Press Conference by the President of the General Assembly,
Mr. Dennis Francis,
on Sustainability Week at United Nations Headquarters in New York
9 April 2024
[As delivered]
[Spokesperson] Monica Grayley: So good morning, everyone. It’s very nice to see you here back at our press briefing room. Very sorry for keeping you waiting. President Dennis Francis just came straight ahead from Nasdaq where he rang the bell for Sustainability Week and came straight ahead to be with you. So, without further ado, Mr. President, President Dennis Francis of the General Assembly, the floor is yours.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: Thank you, Monica, and good morning and welcome to all of you. Dear friends, esteemed correspondents, members of the press and media, thank you for accepting my invitation to join me at this press briefing. As we get closer to the United Nations General Assembly’s first-ever Sustainability Week, which is scheduled for next week from the 15th to the 19th of April, I deem it necessary to provide you with an overview of the week’s activities, while allowing you the opportunity to also raise any questions or seek clarifications on any matter you wish.
As I have announced, Sustainability Week is a flagship initiative of my Presidency, which mainly consolidates into a single impactful week several mandated events set for this year focused on the theme of sustainability. You may be aware that rationalization of the work program of the General Assembly, including its agenda, is an issue which the Member States have often called for, including in the rationalization of debates. And I hope this consolidated approach will be seen as an attempt to respond in part to that request. Sustainability Week initiative is essentially designed to galvanize momentum around sustainability in a way that helps to supercharge implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, concentrating on critical sectors of the economy, that is, tourism, infrastructure, energy, and transport, as well as to shine a spotlight on the key development issue of debt sustainability.
The program for the week will therefore be as follows: On Monday, 15th April, I will host a signature event, the high-level thematic debate on debt sustainability and socioeconomic equality for all. This event will emphasize the consequences of surging debt on countries’ development trajectories, and particularly countries in special situations such as the LDCs, the LLDCs, and SIDS. It is common knowledge that many countries in the Global South are suffocating under the debilitating weight of enormous debt, which they must service, yet at the same time having to provide services to their citizens, let alone being expected to domestically mobilize resources to finance the SDGs. After an opening segment, we will continue with a fireside chat and then a plenary segment for Member States to intervene and share national perspectives.
On the 16th of April—that’s Tuesday—there will be a high-level thematic event on tourism. Tourism is a 1.4 trillion U.S. dollar industry, critical to our collective economic growth, and for some countries, it is the linchpin of their economy. But it is also an industry replete with unsustainable practices. which exploit natural resources, damage ecosystems, perpetuate lower wages, and contributes up to 8% of global carbon emissions—issues that demand to be addressed urgently. As we also saw during COVID-19 lockdowns and other cross-border disruptions, the tourism sector is highly sensitive to external shocks, exposing many countries that are heavily dependent on this sector for much-needed revenue to high economic risks and disruption. The high-level thematic event will consist of an opening segment, a fireside chat to elaborate on the future of tourism, two ministerial roundtables—one on resilient tourism, the other on sustainable tourism—and a brief closing segment.
During the event, we will also launch the statistical framework for measuring sustainability in tourism. On Wednesday, the 17th of April, we will be hosting a high-level meeting on sustainable transport. Recognizing that sustainable transport is integral to meeting several of the SDGs, this high-level meeting will consist of an opening segment, and a ministerial segment to deliver plenary statements. There will also be two interactive multi-stakeholder panels on enhancing intermodal transport connectivity and resilience and developing socially inclusive and environmentally responsible transportation, followed by a closing. On Thursday the 18th, there will be an informal dialogue on building global resilience and promoting sustainable development through infrastructure connectivity. I am sure you are familiar with credible studies and research on the high impact that investment in quality infrastructure would have on all the SDGs.
The dialogue will also begin with a brief opening segment, followed by a short plenary segment highlighting Member States’ perspectives on building global resilience and promoting sustainable development through infrastructure connectivity. It will then feature two multi-stakeholder panels and a closing segment. On Friday the 19th of April, we will have the Global Stock Taking on Sustainable Energy. The global stock-taking will candidly reflect on our progress and shortcomings over the UN Decade of Sustainable Energy for All 2014-2024, with a view towards raising ambition and accelerating advancement towards SDG 7 and the implementation of the Paris Agreement. This is all the more important given that 675 million people globally still have no reliable access to electricity, while 2.3 billion rely on polluting fuels for cooking. The stock-taking event will consist of an opening and closing session and two interactive dialogues focusing on four thematic focus areas.
