UN General Assembly
2014

save my own future and the future of my children and grandchildren. But that is not enough. We face a challenge that is nearly beyond belief. As with so many other moments in the history of the United Nations, we have to ask whether leaders will respond to the climate threat with courage. Or will some nations, including some close friends of the Pacific Islands, slide back in their efforts, bury their heads in the sand and ignore an obvious climate reality? I hope and expect that at the coming Group of Twenty meeting later this year, the world’s largest economies will address climate change and the economic consequences of inaction. The Pacific island countries demand no less. Last month, nations around the world gathered in Apia for the third international conference on small island developing States. As hosts of the conference, the Government and people of Samoa showed the world true Pacific hospitality. As we have for decades, Pacific leaders have spoken firmly — in last year’s Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership, in this year’s Palau