UN General Assembly
2015

The Kingdom of the Netherlands knows how crucial this is. Three of our countries — Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Maarten — are small island States, and three other Caribbean islands are special municipalities of the Netherlands. With its centuries of water-management experience, the Netherlands is one of the best-protected deltas in the world, investing billions to help mitigate the effects of climate change. That is why we intend to make sure our voice is heard at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris later this year, and we will continue pressing for cleaner oceans. Our guiding principle is simple — consider the interests of all countries, large and small. Forget might is right. We believe right is might. This also forms the basis of our candidacy for a seat on the Security Council for the 2017-2018 term. We are passionate about serving the entire international community at the United Nations level as a partner for peace, justice and development.