PRESS CONFERENCE BY REPRESENTATIVES OF ALLIANCE OF SMALL ISLAND STATES
Press Briefing
PRESS CONFERENCE BY REPRESENTATIVES OF ALLIANCE OF SMALL ISLAND STATES
19990927If the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) could convince the world community that those countries were a "natural laboratory" for what was happening globally, perhaps it would heed their call for help, Patrick Albert Lewis, the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda and Vice-Chairman of AOSIS, said this morning at a Headquarters press conference.
The Prime Minister of Samoa and Chairman of AOSIS, Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi, also addressed correspondents, following his statement this morning at the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly on review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, held in Barbados in 1994. The session, which began this morning, was expected to conclude tomorrow, 28 September. Joining them at the press conference was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius, Rajkeswur Purryag. The panel was introduced by the Director of the Public Affairs Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information, Therese Gastaut.
Mr. Malielegaoi, Prime Minster of Samoa, said that Heads of State and Governments and other delegations of AOSIS, which had gathered on Saturday in preparation for the special session, was a coalition of 43 States, representing all the regions of the world. They were drawn together by shared development-related challenges and their deep concern for the environment, especially their own vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. One of the main outcomes of the AOSIS summit was a communiqué, copies of which had been made available to journalists.
He said that the Barbados Programme of Action, adopted by more than 100 countries, was among the principal elements of the communiqué. The Programme had called for both island nations and developed countries to work in partnership to address the serious threats overcoming the islands. In essence, it was an acknowledgement by the international community that those countries were facing forces well beyond their control and not of their making, and that they needed assistance to meet those serious challenges. The Secretary-General, in a recent report, had referred to the "perceptible" progress made by the islands in implementing the Programme. While those countries were pleased with that acknowledgement, given their constraints, they felt the international community had fallen short in helping overcome their unique difficulties.
He said the AOSIS members were also deeply concerned about the adverse effect on their economies of the pace of globalization and trade liberalization. Particularly worrisome was the serious risk of marginalization faced by their economies in the areas of trade,
AOSIS Press Conference - 2 - 27 September 1999
investment, commodities and capital markets. The erosion of trade preferences would have a crippling impact unless new arrangements were made. Climate and the increasing incidence and magnitude of natural disasters also remained urgent concerns. In the area of financing, the Alliance urged the international community to honour its commitment to provide the necessary funding for the full and effective implementation of the action programme. In the area of globalization and trade, it sought support for ensuring the full participation of the island States in all relevant international forums.
In the area of ocean management, the Alliance called for a focused and coherent approach by the United Nations system, he said. In that connection, it was dismayed about the continued use of drift nets, and strongly supported the decision of the countries of the Caribbean to recognize the Caribbean Sea as a very special area in the context of sustainable development. On the issue of climate change, greater priority should be accorded the issues of global warming and sea-level rise.
Another urgent and necessary step, he said, was for developed countries to accelerate the reduction of their greenhouse gas emissions. Also required was international assistance to enable small island States to plan for longer term adaptation to the effects of climate change. For the prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation arising from natural and environmental disasters, global support was needed to establish mechanisms for strengthening regional and national capabilities, geared towards making early warning a key element.
Asked to elaborate on the unresolved issue of hazardous waste transport, the Prime Minister said there were many other important issues under consideration, including the need for financing to implement the Programme of Action.
Another correspondent sought more information on the lack of funding, including future prospects. Mr. Lewis of Antigua and Barbuda said the participants had been working hard in terms of the General Environment Facility (GEF). Collectively, the regions of the Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Caribbean had presented various regional projects, for which they anticipated some funding. A goal of the special session was to bring those countries' desperate funding need to the attention of the donor community and the international funding institutions. Indeed, since 1994, funding to their regions had declined by some $400 million. At the same time as the members themselves would continue to pursue their funding needs, the United Nations would hopefully take the lead in securing the promised funds.
Was the Caribbean delegation confident about receiving the support of the international community for a draft resolution granting special status to the Caribbean Sea, and were the countries of the Pacific region also planning to ask that the Pacific Sea be similarly designated? another correspondent asked.
AOSIS Press Conference - 3 - 27 September 1999
Ms. Miller, the Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados, said the Caribbean countries urgently sought to bring the threat facing the Caribbean Sea to the attention of the international community. There was insufficient appreciation for the fact that, although the Caribbean was not a major oil-producing part of the world, many of the world's largest refineries were found there. Billions of barrels of oil passed through the so-called "Caribbean corridor" everyday.
She said the eastern Caribbean was experiencing fish kills of increasing magnitude. Huge quantities of fish -- reef fish and deep-sea fish, including sharks -- were floating in the waters and washing up on the beaches. Scientists had so far been unable to determine why. Those were the nature of the concerns that the Caribbean community was seeking to underscore. In addition, the Caribbean Sea had been ravaged annually by almost every kind natural disaster, including volcanoes. The cone of an underground volcano off the island of Grenada, for example, was now building rapidly.
