Mr President, I am honoured to deliver this statement on behalf of the Member States of the Pacific Islands Forum.

2. We join the global community in commemorating and promoting the International Day against Nuclear Tests. A day devoted to honouring all victims and survivors of nuclear tests, to raising public awareness about the fatal consequences of nuclear explosions, and to remembering why nuclear testing must come to a permanent end.

3. We remember the lives lost, and the lives of those who continue to grapple with the lifelong impacts of nuclear testing. We remain committed to advancing actions to achieve justice for our affected peoples and communities, and to advocating for effective remedial action to mitigate against the threat to the health, security and prospects of our Blue Pacific.

4. There is no question that the unresolved nuclear testing legacy issues in the Pacific continue to pose a clear and present danger to the livelihoods of the peoples of the Blue Pacific.

5. We call on those responsible to take urgent and meaningful steps to address these lingering issues.

6. At their most recent annual meeting in July 2022, Forum Leaders noted arrangements for a Preliminary Independent Review relating to Nuclear Contamination in the Pacific. This review will support the evidentiary basis for actions our region will continue to take on nuclear testing legacy issues.

7. Last month, we also commemorated the 37^th Anniversary of the adoption of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty by Forum Leaders on 6 August 1985 at their 16^th Forum Leaders’ Meeting in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

8. Contributing to a mosaic of global nuclear free zones, the nuclear free zone in the South Pacific represents a key contribution to protecting all of humankind from nuclear weapons and testing.

9. The Treaty of Rarotonga successfully eliminated nuclear weapons and testing from our Blue Pacific 26 years ago, and has helped to denuclearise a number of regions of the world. Its success is proof of the utility of the mechanism of nuclear weapons free zones as a strategic tool to securing global peace.

10. We take this opportunity to reiterate our Leaders call to the United States to ratify the Rarotonga Treaty’s Protocols, recalling the announcement by the US in 2010 of its intention to ratify all Protocols.

11. We further emphasise the need for collective action and partnerships, including through the NPT regime as well as the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. With regard to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty we warmly welcome the ratifications this year by Timor-Leste, Dominica, Gambia and Tuvalu.

12. We urge all States not to carry out nuclear-weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions, to maintain their moratoriums in this regard and to refrain from acts that would defeat the object and purpose of the Treaty.

13. We call on UN Member States to support the annual UN General Assembly Resolution on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.   We also note the prohibition on nuclear testing in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

14. Mr President, as the nuclear threat remains very real, we must also be alert to its multifaceted nature.

15.  We condemn in the strongest terms the six nuclear tests conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea since 2006 in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, and urge full compliance with obligations under those resolutions, including that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea abandon its nuclear weapons programme and not conduct any further nuclear test.

16. We reaffirm our support to the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner, and we encourage all parties to continue such efforts and dialogue.

17. The climate emergency and growing frequency of natural disasters across the globe has increased the risk of large-scale nuclear accidents. Nuclear and radiological risks transcend national borders, and an accident anywhere is an accident everywhere.

18. We invite the international community to join us in pursuing the highest standards of nuclear safety through international consultation, international law and support for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

19. I have every hope in our global solidarity on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, and in pursuing highest standards of nuclear safety to safeguard against further nuclear contamination and injustices.

I thank you.