WILFRED ELRINGTON, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belize, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, said the seventy‑fifth anniversary occurs at a moment of upheaval, with multilateralism seemingly in global retreat.  The cataclysmic crises of the pandemic and climate change are layered upon a bedrock of inequality.  However, the Governments of today benefit from a framework in place to chart a course through the crises:  the Charter of the United Nations, offering a blueprint for a green and resilient recovery.  He said the Alliance is concerned with attempts to obfuscate commitments, especially on climate change, and that the United Nations has failed to declare a climate emergency.  The time to act is fast expiring, as loss and damage threatens small island developing States, their self‑determination, sovereignty and dignity of their peoples.  The loss of any of those islands would signify a failure of the United Nations.  He also rejected coercive unilateral economic measures against sovereign States.

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