One, closing the energy access gap. Two, reliably transitioning to decarbonized energy systems. Three, addressing energy’s interlinkages. And four, strengthening partnerships and the means of implementation. To conclude the global stock taking on sustainable energy, I will launch my call to action to encourage further acceleration of implementation of SDG 7, with a list of recommended actions and concrete milestones. Overall, during this week, I expect high-level participation at the level of some heads of state and government, as well as sector-specific ministers, including for tourism. Additionally, among others, I look forward to the participation of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program Administrator, the President of the Economic and Social Council, the Secretary-General of UN Tourism, and the Under-Secretary-General of UNDESA.
Dear friends, beyond the 2030 Agenda, my hope is that the outcome of these events will build momentum towards the SIDS IV and LDC III conferences in May and June respectively, as well as the Summit of the Future in September, including by facilitating open exchanges to advance sustainability through critical and concrete sector-specific actions. To encourage participation of all stakeholders in promoting sustainability, I have launched the Choose Sustainability campaign. I encourage all permanent missions, stakeholders, and the media to adopt pledges to promote sustainability and to declare their support on social media while adopting sustainability practices. For my part, my office is trying to phase out the use of the many roll-up banners you see throughout the General Assembly, which are usually soon discarded, and to replace them with long-lasting, energy-efficient LED screens. Thank you all for your kind attention, and I stand ready to address any questions you may have.
Monica Grayley: Thank you very much, Mr. President. The first question goes to UNCA. We have here Sherwin Bryce-Pease. Go ahead.
Sherwin Bryce-Pease: Thanks, Monica. Mr. President, on behalf of the UN Correspondents Association, thanks very much for coming to speak with us. I’m Sherwin Bryce-Pease of South African Broadcasting. Yesterday, you lamented the overuse of the veto in the Security Council due to the perennial lack of consensus among the P5. And today, you’re selling Sustainability Week, which, if we’re honest, will have little resonance in countries and places where conflict and instability persists: Gaza, the West Bank, Myanmar, Eastern DRC, Sudan, Ukraine, to mention a few. One of the core tenets of the SDGs is to leave no one behind. But what is increasingly clear is that due to geopolitical divisions, and the inexplicable lack of progress in the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform under the auspices of the General Assembly and now your presidency, the SDG deficits, be that poverty, food security, good health and well-being, gender equality, peace, justice, and strong institutions are only growing.
Do you concede, Mr. President, that there is a direct link between the lack of or the failure of the IGN process and the looming failure that is the SDGs? And I wonder to what extent, Presidents of the General Assembly and you yourself are responsible or should be held accountable for that failure?
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: Well, the premise of your question, I think, is not quite accurate because the IGN process has not failed. What do I mean by that? The IGN process has not begun in earnest. There is no formal negotiation taking place as of now under the ambit of the IGN. What is taking place are informal discussions that predate the commencement of formal negotiations. The Member States themselves will determine the timing of the commencement of formal negotiations, but we are not yet there. What is taking place now is a sort of introductory preliminary discussion, not negotiations, regarding the various models that are on the table in terms of the reform process and what the Security Council can and might look like if any particular one of these models are chosen.
So, but let me seek to address something to which you alluded. You made a link between peace and security issues and the development arm of the work of the United Nations. And I’m glad you made that link because people tend to think of these as alternatives. They’re not. They’re really part of a continuum. And what do I mean by that? When peace and security are at risk, it challenges other aspects of the work of the UN, such as development. But it does not mean, and it cannot mean that the UN abandons its mission to honor its commitment consistent with the provisions of the Charter to promote development. Development is an integral dimension of the work of the United Nations. It’s one of the three key pillars, as you know. Peace and security, human rights, and development.
So yes, the situation with peace and security is challenging. There’s no doubt about that. But it does not mean that we throw our hands in the air in frustration and walk away from what is an obligation, a statutory obligation, to attend to, address, and promote social and economic development for the benefit of peoples everywhere.
Sherwin Bryce-Pease: I would challenge you on that, Mr. President, that I think millions of people around the world are walking away from the United Nations precisely because protracted conflicts are not being resolved, and that has a direct impact on the recession or the deficits we are seeing growing in the development space.
