Jeremiah Manele, Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, painted a grim picture of a world marked by conflicts, widening inequalities and the erosion of UN Charter principles.  “The world is now over-armed, spending less on development and [has] increasingly adopted a militarized posture,” he said, calling for an end to such escalation. Solomon Islands “seek a region free from nuclear weapons, militarization, trafficking of illicit drugs and geopolitical posturing”.  In that vein, the subregion adopted the Ocean of Peace Declaration, a vision for a resilient and peaceful Blue Pacific continent.  On climate change, a “crisis multiplier that is defining our future”, he called for urgent action to put the world back on a track towards the agreed-upon goal of 1.5 degrees.

Large emission producers must drastically cut them, he stressed. “Contrary to what we heard here a few days ago, the science on climate change is clear and my people are suffering from it”.  He welcomed the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on the obligation of States to protect the climate system under international law and prescribing legal consequences for those that cause significant harm to it.

Moreover, the Court also acknowledged that countries must respect the principle of non-refoulement for those displaced by climate change when their lands become uninhabitable.  “For us small island developing States, this recognition is existential, and it reminds us that climate obligations are […] owed to the world as a whole,” he said. Voicing gratitude for Vanuatu and the Pacific youth who brought the initiative to The Hague, he noted that “though small in size, our island nations are large in purpose”.

He emphasized the importance of the ocean to the lives of the people of the archipelago, highlighting the conference it hosted on sustainable fishing this year and its ban on the use of some single-use plastics in 2023.  He voiced concern that negotiations on a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution has stalled.  He also recalled that the Pacific region has been used to test weapons and to store and discharge nuclear waste.  Unexploded ordinances from the Second World War are still buried in the region, polluting it with carcinogenic substances.   “This is the cruel reality of a war we never chose, yet whose scars we continue to carry.  Justice demands that those responsible accept their duty to help heal the wounds they left behind,” he stressed.