Imagine if we no longer needed the 16 Days of Activism to draw attention to gender-based violence - one of the most widespread human rights violations around the world. Imagine if, in 2030, the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and its Goal 5 target on the elimination of violence against women and girls (VAWG), we could commemorate an end to the 16 Days Campaign. Imagine the 25th of November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls) becoming a day to celebrate the milestones achieved to make homes, streets and all spaces safe for all women and girls - regardless of their age, their location, their abilities, sexual orientation or gender identities. Imagine if activism countering discrimination against women and gender inequality (the root causes of VAWG) would be the norm, with visible action and investment 365 days a year. Imagine if the struggle for women and girls to enjoy their right to live free of violence became part of history, in the same way that Timor-Leste’s struggle for independence has now become a memory of times in the past.

I left DFID in October 2013, to work as the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) and UNDP Resident Representative (RR) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). I moved to the same role in Timor L’Este in 2018 .

THE DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL 

Remarks at the Green Climate Fund Private Investment for Climate Conference 

14 October 2020 

[As prepared for Delivery] 

Excellencies, Colleagues, Friends, 

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended lives and economies around the globe. 

The consequences for low- and middle-income countries, in particular, have been devastating. 

And for many communities around the world, the growing impacts of climate change have compounded their hardship.  

We are entering a new era of climate disruption.  

Yet, this moment also presents us with a unique opportunity to chart a new path. 

The choices we make today will determine the course of the next 30 years. 

The recovery from the pandemic must be an opportunity to create jobs, close the gender gap and reduce inequalities. 

It must also put us on track to meet our climate targets. 

Emissions need to fall sharply and permanently, by about 8 per cent every year over the next decade. 

We must achieve net-zero emissions globally by 2050 to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C degrees.  

We need all hands-on deck now.  

I see four priorities. 

First, we must prioritize investments that contribute to a low-carbon, climate-resilient recovery.  

These investments are good business: 

Per kilowatt hour, solar is now cheaper than coal in most countries.   

This is driving costs down for end users. 

Investments in renewable energy generate three times more jobs than those in fossil fuels.  

Fossil fuels are increasingly risky business and they have fewer takers from investors around the world. 

The International Finance Corporation estimates a cumulative climate investment opportunity of USD $29.4 trillion across six urban sectors in emerging markets.  

These include green buildings, low-carbon public transport and electric vehicles, climate-smart water and wastewater management and infrastructure.  

Second, Governments need to set a long-term vision by aligning their COVID recovery plans with their national climate commitments.  

Nationally Determined Contributions and Long-Term Climate Strategies should inform COVID recovery policy choices so that they are consistent with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.  

This will provide the private sector, and particularly those with long-term investment horizons, with frameworks to guide investment decisions today.  

At this year’s UN General Assembly we heard from President Xi Jinping that China aims to become carbon-neutral before 2060 and to peak CO2 emissions before 2030.  

The European Union also committed to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and is expected to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030.  

These announcements coming from major market-movers send a clear message.  

The transition from the “high carbon” global economy is coming, and it is coming fast. 

Third, to all financial actors, public and private: to meet the challenges ahead, we need you to fully embed climate risks and opportunities in your decision-making and align your portfolios with the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.  

As the UN SG Special Envoy Mark Carney has put it, “decarbonization is the greatest commercial opportunity of our time”.  

The early movers will reap the greatest benefits. 

Fourth, finance for adaptation and resilience will be essential to protect people and productive assets.  

I am encouraged by examples in the portfolio of the Green Climate Fund of investments that provide concessional finance to support Small and Medium Enterprises with access to credit for financing adaptation measures, particularly in the agriculture sector.  

But we need to significantly scale up adaptation finance.  

Development finance institutions also need to make much greater efforts to simplify and improve access to climate funds, especially for Small Island Developing States and the Least Developed Countries. 

In conclusion, let me say that the important work of the Green Climate Fund is required more than ever as we accelerate the decarbonization of the global economy and strengthen resilience and adaptation across the developing world.   

Let us continue to work together for a low-carbon, resilient future that leaves no one behind.  

Thank you.  

The Deputy-Secretary-General
--
Video Message at 2020 G20 Interfaith Forum

Riyadh, 13 October 2020

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As salam alaikum. Peace be upon you.

I am pleased to take part in this G20 Interfaith Forum which brings together such an impressive array of religious and faith-based leaders.

I thank the organizers: the G20 Interfaith Forum Association, the National Committee for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the International Dialogue Center, and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.

