itispertinentthatinternationalcooperationaddressesthesocioeconomicimpactofCOVID-19andfocusedonthemostdisadvantagedandvulnerablepeopleandcountries,especiallytheLeastDevelopingCountries(LDCs),SmallIslandsDevelopingStates(SIDS),LandlockedDevelopingStates(LLDCs)andcountriesinconflictandthoseemergingfromconflict,inordertoalleviatetheirstructuralchallengesthatarefurtherexacerbatedbythepandemic

Our acute susceptibility to climate change stems from our inherently complex structural vulnerabilities as Small Island Developing States that trap us in a mire of compounding risks; sentencing us to a cyclical struggle of recovery, rebuilding and redevelopment.

IappealtotheInternationalcommunitytoremainfocusedonworkinginpartnershipwith SIDS like Saint Lucia.

The UN Security Council will needto adapt to today’s realities and support an expanded Council with a SIDS-dedicated seat. It has been sixteen years since world leaders called for early reform of the Council, we hope negotiations could shift into text-basednegotiations at this session.

As a Small Islands Developing State,Solomon Islands continues to battle with the incremental effects of climate change and its negative impacts that threaten the livelihoods, security,and wellbeingof our people.

A less negative outcomeof the pandemic has been its effect in turbo-chargingthe digitization of our workplacesand societies. But not all countries –particularly Small Island Developing States -have the infrastructure, capacity and workforce skills to fully benefit from thisrevolution

Sustainable Development Goals 13, 14 and 15 are of particular significance as they require us, among other things, to improve education and awarenessof-as well as human and institutional capacity on-climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

Climate change and climate-related eventscontinue to threaten the existence of Small Island Development Statessuch as ours.

Belize, like other SIDS, is on the frontline of a climate crisis for which we are not responsible. Belize incurs annual losses of close to 4 percent of GDP due to natural disasters. Therefore, we felt an obligation to put forward an ambitious revised Nationally Determined Contribution.

I wish to propose 4 areas for the reform and strengthening of the multilateral system:We call for a genuine commitment to address the systemic issueswhich undermine the achievement of our agreed development goals. The continued in-eli-gi-bility of SIDS from accessing concessional finance, leaves us in a vicious cycle of disaster or crisis recovery-borrowing leading to unsustainable levels of debt

The Common Framework and Debt Service Suspension Initiative failed to offer forbearance to most middle-income SIDS, including Belize, who were ineligible despite our debt unsustainability. At the same time, most of our countries had no recourse to concessionary financing to fund the immediate health response.

For a small island andlow-lying coastal State like Belize, which three days ago celebrated forty years of political Independence, the world today is hostile and precarious. No one can deny that the planet is getting hotter.

In their effortstocombat these changes,SIDShave been unableto access climate finance at the pace and scale necessary.

Jamaica maintains itscall for a revision of the graduation criteria, as the classification system utilized by international financial institutions is simply not appropriate. We concur with the UNSecretary Generalin his assessment, that graduation must be a reward, not a punishment.

We reiterate today, that consideration of our developmental level must be linked to our socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities. This rationale underpins the basis for a multi-dimensional vulnerability index for SIDSand for the ongoing work by the UN on this matter,as endorsed by the General Assemblylast year.

At the core of building resilience is restoringthe health and well-beingof our people. The pandemic has exacerbated challenges in this area,especiallyfor Small Island Developing States,like Jamaica,which already facelimited resources in the health sector.

Furthermore, SIDS continue to be disproportionatelyaffected by what can be best termed as environmental injustice as a result of climate change. We are the least responsible for it, yet we pay the heaviest tribute

Lack of effective and appropriate global support for SIDS will have systemic consequences on our progress on practically all Sustainable Development Goals

It is imperative that we work together to build consensus and cohesion in respect of the plight of those facing threats of an existential nature, most notably SIDS.Our vulnerabilities are well known and they need not be expounded on here. What needs to bestressed, however, is that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to debt relief and concessionary financial flows is

FoodSecurityisindeedasharedpriorityacrossallSIDS,andremainsapriorityundertheSAMOAPathway,aswellastheKiribatiVisionfor20YearsPlan

mplementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGshas suffered a considerable setback. Least Developed countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States –some 91 countries in total –are disproportionately affected by the pandemic given their limited means to respond to shocks and vulnerability to a debt crisis

he problem of climate change is an irrefutable reality. While it is felt more frequently and with greater impact in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which include Guinea-Bissau, itisa permanent challenge for all nations. Therefore, our country has developed Climate Change Adaptation plans for the medium and long term and extended our national land and marine protected area system to cover more than 26% of our national territory.

The Dominican Republic, as a Small Island Developing State, is one of the countries that emits the least greenhouse gases but is most affected by climate change.Now is the time to promote a global transformation of the economy in line with the levels of development so that the required standards do not impose excessive burdens that result in additional costs detrimental to competitiveness and the production of our goods and services