STOCKHOLM+50 NATIONAL AND STATE STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS WORKSHOP

Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to join you at this national and State Stakeholder Consultation Workshop meeting for Stockholm+50.

I speak on behalf of the whole UN system and acknowledge and appreciate the work undertaken by many different agencies, especially UNDP, to enable this and other workshops to occur. This is one of five similar meetings in the Pacific – including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu.

I would like to thank the Government of Sweden for funding these national consultations so that the Small Island States have a strong voice in this global conference.

Why are we here?

50 years ago, in 1972, we recognized for the first time in history that the environment, poverty and sustainable development were interconnected. We united under the slogan “Only One Earth,” made bold proclamations and recommendations, and ushered in a new era of environmental multilateralism.

Through the Rio conferences in 1992 and 2012, we brought the environment closer to the development and social agendas. 2015 saw the integration of the three pillars into the 2030 SDG agenda. And yet we are not quite there. The importance of a healthy environment to sustain current and future development opportunities and human well-being is not fully recognized or acted upon. We need to urgently act to ensure that this interconnection is mainstreamed in our policies and actions.

In particular, the development of the next Strategic Development Plan for FSM will be able to draw much from the discussion in the next 2 days.

The Global Stockholm+50 conference on June 2-3 will be a moment to reflect anew on this journey. A journey in which we are beginning to understand that we must transform our societies and economies to protect the Earth so that it may sustain us. But more importantly, the conference will be a moment to look forward and find new ways to deliver on this transformation.

What we recognized in 1972 is all the more apparent and pressing today.

Globally, we stand at the crossroads aiming to re-invigorate collective action. As we begin the journey of recovery — and as we prepare for the Federated States of Micronesia’s inputs into the Stockholm+50 international meeting — we must transition to new ways of thinking and acting. Especially as we learn from, and recover from, the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have the opportunity to redefine our relationship with nature and achieve a healthy planet for the prosperity of humankind, including future generations.

But without the concerted effort of all, including young people, the world cannot make peace with nature nor achieve the SDGs.

Results depend on Action. So let’s focus on action and implementation.

This includes financing, partnerships and coalitions to deliver the right to a healthy environment for all, enhance the environmental dimension of the 2030 agenda and achieve our climate change goals.

This workshop is a key opportunity to begin this process of reflection and consider new ways to accelerate implementation.

Friends, Stockholm+50 is a moment to reflect on and strengthen global unity on issues that address our common future.

We are also sending messages on the links between development, poverty, human well-being and care of the planet. But there is one major difference: we know far more now than we did then.

Science has unfolded the scale of the triple planetary crisis, the crisis of climate change; the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss; and the crisis of pollution and waste. And the science has outlined how it is hitting vulnerable communities such as SIDS the hardest. The IPCC tells us that global warming has caused climate injustice and dangerous disruption to the natural world. IPBES tells us that nature and biodiversity loss are undermining the SDGs. And scientists and researchers are telling us that pollution and waste is killing tens of millions of people each year.

But science and the environmental movement have also delivered an understanding of the solutions. They have sparked a will to act, which has swept the world. We have a human right to a healthy and clean environment. Youth are demanding change. Governments, cities and regions are acting. Businesses are acting. Investors are acting.

In an already unequal world, Stockholm+50 is a chance to reshape national and global interactions. A chance to deliver equity. A chance to amplify a global movement for a more caring world, one that takes on the concerns of youth and vulnerable people. A world that creates relationships of trust. A world that turns commitment into action.

This workshop will be organized around the three leadership dialogues – under the focus of a healthy planet for prosperity for all.

We are looking for insights and thoughts about the process and experience of FSM. In particular, the three leadership dialogues should produce a platform for a written report by FSM that will be included in the discussions at the meeting.

• The first dialogue will focus on the urgent need for actions to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity of all.
• The second on a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the pandemic.
• The third on accelerating the implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development in the context of the decade of action.

Stockholm+50 essentially provides us with four overarching opportunities.

1. We can rebuild relationships of trust for strengthened cooperation and solidarity.
2. We can accelerate system-wide actions to recover and build forward from the pandemic.
3. We can build bridges across all the global agendas that affect our environment, economies and societies.
4. We can rethink measures of progress and wellbeing to provide a new compass of collective welfare.

These are the overarching concepts and areas, but what, concretely, do we need to see emerge from Stockholm+50?

• Well, we are looking for new ways to address unsustainable consumption and production, which lies at the heart of the triple planetary crisis.
• We are looking for innovative financing approaches.
• We are looking for action that will transform harmful subsidies, those backing fossil fuels for example, into pro-poor environmental subsidies.
• We are looking for real recognition and commitment to the new right to a safe and healthy environment.
• We are looking for urgent actions for a healthy planet – and on this, we can draw inspiration from UNEA 5.2, which put plastics pollution at the top of the global agenda by agreeing to negotiate a global deal to end this persistent and pervasive problem.
• We are looking for buy in to the One Health Approach, which treats human, animal and planetary health as one and the same.

Above all, Stockholm+50 must embody the inclusive, peaceful world we want to build through reinvigorated multilateralism.

Stockholm+50 can be a moment for peace: it should demonstrate that multilateralism brings us together and can end conflicts that have set the world back for far too long. It must set the tone for equality, equity and respect in every area.

I am talking about respecting, listening to and empowering indigenous peoples – who, as custodians of nature, do a far better job than most of us.

I am talking about the empowerment of women at all levels in all sectors of society. Not just because it is fair, but because feminist leadership at its best is nurturing and embraces peace.

I am talking about intergenerational equity and responsibility so that our youth have a real say in their own future.

Every voice must be heard at Stockholm+50. I invite everyone here to listen, engage and shape our common future.

On behalf of the Stockholm process and the whole UN system, I wish you success in the discussions in the coming few days and I look forward to learning about the outcomes of this workshop.

Once again, I would like to thank the Government of Sweden for generously funding this consultation and UNDP for working with the Government of the FSM to ensure robust discussions today.

Thank you.