Mr. Chairman,

As this is the first time that Micronesia is taking the floor this session, please allow me to congratulate you and your Bureau on your elections to your posts. Micronesia has full confidence in your abilities to lead this Committee and stands ready to assist you in the discharge of our work.

Mr. Chairman,

Micronesia is grateful to the International Law Commission for producing an instructive report of its sixty-eighth session. The Commission continues to tackle knotty and complex issues of international law with care and comprehensiveness. The fragmentation of international law is a serious concern for the international community, including developing countries like Micronesia that wish to utilize international law to advance national interests and meet obligations to the international community but which are challenged by the sprawling nature of international law. Micronesia encourages the Commission to keep the dangers of fragmentation at the forefront of its deliberations, so as to ensure the development of as uniform a body of international law as possible.

In this statement, Micronesia wishes to focus on the Commission’s consideration of the topic of the protection of the atmosphere, with particular emphasis on draft guideline 3 on the obligation of States to protect the atmosphere. In that connection, Micronesia welcomes Mr. Murase’s third report on the topic. Mr. Murase’s work on the topic has been detailed, careful, and far-reaching, allowing for rich discussions of various facets of the topic and uncovering links between the topic and other disciplines of international law. Micronesia is pleased that the Commission was able to hold an interactive dialogue with scientists on this topic. International law is meaningless if it is detached from the facts on the ground—or in the atmosphere, in this case. Micronesia strongly believes that the protection of the atmosphere remains the most pressing challenge