Press Conference by the President of the General Assembly,
Mr. Dennis Francis,
at UNEA-6 in Nairobi, Kenya [with Questions & Answers]
29 February 2024
[As delivered]
Good afternoon, all.
Thank you for your interest and for joining me here today.
Allow me to start by thanking the people and Government of Kenya for the warm reception and gracious hospitality extended to myself and my delegation since arrival in this vibrant City of Nairobi.
I would also like to congratulate His Excellency the President of Kenya as gracious host, and the Executive Director of UNEP for successfully hosting the sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly here in Nairobi.
It is my strong hope that these discussions will provide us with additional guidance in tackling the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, and help to mobilize much urgently needed action across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
You will note that I deliberately said, “additional guidance”, because we all know that we were warned long ago about the climate crisis, but we have been slow to take countervailing action.
This morning, UNEA-6 opened under the theme, “Effective, inclusive, and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution”.
I use the occasion to reiterate my appreciation to UNEA—not only as the premier platform to provide the needed leadership on global environmental policies and international environmental law—but also to ensure interlinkages between addressing environmental challenges on the one hand and achieving sustainable development on the other.
I urge Member States and stakeholders alike to harness the value of UNEA-6 to scale up commitments, and importantly, to make a robust contribution to the reinvigoration of multilateralism so it can more effectively deliver to people and planet.
Indeed, the current climate – and I mean that politically and literally – is marked by profound instability. Our multilateral system is regrettably on trial.
High-level gatherings, such as UNEA-6, are therefore prime occasions for world leaders whose countries and peoples are adversely affected by the climate crisis and enact transformative change.
Time and again, Member States have reaffirmed the importance of integrating the environmental dimensions throughout the sustainable development agenda and acknowledged that a healthy environment is both an essential requirement and key enabler of sustainable development.
Yet – far too often – the voices of the very developing countries who are deeply and disproportionately affected by the climate crisis are relegated to the margins and peripheries, while those at the centre differ as the situation grows worse daily.
This is wrong. Ethically, morally, politically, and pragmatically. It is wrong.
I am absolutely convinced that effective, inclusive, and sustainable multilateral action is as much about designing mutually beneficial commitments, as it is about nurturing trust and implementation including all voices and concerns.
This forum, therefore, is an opportunity to demonstrate that human-cantered cooperation and collaboration are not only still possible, but are, in fact, indispensable.
During my visit to Kenya, I will also engage with senior Government officials, including the His Excellency the President, Dr. William Samoei Ruto; the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Musalia Mudavadi; and the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Her Excellency Ms. Roselinda Soipan Tuya.
I have already held separate meetings with key UN officials, including UNEP Executive Director Ms. Inger Andersen, Director General of UN Office in Nairobi, Ms. Zainab Hawa Bangura, as well as senior officials of UN-Habitat.
Furthermore, I will use the opportunity of being in Nairobi to engage with civil society, and visit projects managed by UN-Habitat in the vicinity of Nairobi.
In each setting, I will endeavour to draw attention to the diverse impacts of climate change and environmental crises on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights, including through my address at the University of Nairobi, where I will discuss the broader topic on how Africa can contribute to reinvigorating our fractured multilateral system.
I will also use this opportunity to communicate the ongoing work in New York, especially the preparations for the Sustainability Week in April – one of the signature events of my Presidency – and the Summit of the Future in September.
My visit to Kenya is part of a broader effort to underscore the UN’s commitment to building a safer, more prosperous, and indeed more harmonious world – paving the way towards a sustainable future for all, everywhere.
Together, we can deliver on peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability for all – a message I am glad to have shared with all the UNEA-6 participants.
To this end, my door will remain open to any nation or leader desiring to engage in further cooperation across borders, sectors, or UN departments.
I thank you for your kind attention, and now I turn the floor over to you for any questions or comments that you may have.
…
Questions from the Press starting at 25:42” on the video link:
Question: According to the latest data, more than 30,000 people have been killed. What measures should be taken to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip?
