Allow me to begin by congratulating His Excellency Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on becoming President of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. I applaud his emphasis on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Palau looks forward to working further with him on that important priority.
Let me also express my thanks to his predecessor, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, for her leadership over the past year.
I also want to express my deep condolences to the people of the Bahamas and all the victims of Hurricane Dorian. They must know that, as fellow islanders, the people of Palau stand in solidarity with them.
I would like to recall the words of my predecessor in his first address to the General Assembly 25 years ago, after Palau was formally admitted as the 185th member of the United Nations. He said, “My country, with approximately 20,000 citizens, will be one of the smallest Members of this Organization, but we are large in the things that count: a strong cultural heritage; a commitment to human rights and a democratic Government; resources — both human and marine — which we are particularly proud of; and, most of all, the support and friendship of our brothers and sisters in the international family of nations.” (A/49/PV.89, p.5)
On the eve of our twenty-fifth anniversary of independence, those words still ring true. To my predecessor’s list, I would add only that Palau is also large in its sense of responsibility for protecting the marine environment and the climate system. As a large ocean State, we strongly believe that our small island nation has much to contribute to those global efforts, and that important work must begin at home. In that regard, my Government had the pleasure to present its first voluntary national review to the High-level Political Forum of the Economic and Social Council.
The voluntary national review recognized our important achievements, such as universal education, ending hunger and establishing our protected area network. Palau has proclaimed 2019 as the Year of Innovative Learning and Excellence, in recognition of the fact that our people are our greatest resource. Improving education and developing our human capital is necessary to thrive in a globalized world.
Palau has made recent progress in achieving near- universal health coverage, but challenges remain in the area of improving the quality of health care and the durability of health-care systems in the face of the climate crisis. However, our voluntary national review also identified areas requiring greater attention, including improving nutrition, transitioning to a low- carbon energy system and building the resilience of our public infrastructure and essential public services.
In my address last year (see A/73/PV.9), I highlighted the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Palau, which has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world. One step since then has been a directive that I signed for all Government food service systems to serve pelagic fish as a way of encouraging traditional, healthier diets. However, that issue deserves much greater attention at the United Nations.
Sustainable marine protection has been a tradition in Palau that extends back thousands of years. For most of our history, the greatest threat has come from overfishing. When fisheries started to decline, the elders would declare a bul, or prohibition, and all fishing in that area would cease. Knowing when to exercise restraint has been key to the sustainable management of our marine environment.
Palau has some of the most well-preserved coral reef ecosystems in the world. However, we face many challenges brought on by a globalized world. Local fisherman are not the only ones trawling our waters today, and the climate crisis threatens to render island lives and livelihoods untenable. Therefore, like our ancestors, Palau has once again declared a bul against fishing — but this time on a scale the world has rarely seen.
In just a few months from now, on 1 January 2020, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary will enter its implementation phase. Eighty per cent of our exclusive economic zone (EEZ), approximately 500,000 square kilometres of ocean, will be protected as a no-take area. The remaining 25 per cent will be open to artisanal fishing, where we also intend to develop our domestic fishing industry. Our ocean is a precious resource. We need to safeguard its health so that future generations can continue to benefit from its abundance.
We also look forward to hosting the seventh Our Ocean Conference in August 2020. We aim to galvanize further momentum on ocean action, as well as to take stock of what we have achieved so far and what remains to be done for the protection of our oceans.
As co-Chair of the High-level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, I am working with 13 other serving Heads of State to rebalance humankind’s contract with the ocean. As the Panel continues to develop its recommendations for achieving a sustainable ocean economy ahead of the 2020 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 — conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development — to be held in Lisbon, we reiterate our invitation to industry and the private sector to join us in that effort.
We also look forward to the successful conclusion of negotiations and the adoption of a new treaty on high seas biodiversity that will set the multilateral framework for us to effectively protect the high seas and complement our national efforts.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) today presented its Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. Its warnings about the impacts of the climate crisis on the ocean paint a picture of ocean neglect and of warming and acidifying seas that threaten fish life cycles and coral reefs. For a country like Palau, whose economy, culture and way of life are dependent on the ocean, that is of existential concern, but the IPCC’s report also tells us that the health of the ocean should concern all countries.
If we are going to slow and stop the worst effects of the climate crisis, we cannot do so without turning to the ocean. The High-level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy also issued a call this week for ocean- based climate action to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Investing in nature-based solutions, decarbonizing ocean industries and securing sustainable food are solutions that we can all take collectively.
I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his leadership in convening this week’s Climate Action Summit. Palau is honoured to have been a member of the energy transition track for the Summit and to have presented and developed the small island developing States (SIDS) sustainable energy package, which is part of the commitment by SIDS to systematically and ambitiously transition to low-carbon economies. The package seeks to build the partnerships that generate action on the ground by scaling up the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative; SIDS will be empowered to develop ambitious and achievable plans for renewable energy and to attract new investment.
In Palau we are about to begin the task of installing the world’s largest microgrid, which will enable us to meet our nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement well ahead of 2025. The formation of a public-private partnership has been critical to that endeavour. It is also vital that we see an ambitious response by our developed country brothers and sisters to replenish the United Nations Green Climate Fund. We thank those that have recently announced new commitments this week, including Denmark, Sweden, Monaco and South Korea, and we look forward to others coming forward to also increase their pledges of support.
The seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations next year has been identified as an important opportunity to reduce the trust deficit among nations. As part of the work to revitalize multilateralism, our United Nations institutions must be fit for purpose. The reform of the Security Council remains an urgent task in that regard. We urge the President of the General Assembly, together with the Secretary-General, to undertake consultations to advance the reform process and ensure that the Security Council better reflects the geopolitical realities of the world today.
The Security Council must also be prepared to take on the most pressing security challenges of our generation. We therefore reiterate the call of Pacific islands for the Secretary-General to appoint a special representative on climate and security.
Our pathway to realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is enabled by a strong multilateral system. The political declaration adopted by the High-level Political Forum on sustainable
development reminds us that accelerated action depends on accessible means of implementation. While Palau has made considerable gains in some key areas, progress can be greatly accelerated by durable partnerships and greater multilateral cooperation that take into consideration the needs of SIDS.