If you look at Ukraine, UNDP will tell you that they have lost 20 years of development gains in just the last two years. Gaza’s economy in 2023 grew at a level last seen in 1994. So surely if you are to take everybody along with you in this process, resolving conflicts and getting to formal negotiations in this IGN process is key, not so?
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: The member states will decide the timing of the commencement of negotiations. It’s a members-driven process, the IGN. This is a members-driven organization. They’ve not yet made that determination. They will when they think the time and context is right. You allege that people are walking away from the United Nations. I have no doubt that there is considerable frustration. It’s the reality. We see it every day on the evening news. But like I’ve said before, the United Nations is more than about peace and security. We have got an agenda of work that is based on the philosophy of leaving no one behind, and we are determined to honor that agenda of work because we do feel deeply that peace and development are the flip side of the same coin. And there is a deficit of development. It exists. I refer to the fact that 650 million people have no access to electricity in the world. That’s a development reality. There are approximately 800 million hungry people in this world in a context where food is wasted in parts of the world, thrown out, discarded. That’s a development reality.
Monica Grayley: Thank you, Mr. President. Margaret Basheer, VOA, and afterwards, Abdelhamid. Thank you.
Margaret Besheer: Thank you, PGA, I’m back here. Thank you. Could I just ask you what tangibles you expect to come out of Sustainability Week?
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: Tangibles?
Margaret Besheer: Yeah. I mean, is it just going to be discussions or is there going to be action? What will the action be?
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: Well, I hope the action… Listen. We are promoting the Sustainable Development Goals. And the Sustainable Development Goals really would only be realizable if, as an international community, we take stock of the need to rethink the way in which we live, our lifestyles, our use of resources, the relationship we have with the natural environment and the assets provided to us by that natural environment. We need to learn to live sustainably.
So, Sustainability Week really is to promote the idea, the concept of transitioning realistically to a more sustainable manner of living, in other words. And it’s the little things and the big things—you notice I’m wearing my 1.5 pin, and this pin, as important and relevant as it is to Sustainability Week, you remember that I’ve been wearing this pin now for several, several months, long before I became president of the General Assembly. But this pin is relevant because the whole climate change discussion as you know, functions around the 1.5-degree threshold limit for global warming. The month of March, last month, was the hottest month on record. We have got to take action, okay? So that’s one big thing for governments to increase and scale up their climate commitments, their climate action commitments.
But sustainability is more than that. It’s more than what governments do. It’s what we do as individuals. It’s how we consume resources. It’s how we use scarce resources such as water, for example, which is something people should take note of because the world is actually running out of water. We need to learn not to be wasteful of water, to use it sparingly. Because there are places in the world, some of them not so far away, California. We live this every day. And there are things that we can do in our individual lives, as well as at the level of cities and states and at the national level, to make a contribution to the sustainability effort. So that, for example, many of us, when we are brushing our teeth, tend to open the tap and let it run. Not a good idea. You can be brushing your teeth, turn the tap off, because in the three minutes that the tap is running, you may have wasted 15 gallons of water that next week you won’t have.
So, sustainability is all about promoting and sensitizing the population about how we can make a contribution to preserving the ecosystems on the planet and ensuring that we do not exceed limits, that in fact, if we do exceed those limits, they will inevitably shorten our ability to survive on this planet. In other words, there’s a certain degree of self-interest in learning to live sustainably. And so, sustainability is a combination of things. It’s trying to have economic growth that is relatively stable or growing without the boom-and-bust cycles. It’s about building infrastructure in a way that is resilient. We’ve just had the bridge collapse. in Baltimore as a consequence of what happened with the containerized vessel. The collapse of that bridge is going to reverberate across the U.S. economy. It’s not just in Baltimore or in Maryland, and very likely across the global economy, because the trade in goods that come through Baltimore goes to every part of the United States.
So, we need to learn to build infrastructure that’s designed for long-lasting existence. And I know that bridge has been in existence a long time. It’s probably, I don’t know, it might be several, several decades old. But when you do not have to invest every four or five years in reconstructing the same piece of infrastructure. And this is a reality in many parts of the world. It’s a reality in the Caribbean because of the Atlantic hurricane season. It’s a reality in the Pacific. You have to keep rebuilding the same infrastructure because the hurricanes are cyclical. They cause untold physical damage. They wipe out the economy in the space of six or seven hours. You know, there was a former prime minister of Jamaica, Michael Manley, wrote a book called “Going Up the Down Escalator”. You’re not moving, you’re not progressing.