Question: We understand some of the SDGs are off track. What are they and what needs to be done to scale them up? The second question is on the confluence between conflict and climate change. We have seen countries fighting over scarce resources. As the President of the UN, what is your message to communities fighting over scarce resources?
Question: You’ve mentioned that you’ll be meeting President Ruto and the Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi. Do you know the agenda of your meeting, or can you talk about it? Thank you.
Answers from the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis:
A: Let’s start at the end. I do have a meeting scheduled to meet with His Excellency the President and the Prime Cabinet Secretary, but I think it would be premature and, in a way, discourteous of me to reveal the substantive content of that interface before it happens. With the greatest of respect, I am unable to give you details, but the fact of the matter is, this is the only UN station in the Global South, and it is the largest UN station. It’s the only one that deals viscerally with issues related to the environment and so, in a sense, while the UN itself is a global brand, UNEA in Nairobi carries the environmental brand of the UN. It is a very important duty station.
A: As we know, environmental issues have become increasingly important as a development issue in the last 15-20 years. Whether our civilization succeeds or fails to a large degree will depend on the extent to which we can effectively address the environmental issues that are confronting us—perhaps the most pernicious of which being climate change. In some parts of the word, people are at risk of being inundated by the seas and of losing their cultures and lifestyle and heritage. The issues on the global agenda that are discussed routinely in Nairobi are extremely important issues.
A: I would like to use this opportunity to congratulate the government and people of Kenya for their unfailing commitment and deep engagement with the UN on these issues. It’s a dream of a partnership really, that you have this level of engagement and support, and I think it works well in the interest of both sides because the environment must continue to be a priority going forward. Otherwise, I’ll leave it for you to imagine what the consequence will be.
A: What measures need to be taken to stop the war in Gaza? Well, war is a decision, isn’t it? It’s a decision. It’s a human decision and, therefore, it’s not difficult to stop the war. Those who are waging war can, in an enlightened moment, decide: “Okay, we’re stopping it.” Stopping it does not mean giving in. Stopping it does not mean cancelling the legitimate rights of the Israeli people to live in peace and security. It simply means avoiding further bloodshed, pain, and suffering. It simply means not risking any further loss of human dignity by the people who live in Gaza. It means respecting their rights as innocent civilians who are non-combatants to live. What I would also hope it means is that those who are directly involved in the conflict would be open and amenable to a political process of dialogue that could lead the way towards finding a lasting settlement.
A: We cannot have, in perpetuity, these cycles of war. It’s been going on now from the late 1940s to the 1950s, every 3-4 years, with a lot of blood spilled on both sides. It’s just not sustainable. That should surprise no one. Peace is not made in war. Peace is made in peace—around the table, through dialogue, through confidence-building, and through building trust. President (Ronald) Reagan used to say in his negotiations with the Russians (in the 1980s): “Trust but verify.” It’s a good practice. It’s a decision.
A: Now, lots of people might say or think—in fact today I was asked this question—why is this being permitted to go on? It’s not being permitted to go on. The United Nations General Assembly has spoken decisively in the context of two resolutions about Gaza. Every major statement I’ve made about peace and security—I’ve repeated the demands that we’ve made—that the war must stop; all the hostages must be returned; and there must be an opening of the provision of humanitarian aid and support to the people of Gaza. What has taken place and what is taking place is offensive to the human spirit and to human dignity. It causes a great feeling of disquiet and angst among people.
A: Our hope is that wise judgment will prevail, even as quiet negotiations behind the scenes are taking place with the key players, which are initiatives that the UN fully supports. We have two objectives really: One, to stop the bloodletting and the suffering, and two, to move decisively towards a peace process that will endure. In our view, the rights of the people of Israel and the rights of the people of Palestine are not irreconcilable. The two-state solution really is the only credible way to deal decisively and finally with this issue. So, peace is our brand, and we promote it, and we defend it. And that is why, for example, we have made the statements that we’ve made on Gaza. There are other initiatives that are in the works that the General Assembly will be taking next week to deal with issues around Gaza, and we hope that that would lead to the desired outcome.