The mid-term review of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway also reiterates the special needs and circumstances of SIDS and emphasizes the importance of scaling up financing modalities. In particular, we welcome its recognition of the limitations of an income-only measure of development and its call to deepen and enhance partnership with SIDS. As was made tragically clear in the Bahamas, our vulnerabilities as SIDS to disasters and climate impacts are unique and threaten to undermine all our sustainable development efforts.
Implementing the	Secretary-General’s recommendations for reform of the United Nations development system also remains an essential objective to ensure that no country is left behind. I therefore look forward to the establishment of a United Nations multi-country office in the North Pacific. As affirmed at the Micronesian Presidents Summit earlier this year, basing a multi-country office in one of the North Pacific countries will bring greater coherence to development support in the region and enhance the efforts of Micronesian SIDS to achieve the SDGs.
Our collective commitment to leave no country behind also demands that we end our exclusion of Taiwan and its 23 million people, not only here in the General Assembly but also in the range of international bodies that are essential to establishing effective multilateralism, such as the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We know from our partnership with Taiwan about the strength of its commitment to the SDGs; its equal and dignified participation in 2030 Agenda processes will only strengthen our global effort to realize the Agenda.
The United States has been our friend for the longest time — our histories are deeply intertwined. We share its commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. We are proud of our close relationship through our Compact of Free Association and look forward to beginning discussions on its renewal.
One early step in our national journey was the development of our maritime capabilities to secure our large EEZ. Australia stepped forward to support that step by donating a patrol boat in 1996. We are delighted that Australia has extended its commitment to the Pacific patrol boat programme and will be replacing the PSS Remeliik with a new patrol boat in 2020. Australia’s long record of support for capacity-building of marine law enforcement has been especially important in preparation for the implementation of the Palau National Marine Sanctuary.
The Government of India has been a growing partner in health and other fields by supporting our health-care system and diffusing small-scale solar technology through Palauans who have now been trained under the Solar Mamas project.
We view with concern North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches that violate Security Council resolutions. They threaten peace and stability in our region and around the world. Weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges must be dismantled and the cooperation of all States is essential to fully implement relevant Security Council resolutions.
It seems like the last 25 years have passed in the blink of an eye. The first generation of Palauans born to an independent republic are already coming of age. Now our second generation of independent Palauans are just starting school. I am very confident that they can look forward to another 25 years in a country that is large in the things that count — large in its commitment to friendship and solidarity with this great family of nations.
I am hopeful that they will live in a world that has seized this critical moment in history to avert the worst effects of the climate crisis; a world that has rebalanced its relationship with the land, the atmosphere and the oceans; a world that works with nature and not against her. This family is what gives me hope. It is what gives the people of Palau hope.


I wish to congratulate Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session. I firmly believe that he will skilfully lead our session to success.
May I express my appreciation to Her Excellency Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, President of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session, for her important contributions to the work of the Assembly, as well as to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his work and dedication over the past year.
Eighty years ago, the Second World War broke out and became the deadliest chapter in the history of humankind. That global conflict took the lives of tens of millions and destroyed economies and societies. It witnessed horrendous crimes and the emergence of new weapons and means of warfare with unparalleled destructive power. By the close of that chapter, nations had come to realize the importance of a collective security system based on multilateral cooperation and international law as the foundation of a post-war global order. That has proved to be a wise choice.
For the past 75 years, multilateralism, with the United Nations at its heart, has become indispensable. Multilateral institutions provide the forums for States to deliberate and to establish common policies in all aspects of global governance, from the overarching themes of peace, security, economy, trade, development and human rights to specialized areas of cooperation in the maritime, aviation, postal and telecommunication spheres. They also generate ideas, set standards and strategies to coordinate the efforts of States to address traditional and non-traditional security challenges, and improve the quality of life.
We are at the threshold of the third decade of the twenty-first century. We can pride ourselves on a world of peace, cooperation and development. We can rejoice at the achievements of peace efforts in various regions, from Mali to Liberia and from South Sudan to Cote d’Ivoire. Viet Nam welcomes all efforts to settle disputes by dialogue and peaceful means, including the dialogue process between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States.
We have also seen significant achievements in global development. Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. The universalization of primary education has been achieved in many nations. Maternal and child mortality rates have been considerably reduced. Together, we have established important strategies and frameworks for global development efforts, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Yet multilateralism is facing acute challenges. It is alarming that narrowly interpreted national interests are chosen over common values and that big Power politics, coercion, competition and confrontation are favoured over cooperation, dialogue and respect for international law. The consequential reduction in political commitment and resources has impacted the efficiency and effectiveness of multilateral cooperation.
All that is happening at a time when the challenges we face are greater in magnitude and more complex in nature. No nation is immune to the immediate and long-term impacts of climate change, environmental degradation or pandemics. Conflicts are protracted in many areas, especially in the Middle East and Africa, while the risk of conflicts looms large in other regions. Battlegrounds are no longer confined within designated war zones but have spread to densely populated cities and villages.
The global arms control and non-proliferation regime is becoming more fragile. The development of science and technology has brought about new means and methods of warfare. Global military spending is at its highest. In the words of the Secretary-General, the world is on the verge of a new Cold War.
In that context, we welcome the timely theme set by the President for this session — “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion”.
Multilateral cooperation has a special place in Viet Nam’s foreign policy. Our history of reform, development and international integration are closely associated with our participation in global and regional multilateral institutions. The assistance of the United Nations and other international organizations helped Viet Nam to rebuild the country after decades of war.
Solid policy and legal frameworks have allowed Viet Nam to further advance integration and socioeconomic development and better implement global development goals. The United Nations and multilateral forums have provided Viet Nam with important political and legal platforms to expand our cooperation with nations of the world.
Viet Nam has been an active and constructive partner in multilateral processes. We are working with other States members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to enhance ASEAN’s centrality in promoting peace, security and prosperity in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.
In the United Nations, members of the Viet Nam People’s Army have joined the Organization’s peacekeeping operations. Our diplomats and experts have contributed substantively to the development of United Nations agendas and policies on sustainable development, oceans and seas, and human rights, inter alia. Viet Nam is strongly committed to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and in particular is taking concrete steps to put an end to single-use plastics by 2025. Viet Nam is honoured to have been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. On behalf of the Government and the people of Viet Nam, I wish to extend to the Assembly our most sincere gratitude for once again entrusting us with that important position. As a member of the Council, Viet Nam will do its level best to work with the broader United Nations membership towards the ultimate goals of sustainable peace and development.