So, sustainability is about all of these things, trying to change the way we use resources, to sensitize us to the need to stop and think. When you use a single-use plastic, what happens to that plastic? Where does it go? Is it likely that you will be eating that plastic? Because that’s a possibility, since it all ends up in the ocean, including on the ocean floor. In fact, the scientists tell us, if we continue at current rates, by 2050, there will be more plastics in the ocean than fish. Chances are you’ll be fishing plastics. This is why we need to take action for the sustainability of our civilization. This is as much about us as it is about future generations.
Monica Grayley: Thank you, Mr. President. We go now to Abdelhamid. Afterwards, Michael Weissenstein from the Associated Press, and I have also Gabriel Elizondo from Al Jazeera. But if you are on the screen online and would like to ask a question on Sustainability Week for this press conference here for the PGA, please speak up, okay? I’ll go back to you. Abdelhamid, please.
Abdelhamid Abdeljaber: Thank you, Monica. Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Abdelhamid Siyam from the Arabic Daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi. Mr. President, in 1956, there was a major crisis in the world, the Suez Crisis. The Security Council was completely paralyzed because of the double veto in France and the UK, where they were participating in the attack on Egypt. General Assembly took over under United for Peace resolution. They adopted resolution for ceasefire. They adopted the resolution to create a new peacekeeping, the first peacekeeping operation Resolution 997, 998, the resolution 999, 1000, 1001, 1002. The General Assembly was forceful. Its decisions were respected. They gave one week for England and France to withdraw, and they did withdraw. First, do you dream one day the General Assembly will become forceful and its resolution would be respected that way?
And the second, yesterday, sir, the representative of Israel, he gave a speech. He insulted, I think, in my opinion, everyone was in the General Assembly, when he called the UN that they’re about to create an ISIS state, if Palestinian state is established. He accused the UN of all kinds of accusation, and yet, he stood and spoke while the Palestinians who had been authorized to have their own state by resolution 181 in 1947, yet they’re still waiting for this. Is that fair? Thank you.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: The General Assembly works on the basis of the rules of procedure. All members of the United Nations who of course, ipso facto, are members of the General Assembly, have the right to take the floor and make statements. That’s a given. I think in the history of the United Nations, there might have been, I believe, one occasion on which a member state left the UN. But once you’re a member, it is within your right to address the General Assembly.
So, the question of whether it’s fair or not does not arise. It’s what the rules permit. Because each member has the right to take the floor of the Assembly and it should be that way. Because that avoids playing favorites, cherry picking. It’s not a question of who you like and whose policies you support. It’s a question of, in fact, it’s enshrined in the international law. It’s called sovereign equality of states. All states have the right to speak at the General Assembly. That’s why it’s the General Assembly.
As President of the General Assembly, my obligation is to enforce the rules universally, without exception, across the board. That’s what I seek to do.
Monica Grayley: Michael Weissenstein? [Crosstalk]
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: I’m sorry?
Monica Grayley: The Palestinian state. Your opinion.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: My opinion? Well, there’s a General Assembly resolution on that as well as you know. You spoke initially, I’m glad you reminded me, about, I forget the language you used, but the implication was that the General Assembly is weak, or perhaps not strong, was your language. And this may have something to do with the perception that exists, that the decisions of the General Assembly are in some way inconsequential because they do not have the force of law. In response to which I would say this. Resolutions of the Security Council have the force of law. All member states are required to honor and implement resolutions of the Security Council. But there have been several resolutions adopted by the Security Council over the years that have not been implemented.
Now let’s take a look, a deeper look, at the General Assembly. The General Assembly consists of 193 member states. When the General Assembly speaks, it speaks as the conscience of humanity. So, when the General Assembly issues a resolution, by whatever numbers the resolution passes, it is speaking on behalf of the majority of the world population. It might not have the force of law, but it carries extraordinary weight simply because of the numbers of countries and the people represented by those countries who support the resolution. The United Nations is a forum. It’s a political forum. It’s a numbers game. It’s not a game. That is perhaps an unfortunate association, but it’s all about numbers. And so, when the General Assembly issues a resolution, it is politically difficult to… If the resolution was not important, why do countries… who are the subject of resolutions, why do they work so hard to get the member states not to support it? Think about it for a minute. If the resolution is based on a particular country, why do they spend countless hours lobbying their colleagues not to support it? It is because it has political weight. It has meaning. It can influence behavior. It can change minds. And that is exactly what it is intended to do—to apply political pressure to the offending state, to bring it into line with law and the norms of practice.
