Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says months into economically devastating lockdowns and border closures, a COVID-19 vaccine is still only guaranteed for those who can afford it.
While giving his remarks during the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations today, Bainimarama says in the face of new and terrifying challenges, Fiji and other developing nations are forced to watch social progress, hard-earned over decades, slip through their collective fingers.
He further says for 50 years, Fiji’s contribution to the United Nations has been driven by genuine care for those less fortunate than ourselves and uncompromising passion for the protection of our natural world.
Bainimarama says Fijian peacekeepers have defended the defenceless in the world’s most conflict-ridden regions, Fiji’s oceans diplomacy spearheaded the United Nations Law of the Sea – of which Fiji was the first signatory.
He adds Fiji was the first country to ratify the Paris Agreement as well as the first small island state to lead the climate negotiations as President of COP23.
Bainimarama says Fiji is among the nations committed to net-zero emissions by 2050.
He further says five years post- Paris, global temperature rise is still projected to rocket past the two, three, or even four-degree mark, the ocean ecosystems are acidifying, and a sixth mass extinction event is already underway.
Bainimarama says he asks anyone feeling bleak about the prospects of 2020 to imagine the world 75 years on from today should their foresight continue to fail them.
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