UN General Assembly
1995

fairness to the latter, we should give it more time to produce results. We should consider a moratorium on such gatherings until we begin to see practical benefits coming through. The talking has been done; it is now time for action. Environmental issues have become an all- encompassing international agenda. In the context of an interdependent world, we have a collective responsibility guided by the framework of international conventions to manage and develop our resources sustainably. The goals of sustainable development can be realized only through effective intergovernmental cooperation and through regional and international efforts. For its part, the South Pacific Forum, made up of 16 nations, including Palau, which joined at the most recent Forum, has adopted both national and regional strategies to develop and implement environmentally sound programmes. Together with our fellow members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, we have become party to the Lakatoro Declaration on Oceania Cooperation on Denuclearization. Papua New Guinea and the other 15 members of the South Pacific Forum recently expressed extreme outrage at the French Government’s resumption of nuclear testing