen at an unprecedented rate. The Republic of Palau, in recent years, has witnessed a devastating portent of this global phenomenon. Rising sea level has invaded our taro patches, subsequently destroying some of our prime sources of daily nourishment. Some of our neighboring Pacific countries had a more disastrous experience with rising sea levels. Many have been displaced from their homes as their sea level rises. Many of them had statistically become part of the estimated 25 million "environmental refugees" forced from their homes. The Republic of Palau, currently in possession of the chairmanship of the 16 island member‑state South Pacific Forum, is gravely concerned about the devastating impacts sustained by some of these island-nations as a result of climate change. As the inhabitants of a fragile ecosystem, we appeal to the rest of the international community to face up to this inescapable reality more aggressively.

Climate change is a global problem that can only be restrained from its further devastating impacts if all countries willingly contribute on the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities. A particular sense of urgency in our differentiated responsibilities lies with the implementation of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. For there to be a realizable advance in our collective effort in combating climate change, the industrialized countries are called once again to commit themselves to verifiable emission limitation and reduction targets called for in the Kyoto Protocol. Such commitment remains lacking and would essentially complete our first step toward reducing global warming. To demonstrate that global commitment, we each must continue to remind ourselves that the challenge of addressing climate change is everyone's business. We, as responsible citizens of the international community, must collectively forge a solid political will to undertake the necessary changes‑ specifically those that are called for in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Ko mal Mesaul (Thank you).