High-level Meeting to Commemorate the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations
21 September 2020
Palau
His Excellency Mr. Tommy Esang Remengesau Jr.
Statement Summary
TOMMY E. REMENGESAU, JR., President of Palau, said that “so much seems uncertain” on this seventy?fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. The hard?won diplomacy that adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris climate agreement, nuclear test-ban treaty, and hopefully soon, a high seas biodiversity treaty, is being undermined by inadequate implementation and inadequate solidarity, he said. Island States have long emphasized their profound vulnerability, he said, adding “one disaster, one typhoon or one pandemic can wipe out progress that we have painstakingly made.” Calling for access to concessional finance from international financial institutions, and new partnerships that mobilize innovative forms of finance, including through non-state actors, he said it is vital to put global cooperation on a footing that will outlast the pandemic.
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