Address by Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Climate and Sustainable Development for All High-Level Meeting for the Protection of the Global Climate for Present and Future Generations

March 28, 2019 - New York, New York

Check against delivery. This speech has been translated in accordance with the Government of Canada’s official languages policy and edited for posting and distribution in accordance with its communications policy.

Excellencies, Madam President, Member States, ladies and gentlemen.

In 1992, the member states of the United Nations gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

There, governments and citizens showed an unprecedented will to make a paradigm shift to sustainable development.

The intent was clear: the future of the planet had to be secured for both present and future generations. This also implied an implicit fairness between generations—that each one would look out for the next.

Since Rio, our challenges have become unimaginably more complex.

We have seen that the climate can jeopardize peace and security, with more frequent natural disasters and consequent waves of international migration.

As we heard today from Fiji, Dominica and Belize, for small island developing states, climate change is already an existential threat. Small island developing states and least-developed countries need the international community’s consistent and sustained support. These countries have contributed least to climate change and suffer the most. They deserve our support.

Furthermore, whether the issue is desertification in parts of Africa, forced migration of vulnerable people, conflict over water scarcity, or rising sea levels, the security consequences of climate change are already here!

For this reason, Canada’s 2018 G7 Presidency turned the world’s attention to global economic resilience to disasters and led to the development of the G7 Charlevoix Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Coastal Communities, which particularly focuses on small island developing states.

We, in Canada, will also seek to ensure that peace and security issues related to climate change are among our priorities as we run for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the 2021 to 2022 term.

In the meetings leading up to the 2019 Climate Summit, the entire membership of the United Nations has an opportunity to recommit to action—in particular, through a commitment to meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement in tandem with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Canada is ready to do its part.

As we move forward, we all must work together to address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. We must better adapt our climate action to address the particular needs of Indigenous peoples and women and youth, and empower them. In connection with this effort, I would like to acknowledge the presence here today of Ms. Norma Kassi, a member of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Yukon. Thank you for being here, Norma, and for your hard work.

Let 2019 be a moment where all member states move toward fairness and a sustainable future for all.