Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States

Ambassador Tommy Koh

Chairman of the AOSIS Inter-regional Meeting

Excellencies

Distinguished delegates

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am happy to be here again, to join you this afternoon at the close of the AOSIS inter-regional meeting held in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Improving the capacity of our human resources; reducing the vulnerability of our economies and environment; and enhancing the quality of life for our peoples are among the many issues that are close to our hearts. The Barbados Programme of Action represents our aspirations well and serves as a good platform through which we can realise our quest for sustainable development. The 22nd Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly laid out the unique characteristics and circumstances of Small Island Developing States. This has drawn greater international attention to the concerns and plight of Small Island Developing States.

For most of you, I understand it has been a long week of deliberations. I have been told that the candid exchanges of views and constructive debates have surfaced useful ideas and approaches to sustainable development. These, I understand, have been captured in the Singapore Declaration, which was adopted earlier in the day. I congratulate all delegates on this achievement. It is my fervent hope that the Singapore Declaration together with the Barbados Programme of Action would further strengthen our resolve in striving for a more sustainable future.

Being small island states, what each of us can do is limited. However, as an alliance of small islands developing states, our strength is in our numbers. Through our sharing of experiences and expertise, we will be able to leverage on our collective capacities, and together we will be better able to address our common environment and development challenges.

In addition, what we as Small Island Developing States lack in resources, we can make up for in resolve and still achieve sustainable development. The many achievements of Small Island Developing States in their pursuit of sustainable development bear testimony to what we can do if we set our minds to it. As Ambassador Koh has succinctly put it, smallness in size does not mean weakness, nor does limitation in natural endowment. It is the quality of the people and good governance that can bring us forward, and capacity building will be the vehicle that can bring us there.

Speaking from local experience, Singapore too shares many of Small Island Developing States’ common characteristics, such as being small in size, lacking in natural endowment, and being very vulnerable due to our reliance on imports for our basic needs. For example, our industries are energy intensive. But because Singapore does not have any alternative sources of energy such as hydro or geothermal energy, we rely entirely on fossil fuel for our energy needs. As our economy grows, so will our carbon dioxide emissions. To abate these increases, we are using more natural gas in our power generation.

Natural gas produces some 25 % less carbon dioxide than oil. In addition, we have also embarked on an energy efficiency campaign as a way of reducing our reliance on external sources and at the same time do our part for the environment. Some of the initiatives in the campaign are an ‘Energy Efficient Building Award’ to promote energy efficiency in the building sector and the establishment of energy standards for buildings.

I am happy that as AOSIS member states, we have achieved what we have set out to do in this inter-regional meeting. The document produced would be Small Island Developing States’ input to the WSSD process. With the Singapore Declaration, I hope that it would strengthen our resolve and emphasise to the international community of the continuing relevance of the Barbados Declaration and the Programme of Action to sustainable development efforts of Small Island Developing States.

This 5-day meeting has allowed us to come out with new ideas to overcome present constraints, set future priorities, and make commitments for future development. I am told that the meeting has produced a formal submission to the WSSD preparatory process. I wish to congratulate all delegates for this important achievement.

Working towards sustainable development is a challenge. We need to couple this commitment with a greater sense of responsibility for what we do. We must also recognise that only through the integration of ecology into our intricate web of social, economic and cultural relationships can we achieve sustainable development.

Singapore is indeed honoured to have the opportunity of doing our bit for the AOSIS. The meeting has brought us closer. Singapore looks forward to more such opportunities to work together with fellow members of the AOSIS, particularly in fostering collaborative programmes under our environment academy.

Thank you once again, colleagues, for your good work here this week, and I hope you have enjoyed your stay in Singapore. I wish you all a safe and smooth trip home.

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