UN General Assembly

Samoa prime minister and Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) chair Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa said a strong plan of action for survival is needed right now.

She said they need much greater mitigation ambition from the international community.

Fiamē also said the loss and damage fund, discussed at COP27, must be operationalised and fit for purpose for SIDS "as communities most vulnerable to climate change".

Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa told delegates a number of unprecedented natural disasters had occurred over the past year.

"We will continue to face these ever worsening disasters if we continue to deny addressing their root causes," she said.

"Scientists have warned of more frequent and many more extreme weather events resulting in more lives lost and costlier and less resilient infrastructure."

The impasse was an unprecedented test of Samoa's constitution, involving a number of court cases, and delayed Fiame Naomi Mata'afa taking office by several months.

"Many labelled the events that unfolded following our 2021 election a constitutional crisis," she said in her UN speech.

"While these were difficult times for Samoa, it was also a key part of our journey moving forward as a mature democracy."

Fiame said Samoa remains peaceful, and Covid 19-free.

The signing of the treaty took place in New York at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly meeting.

“As a signatory to this historic treaty, we wanted to demonstrate unequivocally our aspiration to have a world without nuclear weapons,” Malielegaoi told the UN General Assembly in his address.

“The conventional narrative that the possession of nuclear weapons will act as deterrent to make the world a safer place to live, is not borne out by the current realities otherwise the developments in the Korean peninsula would not have happened at all,” he added.

At the United Nations General Assembly today, Tuilaepa spoke of the losing battle to free the world from poverty.

Instability, conflicts, terrorism and the threat to the environment were also highlighted in his address.

“Climate change is an existential threat. Allow me to pause and offer our sincere condolences to the governments and peoples of all the countries that have suffered from the recent devastation of hurricanes and earthquakes.”

Tuilaepa also spoke of the threat from North Korea.

Tuilaepa will also attend the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York on 13 September – 4 October 2016.

That was announced by President Francois Hollande at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, in a bid to leverage more action.

The host nation of this December’s critical Paris climate summit will also increase the amount available as grants, and not as loans, he said.

“We need developed countries to take on financial commitments… we have to make sure that emerging economies, developing countries can be sure they will be helped.”

Hollande noted that the developed world had yet to deliver on its promise to raise US$100 billion of climate finance in 2020.