Given today’s daunting challenges, it is critical that we all work to revitalize multilateralism and strengthen the United Nations. I would like to offer some thoughts on how that can be achieved.
First, we must all reaffirm the fundamental importance of international law and the Charter of the United Nations in international relations and multilateral cooperation. International law is the foundation of equal relations among States. Our actions must be in line with and guided by respect for international law. Viet Nam believes that respect for international law is the most effective means of preventing conflicts and seeking sustainable solutions to disputes. We support all efforts aimed at the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, including through negotiation, conciliation and judicial settlement.
We call for the immediate lifting of the unilateral embargoes imposed against Cuba, which contravene international law. We urge the relevant parties in the South China Sea to respect international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, which is appropriately referred to as the constitution for the oceans and seas. Linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the South China Sea is strategically important to peace, security and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. The efforts of the relevant States have yielded positive outcomes in settling differences and disputes. However, Viet Nam has on many occasions voiced its concerns over the recent complicated developments in the South China Sea, including serious incidents that infringe upon Viet Nam’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction in our maritime zones, as defined by UNCLOS. The relevant States should exercise self-restraint and refrain from conducting unilateral acts that may complicate the situation or escalate tensions at sea, and disputes should be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS.
Secondly, it is important to enhance global and regional synergies. Global actions can be effective only if adapted to the particular historical, socioeconomic, political, cultural and geographical conditions of each region and State. Regional organizations could play a critical role in supporting United Nations efforts. Viet Nam welcomes the cooperation between the United Nations — especially the Security Council — and the African Union, the European Union and the League of Arab States in addressing security challenges in Africa and the Middle East.
In the South-East Asia region, ASEAN is a regional institution that is based on shared commitments and collective responsibility in enhancing regional peace, security and prosperity. In the more than 50 years since its founding, ASEAN has become an embodiment of the vision of regional Governments and peoples of a politically, economically and socially connected community. ASEAN has proved its centrality in the regional rules-based security architecture and provided a forum for States of the region and elsewhere to cooperate on matters pertaining to sustainable development and peace and stability in the region and around the world.
In 2020, Viet Nam will assume the chairmanship of ASEAN, at the same time as serving on the Security Council. We will endeavour to enhance cooperation and complementarity between the Council and regional organizations, particularly in the area of conflict prevention and sustainable peace efforts.
Thirdly, multilateral efforts need to put people at their heart. Lasting peace is a prerequisite for sustainable development and can be achieved only when the basic safety and living conditions of people are ensured. Viet Nam deplores all attacks against civilians and the infrastructure critical to their survival. We support and are committed to the advancement of United Nations agendas on women, peace and stability and children and armed conflicts. Viet Nam has endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration with a view to joining efforts to protect children’s right to education under all circumstances. We will promote post-conflict reconstruction efforts, particularly mine action, for the safety of people and the socioeconomic recovery and development of States.
Fourthly, multilateral institutions must be reformed in order to meet new requirements and better serve the interests of Member States, especially developing States in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Viet Nam welcomes all efforts to reform the United Nations development system in order to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness. We underline the need to increase Government ownership and to garner the contributions of non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders and communities. Viet Nam will work with Member States to actively contribute to reforming the working methods of the Security Council in order to enhance its transparency, democracy and effectiveness.
Finally, the political commitment of world leaders is indispensable to any efforts aimed at revitalizing multilateralism. The United Nations and the multilateral system can be empowered only if all countries commit to the greater good of the international community instead of narrowly defined interests and invest their will and resources. Only when such commitment is guaranteed can we enter a new, brighter chapter in the history of humankind — a chapter of cooperation and dialogue; a chapter of sustainable peace and development.


At the beginning of my statement, my delegation would first like to thank Almighty God, who has enabled for us to gather in this fine General Assembly Hall to discuss frankly the issues that we hold dear to our hearts in the name of humankind. We thank the host country and city for the kindness and well-known hospitality towards us since our arrival in this magnificent city of New York, Headquarters of the Organization. My delegation would also like to convey to Member States the warmest greetings and wishes for success at this meeting of the people of Burundi and His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza, President of the Republic of Burundi, who honoured me with the task of representing him today.
Allow me to extend my warm congratulations to His Excellency Ambassador Tijjani Muhammad-Bande of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on his excellent election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth ordinary session. The great qualities and skills that we all recognize in him are undoubtedly a guarantee of the success of the work of this session, whose central theme “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion” pragmatically deals with the key challenges facing the world today. The President can of course count on Burundi’s full cooperation in the accomplishment of his noble and laudable task.
At the same time, my delegation would like to pay a well-deserved tribute to his predecessor, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, the fourth woman President of the General Assembly since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945, not only for her admirable professional and personal qualities but also for the extremely professional way in which she presided over the seventy-third session that we have just successfully concluded. We also pay a well-deserved tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, and his courageous action under way to reform our common Organization in order to increase its effectiveness and credibility and make it an institution that is close to its constituents.
Before continuing the substantive part of its statement, on behalf of the Government of Burundi, my delegation would also like to express its most heartfelt condolences and its solidarity with the peoples and Governments of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Republic of Tunisia, as well as the French Republic, following the deaths of His Excellency Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, former President and father of Zimbabwe’s independence, His Excellency Beji Caid Essebsi, former President of Tunisia, and His Excellency Jacques Chirac, former President of the French Republic, respectively.
With regard to domestic policy, the preparations for the 2020 elections are well advanced both in terms of organization and budget. National mechanisms for the preparation of the elections are already in place, while calming measures to promote a climate conducive to the holding of free, transparent and peaceful elections are steadily increasing. Without being exhaustive, I would particularly mention, first, the adoption, following extensive consultations within the Burundian political class, of the Kayanza road map, laying the foundation for peaceful elections in 2020; secondly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), which is already operational; thirdly, the adoption of the revised electoral code by Parliament in April 2019 by 105 votes in favour out of 108 votes; fourthly, the decision to fund the entire operational electoral budget without resorting to external resources, which are often unpredictable and conditional; and, fifthly, the publication by CENI of the electoral calendar for all elections scheduled for 2020.