Whatever the natural environment offered, the Caribbean suffered, she continued. The region, therefore, was trying to build a case for its uniqueness in the context of natural disasters. While it was true that other areas also suffered from natural disaster, the ecosystems and environment of the Caribbean were extremely fragile. At the end of the twentieth century, the Caribbean Sea was indeed the most threatened of all the seas of the world. That was the reason for the resolution, which would hopefully receive the support of developed countries.
The Prime Minister of Samoa added that there was growing support for the draft by the Pacific region and members of AOSIS. The island countries of the Pacific had been looking closely at the Caribbean initiative. At a leadership meeting next week, the issue would be discussed regionally for the first time.
Another correspondent asked whether AOSIS had any "muscle", or whether it was just at the mercy of the bigger States.
Mr. Lewis said he didn't know about the Alliance's "muscle", but it certainly had some numbers which counted when it came to voting and elections. Thus, it did have something to fall back on as a basis for further negotiations. The benefits received by the small island States would benefit the entire global community. Maldives was perhaps the most vulnerable to sea-level rise, but that threat was not going to stop there. The Deputy Prime Minister had just described the fish kills in the Caribbean Sea, and in the wake of Hurricane Floyd, some 100 coffins were floating in the waters off the coast of Great Abaco, as a result of the destruction of the coastal areas. Larger countries also had coastal areas at risk.
Could the Alliance highlight any specific diplomatic achievement towards implementing the Programme of Action about which it was particularly proud? another correspondent asked.
AOSIS Press Conference - 4 - 27 September 1999
Mr. Lewis said one achievement had been the establishment of the GEF, which had emerged specifically to deal with the funding needs of small States. The Alliance had also created a certain cohesion among those States, which now spoke in a united voice.
Ms. Miller added that AOSIS had raised the level of awareness. There was still a mythology attached to the whole subject, but a lot had been done to educate people. Despite the heightened awareness in the international community, however, it had not always responded favourably.
Asked again about some of the reasons for the disagreement concerning the transport of hazardous waste and why that issue was not among the most important, Mr. Malielegaoi said that issue was among the main topics currently being addressed, including by the special session itself. As far as the Pacific Island countries were concerned, the forum leaders would raise the issue later this year when it met with the Japanese Government.
Mr. Lewis added that he did not want anyone to have the impression that the issue of hazardous waste transport was not contentious. In any discussion of the transshipment of hazardous waste, he had always been told that such waste had been transported for some 40 years without an accident, and that its updated processing method precluded the possibility of an accident. Apparently, the countries transporting the waste had not read the dictionary definition of "accident". If there was an accident -- and those islands were subject to hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes and so forth, which appeared almost overnight -- no one had been able to tell those countries when, if ever, they would be rehabilitated. The Heads of Government in the Caribbean had collectively said they did not want nuclear waste transshipped through the fragile Caribbean Sea.
Ms. Miller said before the waste reached the United Kingdom or France, where it was made safer", it came from Japan in its raw state. That was the greatest threat, as it traveled through the freshwater of the Panama Canal and passed near the land mass of the Dominican Republic. The transport was usually done in secret, and the affected governments had depended on such advocacy groups as Greenpeace to advise them about its occurrence. The Heads of State and Government had protested the transport, at every opportunity. On the last occasion, when highly radioactive waste was being shipped, the ship sailed around the Cape rather than through the Panama Canal.
Still, the question of the transshipment of hazardous waste, particularly nuclear waste, had to be addressed, she said. It was not possible to continue to make a mess without knowing how to clean it up. The countries of the Caribbean lived with all kinds of natural disasters; it did not need to add man-made disasters as well. Even assurances of double-hulled ships and safe passage were very difficult to accept.
AOSIS Press Conference - 5 - 27 September 1999
Given the contentious issue of trade, did the Alliance view the agreed text as a victory for island States in general? another correspondent asked.
Mr. Purryag, Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius, said that on the trade front he was fighting hard for the recognition of small island States because of their vulnerability. Their remoteness and climate, the relatively high population density and the limited capacity of economic diversification were issues which had to be addressed by the world community, especially by the World Trade Organization (WTO). At the last Commonwealth Summit in 1997, an initiative was undertaken to lobby the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions about the need to construct a vulnerability index, which would help small island States receive preferential treatment. Equal rules applied to equal parties, but those States did not have the capacity to compete with the economies of major countries.
Mr. Lewis added that under globalization two different levels were operating. Countries were supposed to be conforming to liberalization, which underlined free trade, but the fallacy was that free trade never existed in modern times. Developing countries were asked to subscribe to that fallacy, however, whereas in the industrialized world, farmers were being handed built-in price guarantees. The small island States confronted all kinds of problems. All they sought was a level playing field.
Ms. Miller agreed that small countries and small economies did not necessarily have small problems.
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