So, it’s not true that the General Assembly is weak. It’s not true. General Assembly has a different role vis-a-vis the Security Council. Different. but not inconsequential.
Monica Grayley: Michael Weissenstein, you have the floor.
Michael Weissenstein: Good morning. Thanks for having us. For countries that receive tourists and for those that send them, what are the most important things for them to keep in mind for this to be a sustainable industry?
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: Well, there are a number of things, actually. I would say tourism industries consume a lot. Let’s for the moment set aside the plant, the actual hotel structure and facilities. But they use a lot. And so, their procurement policy is something to be considered. Who supplies the tourism sector with its needs? And how are these products manufactured? What sort of labor is used, for example? Is that labor unionized? Or is it… Is it… is the product manufactured in some sweatshop in a back alley in a developing country?
Sustainable production is nothing new. It’s been in existence for some time. There are some countries in the world—there are actually, in some parts of the world, private companies, particularly supermarkets, who will not put a product that has not been sustainably manufactured or processed on their shelves. Because there’s a market for that product. And they want to cater to the needs of those who are environmentally minded. So that’s one thing. Of course, they use power, they use enormous amounts of power. But what power, how is that power generated? Are they using solar, for example, are they using solar technology? Or is this electricity generated by hydrocarbons? These are the kinds of questions that cumulatively, they might seem to be small points, but cumulatively, as a sector, can make an enormous difference. So those are just two. I’m not a tourism specialist. I can’t enumerate for you 15 or 20, but those are just two things. When the vacation maker leaves the room, do the lights go off or do they stay on? When you use the bathroom, you wash your hands, do you need to turn off the tap or does the tap automatically turn off? Things like that can make an enormous difference. Are you promoting the use of single-use plastics in your dining room? Because if you are, it’s going to end up… on the ocean floor, probably eaten by a fish.
It’s forcing us to ask ourselves questions about our lifestyle and to make consequential changes that, in aggregate, create extraordinary impacts on the environment, helps the environment, helps us in the long term. You’re welcome.
Monica Grayley: This PGA’s press conference on Sustainability Week is live on UN TV, UN Web TV, and also on the PGA’s social media channels. And we are going to go to the screen in a while, but first of all, Gabriel Elizondo.
Gabriel Elizondo: Thank you, Monica. My name is Gabriel Elizondo from Al Jazeera English. Thank you for the briefing. President Francis, two questions. The first one is you’re going to have a busy week next week; it sounds like. You mentioned some heads of states and many of the meetings next week being ministerial level. For our planning purposes, can you give us any more detail on who might be coming or what countries on those levels? And then I have a follow-up.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: The President of Poland will be here. There are likely to be some other heads of state and government. But we are in the process of awaiting final confirmation of those. And so, it would really be very improper for me to release those names. Several ministers of tourism are going to be here from across the world, both Global North and South. I think I’d like to leave it there for the moment.
Gabriel Elizondo: Fair enough. That’s helpful. Thank you. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot there. That helps our planning purposes.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: You said there were two questions.
Gabriel Elizondo: Yeah, the second one is you spoke in your remarks to a question. You said all states have the right to speak at the General Assembly.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: Yes.
Gabriel Elizondo: As you all know, sir, there’s one particular state that while they can speak at the General Assembly, they do not have the same voice as 193 other states. And that’s Palestine, as you well know, for the obvious reasons, being an observer state. In 2011, when Palestine first applied for full UN membership, it failed in the Security Council Committee. And at that stage, Palestine, at the request of France, or at the suggestion of France, went directly to the General Assembly, the body that you’re now the president of, and the General Assembly elevated Palestine’s status to observer status.