In accordance with that timetable, the presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections will be held concurrently on 20 May 2020. The election campaign is to be held from 27 April to 17 May. The Senate election will take place on 20 July 2020 and the last election — the cantonal elections — is scheduled for 24 August 2020.
It is worth pointing out that the electoral process in Burundi, as elsewhere in the world, is an internal matter that is exclusively an issue of national sovereignty. Any support for the process must be provided at the request of the Government of Burundi, in line with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. If there is support, it must not sanction any acts of blatant interference.
Any attempt to create a new role or redefine an existing role within the United Nations at the instigation of certain States to conduct the elections in Burundi in place of the Burundians would be an attack on national sovereignty and a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, which stipulates in Article 2, paragraph 7: “Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter[.]“
With regard to the calming measures to foster a climate conducive to peaceful and inclusive elections, I would mention, among other measures, first, the expansion of the political space in the country through the approval of new political parties and the promotion of freedom of expression: secondly, the decision of the President of the Republic to voluntarily waive his constitutional right to stand in the 2020 presidential elections, which is an act of great political and democratic value that could serve as an example throughout the continent and beyond; thirdly, the return and integration of refugees and political exiles returning in large numbers; fourthly, the promotion of political dialogue within the Permanent Forum of Political Parties; and, fifthly, the release at the beginning of the year of more than 2,000 prisoners, including the young rioters and insurgents of 2015.
In Burundi the dialogue between political parties towards holding peaceful elections in 2020 is proceeding smoothly in a spirit of openness and political tolerance. My delegation recalls that it was this almost continuous and effective dialogue that led to the adoption of the Kayanza road map for peaceful elections in 2020, the establishment of the CENI, the adoption of the electoral code by Parliament and the return to the country of several political leaders who had fled in 2015.
Foreign actors who apparently want to take the dialogue issue away from Burundi seek three things: first, to destabilize Burundi on the eve of the 2020 elections; secondly, to encourage the rebels of 2015 who are now on the run, sheltered, fed and protected by the same actors who have been diplomatically and politically attacking Burundi since 2015; and, thirdly, divert the attention of Burundians from the most essential, namely, the holding of the 2020 elections and implementing the national development plan.
All those external actors will have to face up to their responsibility in due course for all the consequences of their interference in matters falling within Burundi’s sovereignty. Burundians and the world are watching them. For their part, the Burundian people will remain opposed, as a matter of principle, at all times, in all places and under all circumstances, to any attempt at foreign interference in handling issues within the national jurisdiction, whether by a State or a regional or international organization.
My delegation would like to remind this gathering that the effectiveness of the United Nations depends on its ability to preserve the ideals that led to its establishment in 1945 in the aftermath of a deadly war. We cannot make the United Nations an organization for all if the bold interference of certain Governments in the internal affairs of other sovereign countries is dangerously tolerated in violation of the Charter that is the very foundation of our Organization.
On the security front, the situation in Burundi is stable, calm and fully under control throughout the country. From north to south, west to east and in the centre, day and night Burundian citizens enjoy their civil and political rights in complete peace of mind. In order to preserve the hard-won peace, on 10 September His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza, President of the Republic of Burundi, launched the thirteenth peace caravan, which travelled through the country’s 18 provinces, supporting at every stage the citizen-led community development projects in the areas visited.
With regard to the humanitarian situation, we welcome the massive and voluntary return of the Burundian refugees who fled the country in 2015. In addition to the several thousand Burundians who are returning of their own accord, without the assistance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, between 1 August 2017 and 23 September 77,080 refugees, comprising 25,666 households, were voluntarily repatriated to Burundi from Tanzania, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That massive voluntary return movement clearly demonstrates the restoration of peace, tranquillity, trust and stability in the country despite the comments of some foreign actors who continue to deliberately exaggerate the number of refugees still in exile in order to keep Burundi in the state of a protracted crisis.
With regard to Burundi’s presence on the Security Council’s agenda, we have always said that Burundi is on the Security Council’s agenda for political reasons and external interests that have nothing to do with the well-being of the Burundian people. The current political and security situation in the country does not constitute any threat to international peace and security so as to justify its arbitrary retention on the Security Council’s agenda.
The successive meetings on Burundi that are not driven by the reality on the ground destabilize the country rather than promote peace and tranquillity.
Such inappropriate meetings indirectly assist the 2015 rebels who fled the country and are sought by Burundian justice. We therefore reiterate our legitimate call for Burundi’s removal from the Security Council’s agenda. The precious time devoted to Burundi can be allocated to the many other areas of tension. The situation in Burundi should be a matter for the United Nations agencies and programmes dealing with socioeconomic development in support of national efforts to implement the national development plan and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
We firmly condemn the unjustified political and diplomatic aggression against Burundi and its people by foreign Governments, some of which were known to have attempted regime change in 2015 through unconstitutional means. Power diplomacy must give way to mutually beneficial and respectful cooperation. Such double standards and disproportionate and unjust pressure will bring us to our knees again 57 years after the end of colonization in our country, a terrifying period from which the Burundian people are still trying to recover today. The stubbornness of some countries to abandon their neocolonial logic causes them to behave as teachers of lessons, more than half a century after the attaining of independence of almost all African countries. The bitter fact of the matter is that interference in the internal affairs of States is becoming more and more commonplace, in contradiction of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The nature of relations between Africa and countries with a colonialist past should be redefined in order to transform the painful history of colonization into opportunities, through mutually beneficial and respectful cooperation.
It is time for foreign actors to stop infantilizing the Burundian people. Burundians are a proud and dignified people, very much committed to their political independence and values of ubuntu. We are mature enough to deal with our own affairs without any foreign interference, whether from countries close to or far from our borders. Any attempt to meddle in our internal affairs without first being invited to do so will always be met by an outburst of Burundian patriotism, as was the case during the regime-change conspiracy in 2015. We are aware that the 2015 conspiracy plot is not dead and buried — some are seeking to revive it by subtle means that are difficult to detect at first sight but will not escape the vigilance of the Burundian people.
With regard to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in addition to integrating the SDGs into our national development plans and programmes and aligning them with our national frameworks, the Government of Burundi has undertaken other practices to localize the SDGs by initiating a process of integrating them into our communes’ plans for community development, as well as through monitoring the community dynamics observed in the implementation of the SDGs. Furthermore, given that the very heart of sustainable development is at the community level, all 119 communes in Burundi are currently in the process of drawing up or reviewing their plans for community development by integrating the objectives set forth in the SDGs and our national development plan.