A: Progress in the SDGs has faltered. It’s a confluence of things that has created this problem. First, we had the pandemic, which no one anticipated. Then, the war in Ukraine. Now, the war in Gaza. Then we had rising inflation, then global food insecurity. It’s a confluence of things. For example, there’s no good reason why in 2024 there should be 860 million people on earth living in abject poverty. No reason. It is unacceptable. It is not exactly equivalent but having those large numbers of people living in abject poverty—it is almost as if those people are living a life of war every day. They are in a war for their survival. We can do something about it. We know what we need to do about it. But the key missing ingredient is something referred to in the SDGs as the means of implementation—the resources to make it happen. Implementing the reforms will cost money, money that many developing countries—particularly the most vulnerable, the LDCs, the landlocked countries, and the small island developing states—do not have the resources to implement. It is not that they are not committed. They are highly committed, but the resources are not in place.
A: Same thing with hunger. There are about 900 million people on this planet living in hunger. Even if we achieve the goal of dealing with abject poverty by 2030, there will still be a couple hundred people living in poverty. So, we must up our game. We must honor commitments that we’ve given. That has been lacking thus far. We have to mobilize the resources necessary to impactfully change people’s lives, to give them hope, to lift them up, and to empower them so that they can be encouraged and supported in undertaking personal initiatives that will improve the conditions of living and the level of welfare for themselves and their families. The SDGs are very human-centered. It’s all about people. Our hope is that the Summit of the Future will produce a strong, ambitious outcome in terms of the commitments that will be given to address the problems confronting the planet and population in 2030.
A: This is a situation that we will have to learn to live with because resources are under great pressure and if we do not manage them sustainably, we will run out of them sooner rather than later. Let’s just take for example water—potable water. There are many places in the world where water is already in short supply. Perennial drought in the Southwest region of the United States, for instance, or in parts of California, which has a large agricultural sector and a large viticultural sector producing fruits and vegetables. Water is an issue in many parts of the world. This is why the UN has a process dealing with water. We have to learn to manage resources more sensibly and more sustainably. Most people do not understand that water is very costly to produce and to distribute. Most governments are not in a position to finance that, even if one could find the water. We have to be sensible. The answer is not to engage in conflicts and fight over it. The answer has to lie in the very sensible, rational discussion about how to improve the production of water, and how to manage it sustainably so that both sides can share it. That’s the only real solution. There has to be some agreement, some understanding between both parties about how to share the resource.
A: And particularly since many important rivers in the world straddle 4-5 countries means that those countries will have to come together and work out a formula for which they can share those resources. Otherwise, what you will have is repeated conflict, angst, pain, and people losing their lives over something that cannot be fixed, certainly not in the short term because of climate change. To square the circle, part of the solution to that is for each of us, individually, to reconsider our own actions and the impact they have on climate change. For example, when you’re brushing your teeth in the morning and the tap is on and the water is just running, that’s water that is being lost to the system that you might need tomorrow. It’s the cumulative effect of little things and the cumulative effect of big things that will help to save us. There has to be cooperation at the community level, at the national level, at the regional level, and at the international level to manage these resources more sensibly. By 2050, I think there will be 9 billion of us inhabiting the planet. The numbers are growing—and swiftly. What we call in geography ‘population pressure’ is going to intensify. It cannot be that we allow this to destabilize our society as to risk a total breakdown and war. So, sustainable living involves each of us.
A: Is it wise to keep demanding more, or is it more sensible to consume and demand less so that there will be some left for tomorrow? And more than tomorrow, there will be some left for the next generation. Your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, to ensure for example, that the rich biodiversity that we have, they have, because guess what? Many of the medical solutions that could address some of the diseases that are so rampant nowadays…the source of these cures might reside in that biodiversity. So, we have to find a way to live responsibly and harmoniously with the environment. That is the only way we will be able to succeed.
Thank you very much.
[End of Questions & Answers]
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