Bula Vinaka Excellencies,

1. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the fourteen Member States of the Pacific Islands Forum with presence here at the United Nations.

2. We would like to express our thanks to the President of the General Assembly. DOALOS and the coordinators of the OLOS Omnibus Resolution informal consultations for their diligent work in this unusual year.

3. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all Member States for engaging constructively on our language submission and AOSIS for their contributions to our shared proposal.  We note the various comments and views expressed by Member States with regard to sea-level rise, maritime zones, and maritime boundaries.

4. As large oceanic States within the Blue Pacific Continent, Pacific countries have a profound connection to and reliance on the ocean, which is at the heart of our geography, cultures and economies.  Our past, present and future development is based on rights and entitlements guaranteed under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

5. Our Leaders are in firm agreement that climate change is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific.  Sea-level rise has been further and alarmingly confirmed as a real and pressing issue by the recent IPCC Working Group I report, Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis.

6. On 6 August 2021, we marked our 50th Anniversary as the Pacific Islands Forum with our Leaders’ endorsement of the Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the face of Climate Change-related Sea-level rise, signalling deep mutual commitment and a strong and decisive step to safeguard the homes and interests of the Pacific peoples, and maintain peace and security.

7. The Declaration is intended as a formal statement of Forum Members’ view on how the UNCLOS rules on maritime zones apply in the situation of climate change-related sea-level rise.

8. The Pacific Islands Forum’s approach to this issue preserves maritime zones and the rights and entitlements that flow from them in the face of climate change-related sea-level rise while also upholding the integrity of, and our long-standing commitment to, UNCLOS as the global legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.

Mr President, Excellencies,

9. Sea-level rise related to climate change is a real and pressing issue which raises interrelated development and security concerns for our region.  While it is of fundamental importance to Pacific Islands Forum Members, we also recognise that other countries, including small island developing States and low-lying States outside of our Pacific region, similarly require stability, security, certainty and predictability of their maritime zones. 

10.  We offer our Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the face of Climate Change-related Sea-level rise as a considered, moderate and targeted approach to the issue of sea-level rise and its relationship to maritime zones through a good faith interpretation of UNCLOS and a description of the current and intended future practice of our Members in light of this interpretation.  We welcome the Heads of State and Government of the Alliance of Small Island States reference to climate change-related sea-level rise in their own 2021 Leaders Declaration and reiterate our thanks for their contributions to our language submission in this year’s OLOS Omnibus Resolution.

11. The Pacific Islands Forum strongly appeals for all UN Member States and the international community to acknowledge the critical importance of this issue to small island developing States and low-lying States as well as to the international community as a whole and to support the Declaration, including potentially echoing core elements of the Declaration in their own national and group contexts.

I thank you.