Like other countries committed to sustainable development, Burundi has made every effort to produce a regular follow-up report on the implementation of the SDGs and our national development plan. To illustrate the path we have taken in implementing the SDGs, including our successes, current and emerging challenges and lessons learned, Burundi has already announced to the Economic and Social Council its intention to submit to the voluntary national review mechanism in 2020. We believe that in order for the SDGs that we all adopted in 2015 to become a reality, we need greater commitment, ambition, action and above all more resources.
With regard to global issues, the current session of the General Assembly provides an excellent opportunity for States Members of the United Nations to reflect on how our Organization should address new and emerging challenges. The world we live in today needs a consensual approach, now more than ever before, in order to confront such major challenges as climate change, terrorism, the peaceful settlement of conflicts, peacekeeping around the world, the reform of the Security Council, threats to multilateralism and the issue of migration.
In terms of climate, we reiterate that the planet on which we live and on which future generations will live is facing a climate crisis that is worsening day by day, with the dramatic rise of climate-sceptic leaders. The climate crisis is threatening to reverse decades of progress and undermines all projects undertaken to build inclusive and sustainable development. Meanwhile the clock continues to tick, and it will not stop and wait for us. The green and sustainable development that we want — we want it now; waiting for tomorrow would be too late.
With regard to the fight against terrorism, we strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Burundi believes that terrorism cannot and should not be treated as an issue tied to any one religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic origin. It is a borderless threat that requires a global solution by tackling the root causes of the greatest evils of our times, including poverty, illiteracy, inequalities within and among States, ignorance, exclusion, humiliation and many others. Aware of the magnitude of the threat posed by terrorism today, Burundi will continue to make substantial contributions to combating terrorism in Somalia, where my country has already deployed more than 5,000 troops.
With regard to the issue of migration, the sobering fact is that forced mass population displacements are a global crisis, requiring collective action from the international community. It is now more likely than ever before that refugees and migrants will attempt to cross international borders to flee conflict, persecution, poverty and other life-threatening situations, in search of better life opportunities elsewhere. Their journeys involve considerable risks. Those who do reach their destination are frequently subjected to hostility and intolerance. The best solution to the migrant issue would be to strengthen cooperation and better distribute responsibilities.
Moving on to the reform of the Security Council — a topic that has been the subject of negotiations for more than a quarter of a century — Burundi remains firmly committed to the Common African Position as contained in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. The Common African Position aims to correct the notorious injustice suffered by Africa, which is the only continent not represented on the Security Council in the category of permanent membership, and which is also underrepresented in the non-permanent category. For several years, Africa has repeatedly denounced that historical injustice, which continues to deprive more than 1.2 billion people of their legitimate right to be represented in the Security Council, with a permanent member enjoying the same privileges as current permanent members.
Multilateralism is currently under threat, and Burundi, like the overwhelming majority of States Members of the United Nations, rejects the growing trend of seeking to use certain United Nations bodies, as well as political and military interventionism and unilateral coercive measures, to regulate geopolitics around the world by unconstitutional means that contradict international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
With regard to peace operations around the world, although they are far from perfect and despite the challenges we continue to face in this area, they remain very useful for ensuring the maintenance and consolidation of peace around the world. Accordingly, we advocate adequate, sustainable, predictable and flexible funding, including through mandatory United Nations contributions, in order to enable such Security Council-mandated peacekeeping missions of the United Nations and the African Union as the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to carry out their missions correctly. Any disengagement must imperatively take into account the degree of threat on the ground, rather than withdrawing or reducing the number of troops solely on the basis of artificial durations and mathematical calculations. With more than 6,000 troops currently deployed in peacekeeping missions, Burundi wishes to reiterate, from this rostrum, its commitment to continuing to make substantial contributions to peace operations around the world. We make this commitment as a way of giving back because Burundi benefited from the support of other nations during the most difficult periods of its history, before the definitive restoration of peace and stability in the country.
At the continental level, Burundi fully supports the African Union initiative to silence the guns in Africa by 2020, which the Security Council supported in its resolution 2457 (2019). In this regard, we are encouraged by the new positive developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Sudan and South Sudan, as well as the new wind of hope blowing across the Horn of Africa, and not forgetting AMISOM’s performance in restoring peace to the brotherly country of Somalia.
In conclusion, my country has never wavered in its belief in international solidarity, multilateralism and the rejection of muscular diplomacy. From this rostrum, Burundi reaffirms its commitment to playing its full part in building a new world order based on the rule of law and a world that is peaceful, fair, prosperous and respectful of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.


We are gathered here at the General Assembly at a time when the Secretary-General has chosen the very important theme of climate — we met on the subject yesterday — when impatience is being expressed everywhere and when everything in the world around us — or at least many things — could lead us to be pessimistic. We are not meeting our own expectations — the objectives that we have set for ourselves — in the fight against global warming and in the fight for biodiversity. The many tensions are at an unprecedented level in some parts of the world. Take, for example, what happened recently in the Gulf, or the challenges many of our friends in this Hall are confronting — our friends from the Sahel in particular, whose friendly faces I see here, and from many other regions.
These conflicts are increasingly harsh, cruel to civilians, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders. As David Miliband says, we have entered an age of impunity. Commercial tensions are increasing, and concerns are growing about technological changes and their consequences. I do not want to paint a pessimistic picture here — and I know how tired delegations are of listening to the many speeches that have been given since this morning; indeed, I wish to spare us the litany of all the reasons for despair. Nevertheless, we have everything we need to meet these challenges, everything, and in a new way.
First, we have knowledge. Never before in the history of the world has science been brought together in such a way as to be able to describe the challenges we face and provide the means to address them, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, to the point where we are building upon technological revolutions. It has been described thus: every year we know a little bit more.
We have the funding, which is not lacking across the globe. We have an unrivalled capacity for innovation, which, on many of the subjects I have cited, is also a means of responding to these challenges: in the fight against poverty and in efforts to foster stability and respond to the major changes I have just mentioned. We have an unprecedented awareness of these contemporary evils. We have our youth, who are weighing in on the climate and freedoms. And we have, I must say, public opinion, which is more informed than ever before. And we have a framework, which is operative in this Hall today: the framework of free States that recognize each other and are supposed to work for the common good and prepare for the future of humankind, responding to these contemporary crises. We also have multilateral regional frameworks on many subjects and thematic frameworks on such topics as trade and economic cooperation.
