UN General Assembly
2001

pleas of small island developing States for new and additional resources to implement the Barbados Programme of Action remain to be heeded. The Kyoto Protocol is yet to come into force. Meanwhile, scientific predictions on the future of the global environment remain alarming. Unless swift and concrete action is forthcoming, global environmental degradation will continue to threaten the survival of humankind and our planet. The consequences of a mere one-metre rise in the mean sea level on small island developing States, such as the Maldives, is now a well- documented fact. We, therefore, urge the international community to accelerate its efforts to agree on a legally binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction regime and to facilitate the Kyoto Protocol's early entry into force. In this connection, we are encouraged by the positive developments achieved in Marrakech last week and hope that these developments will facilitate an early entry into force of the Protocol. A year from now, we will gather in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the Rio + 10 Summit to take stock of