If elected in the United Nations Security Council, Malta will continue to strive to ensure that three-quarters of the ocean which do not fall under any state will be considered as a common heritage of humanity, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Evarist Bartolo told a virtual meeting on climate change, peace and security as part of the COP26 activities in Glasgow. Malta aspires to serve on the Security Council between 2023 and 2024.
Minister Evarist Bartolo said that Malta has been considering the planet as our common home for 54 years, since the time of Ambassador Arvid Pardo and his proposal that wealth at sea be considered a common heritage of humanity.
“Since 1988, we have all worked together to take care of climate change because it affects all human beings. In 2015, we worked to reach an agreement and gain support for the Paris Pact on Climate Change.”
Minister Bartolo said that Malta will continue its commitment in favour of the least polluting and most affected islands.
“We are working for Africa as, if the climate gets warmer, it will lose 15% of its national wealth and another 100 million will face hunger. Many migrants seek a better life and become victims of human trafficking and pose challenges to other countries.”
Minister Bartolo said that two trillion dollars are spent on armaments every year, but we still cannot find 100 billion dollars (5%) to prevent the temperature from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. He said that climate change, peace and security must be linked to economic and social development to improve people’s lives.
“We have to help people and countries make changes in consumption and production or we will fail, because people have the right to a decent living. If they do not achieve this, there will be neither peace nor stability, and they will oppose measures to curb climate change because it will create new hardships for them.”
The meeting was one of the activities of COP26 in Glasgow and was chaired by the Munich Security Conference. Among those who took part were NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British Defence Minister Ben Wallace, Raychelle Omamo, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Kenya, and Miguel Berger, the German Secretary of State. It was moderated by Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger of the Munich Security Conference.
Photo: MFEA