So what are we missing? What is it that makes us give speeches that make our peoples feel we cannot respond to their fears?
On reflection, as I prepared to speak today, I was reminded of a text that has often been with me, namely, the Harvard commencement address given by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn in 1978 on the decline of courage. We lack courage, spectacularly and often. Basically, today I just wanted to tell the General Assembly that the appeal I would like to make would be on the revival of courage — on two subjects to begin with: the courage to know how to build peace and the courage to take responsibility.
The courage to know how to build peace is important because, first of all, it takes courage to do so and because building peace always involves taking a risk, which consists in not simply defending one’s primary interests or one’s positions that have sometimes led to escalation or tensions. In all regions of the world, building peace is about taking the risk — the risk of dialogue, compromise, rebuilding trust — and in so many regions, that is what we need. That is what the Middle East needs today. That is what the Gulf region needs. Courage is not tensions, provocation, ripostes. It is a demanding consultation that is carried out in a transparent manner.
From the very first time I addressed the General Assembly (see A/72/PV.4) I expressed my strong belief with respect to Iran that the strategy of applying pressure on the Iranian nuclear issue could lead only to an increase in tensions in the region if, basically and above all, it did not have clear prospects for achieving a diplomatic solution. In 2018, after the United States withdrew from the 2015 Vienna Agreement, I proposed a comprehensive framework to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA) and complement it with a broader approach to address the issues raised by Iran’s post-2025 nuclear programme, the country’s role in regional crises and its ballistic programme. Where are we today?
In response to the American strategy and the European, Russian and Chinese desire to preserve the 2015 Vienna Agreement, Iran has responded with a strategy of maximum pressure on its regional environment. In that context, the increase in tensions was constant in recent months, and the 14 September attacks on Saudi Arabia have changed the situation. From that point on, the risk of a flare-up based on a calculation error or a disproportionate response has become greater today. Peace is at the mercy of an incident that is getting out of hand, and the consequences for the whole region and beyond would be too serious for us to accept living on the brink of disaster.
So what can we do? More than ever, I believe very deeply, the time has come to resume negotiations among the United States of America, Iran, the signatories to the JCPOA and the Powers in the region that are primarily concerned with the region’s security and stability.
What should be the terms and objectives of those negotiations? First, there must be complete certainty that Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons. Secondly, there must be an end to the crisis in Yemen. Thirdly, a regional security plan integrating the other crises in the region and the security of maritime transit flows must be drawn up. Finally, economic sanctions must be lifted.
I am in no way naive, nor do I believe in miracles. I believe in the courage to build peace, and I know that the United States of America, Iran and all the signatories to this agreement have that courage. It is with the same conviction that we will continue our work on Syria, Libya and the Sahel, which has been discussed at length in recent weeks and, in particular, at the Group of Seven Summit in Biarritz.
With regard to Syria, I would like to welcome the encouraging announcements made yesterday by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and a decisive step forward with respect to the constitution, at last, by the long-awaited Constitutional Committee. We all look at the humanitarian situation in Idlib with vigilance and high standards. We are all committed to Syria’s stability, throughout all its regions, and to the protection of all its people. We will continue to work towards a sustainable and inclusive political solution in Syria, which entails the work of the constitutional committee and securing Syrian territory so as to enable the voluntary and safe return of all refugees. It further requires a free electoral process that will include all Syrian citizens.
With respect to Libya, the Group of Seven (G-7) summit recalled our objectives and convictions. I believe very strongly that we currently need a robust inter-Libyan reconciliation conference and a firm commitment from the African Union, alongside the United Nations, to achieve that. Many initiatives have been undertaken. I welcome the commitment of Germany and all stakeholders who want to build peace. Lasting peace, however, can be built only on the basis of reconciliation among the Libyans themselves.
In the Sahel, France’s commitment is well known, ongoing and reaffirmed. There too, the future lies in building lasting cooperation in the region among the five States members of the Group of Five for the Sahel, securing the commitment of our armies, involving the United Nations, changing the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and fully integrating our objectives of fighting terrorism and entrenching sustainable security in the Sahel into the missions that we have deployed. It is essential to transfer MINUSMA’s mandate to Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, continue to involve all the armies in the region, re-engage all the region’s security forces in the fight against terrorism and commit our energy to development and stabilization. Those are all situations in which engaging in dialogue and crafting political solutions are the key to success.
That courage to build peace is something we have seen in recent months at work in an unforeseen and unexpected way in the Sudan thanks to the strength of the Sudanese people, the capacity for dialogue between the army and the people, the work of the African Union and the role of Ethiopia, whose foresight and commitment to the whole region I want to salute here.
It is that same courage to build peace that is now required in Ukraine. President Zelenskyi has taken the first steps, President Putin has been able to respond to him and progress has been made in recent weeks. We see our horizon and know that the next steps are implementing the Minsk agreements and, ultimately, building a lasting peace on the ground. In the coming weeks, we will convene a summit in the Normandy format at the level of Heads of State and Government.
On each of those subjects, the question that is always asked is how to recreate an effective framework for cooperation among States. I believe that that it is possible. I do not believe that the problems that we face today can be solved by diluting responsibilities or by a globalism that, in a way, neglects the people. In that regard, I agree with what President Trump said this morning. I also do not believe that the crises that we are experiencing would be best resolved by national withdrawal. I believe very deeply in patriotism so long as it incarnates both love of country and the aspiration to the universal. I believe very deeply in sovereignty so long as it represents both autonomy for oneself and the need for cooperation.
What we need today is to reinvent what I defined when I last addressed the Assembly in speaking of robust multilateralism (see A/73/PV.6). That is not to say that our multilateralism is worn out, that we no longer listen to ourselves or that we are no longer effective. Rather, it is in acknowledgement that there is no solution to be found in national withdrawal or without cooperation. That cooperation must, however, produce concrete results and engage new actors. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of such robust, contemporary multilateralism.