That was 2011. My question to you, sir, is… [Crosstalk] 2012? I apologize. I think it was in committee in late 2011. It officially went to the General Assembly in 2012. Thank you, colleagues. [Laughter] My question to you, sir, I’ll make it quick, is if this fails again in the Security Council, as President of the General Assembly, overseeing the rules of procedures, what are you prepared to do or not to do to address the Palestine question when it comes to full membership?
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: You’re asking me to look into a crystal ball.
Gabriel Elizondo: Well, the United States said yesterday, sir, that their position has not changed from 2011. So, it appears pretty likely that without… Speaking of a crystal ball, it appears pretty likely, unless the US changes their position, it’s not going to pass the Security Council. So, there’s a very high probability that it might fall on your desk.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: I agree. There is a high probability it will come to the General Assembly. And then the General Assembly will decide in the way that the General Assembly decides. This is not a matter… This is not a matter of prerogative for the President of the General Assembly. It’s the Member States who will decide. That’s the way the General Assembly works. The President will have no vote. None. It’s the members who will decide on the basis of a vote which will require a two-thirds majority to be carried. My role is to administer the rules in an open, fair, and transparent manner. That’s my role. Nothing more, nothing less.
Monica Grayley: We have seven minutes to go, and we have Dezhi here. And before you, Dezhi, I’m going to ask if we have anyone on the screen. My glasses, as usual, never got better. [Laughter] So I think we don’t. Dezhi, please, you have the floor.
Dezhi Xu: Thanks. Hi, Mr. President, with China Central Television here. Oh. Here, sorry. OK. I’m not on the screen. So, I actually ask for advice. I think it’s human nature to pay more attention to what’s happening or the more apparent things, for example, Gaza, for example, Ukraine. But in this context, we know that there are numerous weeks: Sustainable Week, SDG Week, Sustainable Awareness Week, every single year. Everybody’s trying to promote the SDGs sustainability. That’s very important, but how can we make those things for people to see it as important as those things that we see on news like Gaza? Because we know it’s about our future, but it’s not about our future. near future. That’s something people cannot see. Thank you.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: But there’s a sense in which it is about our near future. Because what you, the actions you take today will create impacts down the road. So, it makes sense for you to take those actions, to initiate taking those actions now. They are relevant for action now to address an issue that over time only compounds itself. You know, climate change is not a new discussion. It’s been going on for maybe 35 years. This is a fact. When it was not popular, it wasn’t ‘sexy’. And when there was a lot of denial about it, you know, political denial about it from many large industrialized successful countries.
But then the evidence showed up. What Vice President Al Gore refers to as inconvenient truths. They showed up. The flooding, the annual fires in places where that never happened before, the drought, the crop failures, they showed up. And so, the scientists had the evidence. So, we’ve actually lost at least 35 or 40 years, maybe more. And now we need to take action. And now is the time to take the action.
Dezhi Xu: But Mr. President, don’t you think that’s what I’m trying to ask you, how to draw the attention of people on this issue? Because so far, we lost all those 30, 40 years because of the lack of attention from some point of view.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: But people like you, journalists, people like you who shape and inform public opinion. That’s why we are having this press conference with you. Because you shape opinion. You shine a light on things that are important to society. That’s why you’re the, is it the fifth estate or the third estate? I’m not a journalist so I don’t know. [Laughter] I know the principle and I endorse the principle. Because you have the credibility, based on the work that you do, you’re independent. You’re not tainted. And so, the reading public develops a relationship of trust with you. That is why we engage you. Because we need you, based on the science and the evidence, and the work that you’re doing to bring these matters into the living rooms and into the lives of ordinary people.
So, thank you very much for that because we could not achieve it without you. It’s an enormous service to society and to civilization. It just would not be possible without you. My one request to you when you do your pieces is to remember to include in it this advice to the reading public or to the listening public…choose sustainability. Choose sustainability for our longevity on this planet. and for an inclusive, fairer, more stable future. Thank you. Are we done?
Monica Grayley: Yeah. Mr. President.
H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis: Oh, and finally, a message to… the Muslim community in particular, but to all communities, to all of us as human beings. Tomorrow is Eid al-Fitr. It’s an important calendar, an important event in the Muslim calendar. And I’d like to take the opportunity to wish all Member States of the United Nations, in particular, the Muslim member states and their families, Eid Mubarak. Happy Eid. This, I think, is an important message for all of us because it’s a message of peace and brotherhood. So, with that, thank you very much.
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