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Mr. President, I would like to thank the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his briefing and the Prime Ministers of Samoa and Jamaica as well as Minister of Finance of Seychelles for their insightful remarks. We welcome this important debate organized by the Permanent Mission of New Zealand. It presents a rare opportunity to discuss the specific challenges faced by the small island developing states in relation to international peace and security. My delegation aligns itself with the statement to be delivered by the European Union later today.

Mr. President,

The outcome document of the 3rd international SIDS conference last September– the Samoa Pathway – acknowledged the particular vulnerabilities of SIDS and called for coordinated action by the international community to address them in a coherent and comprehensive manner. Implementation is of vital importance for the SIDS, some of which are facing today, in their own words, an existential threat.

The concept paper you provided for this debate lists a number of challenges they face. Among them, climate change which  inter alia reduces access to and availability of vital resources such as food and fresh water, threatens the very subsistence of local populations, exacerbates migratory, health and humanitarian pressures, contributing to human insecurity and potentially, to new conflicts.

Land is literally disappearing from under the feet of some of the SIDS. In 2005, Vanuatu’s  Tegua residents were among the first to be formally relocated as a result of climate change, to be followed by relocation plans for the Carteret islanders of Papua New Guinea.

The Government of Kiribati was forced to buy land in another country, Fiji, to grow food and eventually, resettle its population. With the continuous rise of sea levels, states like Tuvalu, Maldives, Seychelles, Micronesia, Vanuatu, and others but also large parts of low lying countries like Bangladesh risk to go down under water.  The consequences of such developments would be very serious, with the inevitable impact on the wider regional and international security.

But as Samoa’s Prime Minister said during the Third International SIDS conference, “Sympathy and pity will not provide solace nor halt the devastating impacts of climate change.” The Security Council should recognize climate change induced tensions and its role as a threat multiplier to international peace and security and act in a preventive and proactive manner.

Resolute, coherent and consolidated action by the international community aimed at strengthening state and regional capacities to manage the effects of climate change, promoting resilience, sustainability, as well as resource and energy security at the global level has never been more important. In this context, there is a pressing need to reach a universal and ambitious climate change agreement in Paris this December. 

About 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water.  Oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth's water. Further ocean acidification, increased flooding and shoreline erosion, fish stock depletion, rising sea water temperatures would have inevitable security consequences for the entire humanity. Protecting the oceans and marine environment from further degradation is essential for not only for the SIDS, but for the international community as a whole.

One issue specifically  mentioned in the Samoa outcome document is the need to address the long-term effects of sea-dumped munitions and their impact on human health and marine environment. As the main sponsor of a GA resolution on sea-dumped chemical munitions, Lithuania fully shares the concerns of SIDs in this respect and looks forward to close cooperation on related issues.   

Mr. President,

Due to their size, remoteness and institutional capacity constraints, SIDS vulnerabilities are many and varied. Besides environmental threats, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime, maritime security and piracy, as well as the less immediate threats related to cyber-security and terrorism are huge for any one country to tackle, but especially for small, geographically isolated  developing island states. 

Since 2011, Lithuania has taken part in the international efforts against piracy off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean as part of the EU NAVFOR - Operation ATALANTA. We are pleased to note that such efforts have shown positive results, leading to a dramatic reduction of pirate attacks since 2013. We appreciate the efforts of Seychelles in this respect, which established a vigorous judicial system enabling quick prosecution and conviction of pirates and thus made a significant contribution to the common effort of tackling the threat of piracy.    

Mr. President,

Among the multiple challenges that SIDS face, the illicit trafficking, destabilizing accumulations and misuse of small arms and light weapons remains a major concern. In the smallest of states, even a few hundred weapons in the wrong hands have the potential to plunge countries into chaos.

In the Caribbean region, illegal smuggling of weapons is a key driver of violence, criminality, and the empowerment of criminal gangs, accounting for up to 70 per cent of murders. The loss of life, predominantly among the youth, hampers long term socio-economic development, with destabilizing effect.

While each situation is different, stockpile management, accountable security sector and rule of law are key to tackling armed violence. Comprehensive firearms legislation, including import, export and transit controls, is also essential. In 2011, CARICOM countries adopted a Declaration on small arms and light weapons as their regional framework to tackle the problem. Such regional cooperation initiatives are very important and can offer useful examples for others.   

The adoption and entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty represents a unique opportunity to make relevant legislation more rigorous and uniform across the regions. We welcome the fact that the majority of SIDS have either signed or ratified the ATT and have taken steps to develop model implementing legislation, such as the one prepared by the Small Arms Survey together with New Zealand Government to support the Pacific states.

While terrorism in not yet a major issue among the SIDS, one cannot lower guard. Porous marine borders can be easily exploited by criminal and terrorist groups, also in view of the evolving links between terrorism and transnational organized crime whose pernicious presence is already felt by many of the SIDS.

For countries which rely heavily on tourism as a source of revenue, rampant criminality or an attack against foreign tourists would cause a serious blow to local economies, with considerable destabilizing effects. Preventive efforts should be taken to ensure that relevant national legislations are compliant with the international norms and standards and that necessary capacities to deal with such deadly phenomena are put in place.

While some of the SIDS have invested considerably in building such capacities and fostering regional cooperatio n- CARICOM IMPACS and regional Intelligence Fusion Centre can be mentioned in this respect - assistance by relevant UN bodies, including on counter-terrorism, remains of critical importance given the limited resources and capabilities of these states.  

Mr. President,

In Samoa last year, Secretary General called SIDS a magnifying glass whose lenses reveal vulnerabilities that demand international response. In the processes affecting those states today, we may be seeing a harbinger of our own tomorrow. If we fail to act with all due urgency, the threats and vulnerabilities affecting small island developing states today may spread to affect much larger communities, threatening the international peace and security.

More often than not, in terms of prevention this Council tends to do too little too late. Acknowledging early and acting together on the security challenges to SIDS offers a rare opportunity to take  preventive action. That opportunity should not be missed.

I thank you.