Flanked by the Prime Minister of the country, James Marape, Mr. Guterres echoes comments He delivered Wednesday during a speech in the National Parliament, in which he described the Papua New Guinea as “champions of multilateralism and international solutions”.
The secretary general noted that, in a world where “we see democratic values called into question”, the country – where 800 languages are spoken – retains a preference to solve problems peacefully through dialogue.
The tropical forest of Papua-Nouvelle-Guinea (file)
Time for climate justice …
The climate crisis was raised on the agenda throughout the visit, Mr. Guterres leaving the capital to visit a region of the tropical forest and discuss the problems caused by the evolution of the climate with the representatives of civil society.
Addressing the media at Port Moresby, the UN chief expressed his gratitude and solidarity with the Papua New Guinea, for how they take up an existential challenge and not of their own manufacture.
“Papua New Guinea does not contribute to climate change,” he said. “Papua New Guinea has a record for negative emissions, due to a huge carbon well: the admirable forests of this country and the ocean.”
He said it was time for the international community to recognize that countries like Papua New Guinea deserve climate justice and support to strengthen resilience against “the devastating impact of climate change”.
The conservationist Papuan Alfred Masul is replanting mangroves to strengthen resilience against climate change (file)
… and economic justice
The country’s ability to adapt to the increasingly volatile climate and to develop its economy is also hampered, said Mr. Guterres, by his designation as an intermediate income country – which means that he does not have access to the types of concessional funding, such as subsidies, low interest loans and debt relief, which are available for low -income nations.
This, he said, is “an injustice that must be corrected”.
According to the secretary general, part of the question is the obsolete nature of international financial architecture (a recurring theme during his mandate). The institutions created over 75 years ago must be reformed “so that developing countries like Papua New Guinea have a much stronger voice and much stronger influence in the way decisions are taken,” he said, “and much higher access to resources that are essential for the development of the country”.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