I believe that we achieved that on the issue of climate when, after the American decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, we launched the One Planet Summit, together with the United Nations and the World Bank, which allowed us to maintain cohesion and engage new actors, investors and companies, as we saw again yesterday at the summit organized by the United Nations. We must engage new actors, create momentum and resist disintegration.
In that regard, Russia’s ratification of the Paris Agreement, announced yesterday, is a sign of the success of that approach, in addition to what we have been able to undertake on many coalition issues. That is the same highly pragmatic multilateralism that we adopted to fight terrorism on the Internet through the Aqaba process and in the Christchurch Call to Action Summit, held on 15 May in Paris. I pay tribute here to the commitment of the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Yesterday, we made a breakthrough when 50 countries joined that initiative and platforms were committed to set operational protocols and remove terrorist content. We will go even further, but we now have a concrete, real answer. We must continue to move forward, innovate and respond to contemporary challenges in a spirit of partnership, information and democracy. We must now innovate in the same spirit to secure our safety and security.
The major challenge for us today is that we are no longer capable of ensuring stability in an increasingly conflict-ridden world, having left behind the bipolar world in which we lived for decades. We no longer really have the last-resort guarantors of our deep-seated balances. As such, disorders have set in and things are often slow to be resolved effectively. I believe very strongly that the courage to build peace requires the reaffirmation of our values — those of human rights and the dignity of human beings, which must not be subject any form of contemporary relativism. It calls for practical re-engagement in all areas of operation that I mentioned earlier, with a view to building peace and stability and proposing tangible solutions to the people.
I would refer, too, to the courage to take responsibility for our manifold challenges. When we talk about contemporary common goods, the climate, education and inequalities, we can say that we understand and see things for what they are. Today, we have an array of experts who are telling us about and describing in unprecedented detail the situation of our world. If we have weakened, it is because we have too often decided to question the truth, contest the facts, favour the short term and sometimes protect certain interests, and the loss of meaning has taken hold. But the reality is there.
Inequalities have again increased in our world among countries and within our countries. Our contemporary capitalism has become dysfunctional, leading to an unparalleled level of inequality. We are no longer capable of solving abject poverty and new forms of inequality, such as inequalities of opportunity and gender, as well as in access to education in the poorest regions, access to health care and necessary treatments, and climate, when it comes to the most vulnerable countries or the poorest regions that are hit even harder by global warming or the increasing scarcity of biodiversity.
On all those subjects, I presented the proposed the G-7 agenda last year and the desire to place the fight against inequality at its very core. I would like to briefly comment on that. I believe that we can collectively contribute to that subject in order for a response to begin to materialize, with a view to supporting the collective commitment already made to the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a way out of the short term; it is a decision to change our system. We have collectively committed, first and foremost, to a very proactive agenda for Africa and for the Sahel, its security, stability and development and, more broadly, to draft an agenda for Africa based on genuine security, development and reciprocity. In that context, we will host an Africa-France summit in France next June, based on economic partnerships and the involvement of civil societies in a spirit of deep reciprocity.
It is an agenda for equality between women and men. In Biarritz, we launched the €251-million Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative to support women entrepreneurs in Africa, and we will work with Angelique Kidjo to ensure that projects are quickly launched. That initiative was proposed by African women and operated by the African Development Bank, and for which the major economic Powers have decided support through investment.
We have supported Dr. Mukwege’s fund for the protection of victims of sexual violence and launched the Gender Equality Advisory Council, which we have expanded in conjunction with this session of the General Assembly and which, for the States that join it, consists of implementing at least one measure at the national level on women’s rights, based on best practices around the world.
The fight for gender equality is crucial, because we have not won it within our societies, as evidenced by the persistence of feminicide in France and many other countries. We must give it legal status and build effective action to eradicate it. We must do even more than we have done before, because we are seeing in numerous States a decline in equality between women and men and a questioning of women’s rights to control their bodies and the achievements of past decades. We must act because wherever inequality between women and men takes root, it leads to a decline in civilization, a rise in obscurantism, a growth in terrorism and a downturn in education. It also leads to diminished growth, because it means depriving each of those countries of half of its potential wealth.
That is also why we strongly support the United Nations on that agenda. On the three principles of action — namely, emancipate, protect and ensure real equality — we will act in view of the Generation Equality Forum, to be held in Paris in July 2020, 25 years after the Beijing Declaration, which marked the history of our Organization. There is no turning back now. We must move forward into a new era.
We must also fight that battle and have the courage to assume responsibility for our health. Here too, we have seen even today too many setbacks and difficulty of access to treatment in some regions, despite our efforts. The sixth replenishment conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will be held on 10 October in Lyon, France. From this rostrum in 2002, Kofi Annan called for the creation of a global fund to fight inequalities in the face of the possibility of curing deadly diseases. The Fund was then established, with the support of the Group of Eight at the time, and 32 million lives have been saved as a result.
I insist that the eradication of major pandemics is within the reach of our action. We can save 16 million lives in the coming years. We must simply recognize that no one can understand any longer how, for reasons of finance and inequality, it is impossible today to access treatments to prevent or cure such diseases or to slow their resurgence. That is why we need $14 billion in Lyon. We have three weeks, and we will put all our energy into making sure that a new global fund meets our ambition.
Lastly, the issue of climate is also a fight against inequalities and one of the subjects on which the courage of responsibility must be exemplified. Essentially, there is an ongoing paradox in climate matters, to which we are collectively being inured. We have basically given our impatient young people a boilerplate response. We give them the opportunity to express themselves and we tell them that we can hear them and that they are doing great; and then, all too often, we go on doing just as we did before. That will not hold up.
I welcome the commitment of the Secretary- General and say that, in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, we must undertake even stronger action and fundamentally change our collective Organization, the system itself, and seek not to offset, but rather to correct and change it ourselves with all our investors, companies and societies.
First, we must broaden our ambitions. That is crucial if we are to have a chance at limiting the rise in temperatures to below 2°C by the end of the century. To that end, we must act in 2020. In Europe, we must make the necessary decisions in 2020 in that regard, particularly on carbon taxation, with a real, higher minimum price and border taxation. If we have not convinced some partners to follow that agenda, those courageous decisions are needed, and the time is now.
We need to engage all countries more broadly in a carbon neutrality strategy by 2050. Several have joined that coalition. President Piñera Echenique has just presented it to the Assembly. We must continue to convince stakeholders and participate in that essential strategy. India has just expressed its willingness to join that agenda and coalition. I am aware of China’s proactive approach to climate change, which has been so important in recent years.
