Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Allow me to join previous speakers in extending my delegation’s appreciation to the people and Government of Poland for the warm welcome and hospitality extend ed to us since our arrival.

We bring greetings from the people of Federated States of Micronesia. Our islands are at the forefront of global warming impacts, such as sea-level rise and intensifying storms. Micronesia lies in the path of most, if not all typhoons, in the western Pacific. This very month our people witnessed the strength of a tropical storm that washed over our westernmost islands, leaving behind the destruction of food crops and water supplies, before moving on to leave a trail of unprecedented destruction in Palau and most especially in the Philippines. We thank parties for their expressions of solidarity. We continue to pray for all those who lost their lives and their families.

Mr. President,

We associate ourselves with the statement by Nauru on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Mr. President,

As we focus our attention on the post 2015 development agenda, Climate change is, without question, the gravest threat to my people’s welfare, livelihoods, and general security. It is the existential issue of our time. All of us, developed and developing countries, have a responsibility to minimize the further destruction that lies ahead. We continue to place our hope in the multilateral system. We welcome the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Change Summit next year to focus urgency and build political momentum towards Paris. We believe that only the international community, as a whole, working together, can be effective in achieving this goal.

First, developed countries must take leadership in Financing and enhancing ambition. All major donor parties must make and honor their financial pledges and commitments. We are doing our part to achieve climate resilience, but we can not do it alone. Means of implementation is crucial, in financing and in the form of appropriate technology development and transfer and supplementary capacity-building to assist us mitigate and adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Second, all countries must contribute to maximizing the benefits achievable during the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Micronesia has ratified the Doha Amendments to the Kyoto Protocol and will soon be submitting its instrument of ratification.

Third, I would reiterate my hopes that the world will address the dangerous growth of HFCs by phasing down those chemicals under the Montreal Protocol. We are encouraged by the significant progress that has been made since my country first proposed phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol in 2009, including the support of world leaders for an HFC phase down in the outcome document of the Rio+20 summit last year, and the support for utilizing the Montreal Protocol to undertake such a phase down in recent high-level political agreements this year. Now is the time for action. Achieving a phase down of the HFCs under the Protocol in 2014 will not only prevent temperature rise of up to one half of one degree Celsius during this century, but will also build a momentum for the broader action needed to address climate change, including at COP21 in Paris.

Fourth, Mr. President, as we sit in this plenary, negotiations continue over the issue of Loss and Damage. What we know is that the existing financial mechanisms and institutions cannot address the issue of Loss and Damage. This is an issue of fundamental importance to my country as our vulnerable communities and economy struggle with more frequent and extreme weather events; slow onset that generates ocean acidification and threaten our tourism and fishery sectors; and sea-level rise that threaten our territorial integrity, our culture and identity as a people.

Mr. President, we hope to take away from Warsaw, the establishment of an international mechanism under the COP to address loss and damage. The international mechanism should have an Executive Board with Technical and Financial Facilities. There has to be new, additional, predictable and sustainable funding. It should be structured so that it fulfills the key needs of SIDS and other developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Finally, Mr. President, all countries must act in good faith to prepare a robust post-2020 climate outcome. And there is perhaps no better way to build confidence in such an outcome than to establish strong commitments in all key areas during pre-2020 period. We look forward to broad collaboration in this regard.

Thank you very much.