I know that together, if we commit to carbon neutrality, we can make a significant difference in achieving our objectives. As such, the twenty-fifth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Chile, and the twenty-sixth session, to be held in Europe, will be defining events.
Secondly, we must bring our agendas and actions back into line. I said this yesterday, but we cannot claim to be doing everything perfectly well and call for calm while we continue to be dependent on coal, as is the case in too many countries. Everyone, within their own limitations and with the help of the international community, the right funding and respect for each component of our societies, needs to commit to a strategy to wean ourselves of coal.
The major countries of the world must also stop financing new polluting facilities in developing countries. We continue to this day to export financing and projects in various countries financed by developed countries, which consist of launching new polluting structures and telling developing countries, the poorest countries, in not so many words that climate change is not for them. They can go on polluting; everything’s fine where you are. That is inconsistent and irresponsible. Let us be honest with ourselves. We must commit all our development banks, as we began to do on Sunday, towards a reorientation of financing towards renewable energies everywhere, because in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Pacific, the future of energy production is also about getting out of coal and no longer being coal-dependent.
In the same way, we must build a climate fund commensurate with these ambitions. In a few weeks, the first Green Climate Fund pledging conference will take place in Paris and I call on our major partners on this issue to provide crucial financing. There are many of us that have already doubled our commitments and I urge others to do the same, as such contributions will be most decisive.
On the matter of coherence, as I said yesterday, we can no longer have open, free-trade commercial strategies that do not include the climate question in their own agendas. The two must be combined. I believe in openness and free trade, but only to the extent that they are well thought out and able to integrate the objectives of zero carbon and zero deforestation. This means that, at each stage, we must build compatible solutions and find measures for compensation. However, we cannot force certain countries to make efforts and then continue to trade with those that do not, and we cannot continue to make statements from this rostrum and continue importing products that contradict them.
Nothing is going to change overnight. France, on its part, is too often an importer of products that lead to deforestation. This will involve deep-rooted changes and partnership strategies with countries of origin, with our businesses and our financial backers. I am not saying that everything is going well in France and that we are doing everything right; that is far from the truth. But if we are not collectively responsible and transparent and if we do not accept the fact that we must practice what we preach when it comes to our commercial policies and climate agendas, we will never achieve it. It will take some years, but we must start now.
There are two climate-related topics that I wish to underscore here before concluding. If we want to succeed in the war on climate change, we must look to save our forests and our oceans. These two battles are essential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and preserve our biodiversity balance. We are currently losing the battle on these two global issues. Yesterday, I believe that the commitment demonstrated by all marked an important step forward in defending the Amazon rainforest and the African forest — that is, the primary forest reserves of our planet.
We have countries that have committed to this cause — France is one of them — but here I wish to highlight in particular the efforts of Germany and Norway. We were joined by major countries, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the majority of the countries affected by Amazonia, to speak diplomatically. I encourage all those who wish to join the fight to join it, but we need to move forward. By the time the United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Santiago, we will have met extremely effective and pragmatic criteria so as to invest more closely on the ground and find useful solutions to promote reforestation, biodiversity and agroecology protection and all economic development projects concerning Amazonia and the African forest in the Congo basin. This will promote economic development and forest preservation, and thus our fight for biodiversity and against global warming.
The fight for biodiversity, too, will be the focus of major meetings in 2020, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress in France and the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Beijing. We need clear actions to be taken by 2020. When it comes to our oceans, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report Global Warming of 1.5°C is utterly devastating. We have been confronted with the naked, stubborn truth and we are losing the battle. At the recent G-7 Summit in Biarritz, we began building coalitions with major transporters, which committed to reducing speeds. This is just the beginning — we are far from having won — and I hope that we will commit, as we are doing for the forests, to the fight for the oceans with the funding and concrete actions needed to win this battle.
Right now, it is all about our initial changes and our initial actions. I cannot stress enough that what we are collectively trying to do is vital. It is about working together to try to change our collective political, economic, social organizations to reduce inequalities and, better still, to prevent them. I do not believe that the right response to growing contemporary inequalities in the areas of climate, opportunities and education lies in the fiscal agenda of each individual country. I believe that the answer lies in education, access to health care and policies to prevent inequality in each individual country, but above all in stronger international cooperation and a robust agenda to combat such inequalities.
But on a fundamental level, this requires an agenda of reconciliation. What we are seeing in front of us is, on the one hand, a constant rhetoric of condemnation. I hear it, and it pushes us to act, but words of condemnation are no longer enough. We know that we cannot go on simply condemning. Our predecessors condemned 20 years ago, which allowed groups of experts to be established. But alongside this rhetoric of condemnation, for some, there is comfort in inaction, a habit of cynicism. In the middle of it all, there is a rather haphazard, somewhat clumsy group of people trying to take action.
Let us take this challenge in our stride; let us build this agenda of reconciliation with our public opinion, with our youth, with our companies, with our investors and with Governments of good faith. We have the facts; let us continue to establish them and, from now on, change our habits. We must change our consumer habits, our production habits, our investment habits, our governance and civic habits in order to collectively engage in this agenda for change. Remaining in this tandem of condemnation and inaction will lead to nothing.
I firmly believe that the courage to assume responsibility means facing the facts, to accept that there are things we can do right now and others that will take time, because in all of our countries there are producers depending on certain products that are harmful; there are people who live in poorly constructed housing and continue to pollute even as they move on. We cannot point the finger at them. Rather, we must help them to change and we must offer solutions through technological innovation, investment and a real agenda to fight social and climate-related inequalities. That agenda of reconciliation is what we need and that is what I want to do in France, what we need to implement in Europe and what we must build right here.
That is what I wanted to say today. I believe in this courage to take responsibility and, more broadly, I believe that this courage will return. In any case, I believe we have no other choice. We must work together. Our grammars have changed; they are no doubt more complex than they were in the past and they certainly engage us more. We know that when it comes to security, inequality, health and climate change, we will all be accountable. But I no longer believe in the easy way out of pessimism. I no longer believe in division. I believe in our ability to propose ideas, to reflect and to act together to build this agenda for reconciliation that will enable everyone, everywhere, to see the light in our future.