I recognize all of your important efforts through the years to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — and welcome your focus on social cohesion, equity and sustainability.

This is particularly timely.

The COVID-19 pandemic is testing us all.

Our social fabric is being stretched as the threads begin to fray in every corner of the globe.

Inequalities are growing. Divisions are widening. Livelihoods are being lost in the millions. Climate change is not on pause.

And we see ever-rising assaults on cultural diversity, religious pluralism and human rights around the world; and the resurgence of anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, hate speech, racism, xenophobia, and other forms of discrimination.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development charts a way for a response and recovery that can overcome these challenges.

It is a blueprint for people and planet. It provides a framing for a health response and tackles the socio-economic impact.

But realizing the 2030 Agenda and ensuring a global response to Covid19 takes commitment and courage.

It takes understanding that in order to solve big challenges, we need to come together. There is strength in diversity and we need solidarity now.

All of you represent that understanding — and the values that are so deeply rooted in all faiths

Values such as inclusion. Social justice. Leaving no one behind.

From my own faith of Islam, I draw strength from a Hadith by the Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) that speaks to our times.

The Hadith includes a reflection of seeing believers “showing love among themselves and being kind, resembling one body, so that, if any part of the body is not well then the whole body shares the sleeplessness and fever with it.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated our inter-connections and also our fragilities.

Our world is like one body. As long as one part is affected by this virus, we all are affected.

Thank you for coming together to heal.

And I also thank religious leaders for supporting the appeal of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for a global ceasefire.

Today’s event provides an excellent platform to advance all those efforts to repair and rebuild our world.

I encourage you to utilize this Forum to leverage your strength in diversity.

You have joined together from many faiths to reaffirm our shared faith in humanity.

In shaping hearts and minds, you are also shaping the better world we need.

A world that is more inclusive, resilient and sustainable for all.

I wish you all the very best.

The United Nations stands with you,

Thank you.

“I am delighted by the announcement of the Nobel Committee for awarding 2020 Peace Prize to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). 

On behalf of the UN Timor-Leste Country Team, I am pleased to extend our deepest congratulations to the brave women and men of the World Food Programme in Timor-Leste and across the world who continued providing food assistance to the most vulnerable people in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic. It is indeed a well-deserved global accomplishment of the UN agency which serves as a lifeline for millions of people, including children impacted by conflicts and disasters. 

My heartfelt felicitations to the WFP Timor-Leste Country Director Mr Dageng Liu as well as the entire team for winning the highest international recognition for their matchless contributions! In addition to providing food aid to the people in more than 90 countries, including Timor-Leste, WFP is one of the key partners in the fight against COVID-19, transporting humanitarian staff and supplies. 

Such solidarity is precisely needed now to address not only the pandemic but other global tests of our time. We know that threats such as climate change and gender-based violence will make the COVID crisis even worse. 

I warmly congratulate WFP global and regional leaders including Mr David Beasley, WFP Executive Director, and the international staff of the World Food Programme for spearheading the values of the United Nations every day and serving the cause as the United Nations marks its 75th anniversary this year.”

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
--
REMARKS TO  
UNITED NATIONS BIODIVERSITY SUMMIT
30 September 2020
 
[as delivered]

Humanity is waging war on nature.  
 
We need to rebuild our relationship with it.
 
More than 60 per cent of the world’s coral reefs are endangered due to overfishing, destructive practices and climate change.
 
Wildlife populations are plummeting because of overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture.
 
And the rate of species extinction is accelerating, with some one million species currently threatened or endangered, as the President just said. 
 
Deforestation, climate change and the conversion of wilderness for human food production are destroying Earth’s web of life.
 
We are part of that fragile web -- and we need it to be healthy so we and future generations may thrive.
 
One consequence of our imbalance with nature is the emergence of deadly diseases such as HIV-AIDS, Ebola, and now COVID-19, against which we have little or no defence.
 
Sixty per cent of all known diseases and 75 per cent of new infectious diseases are zoonotic, passing from animals to humans, demonstrating the intimate interconnection between the health of our planet and our own.
 
Biodiversity and ecosystems are essential for human progress and prosperity.
 
They are central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change.  
 
Yet, despite repeated commitments, our efforts have not been sufficient to meet any of the global biodiversity targets set for 2020.  
 
Much greater ambition is needed – not just from governments, but from all actors in society.  
 
Let me be clear: degradation of nature is not purely an environmental issue.
 
It spans economics, health, social justice and human rights.
 
Neglecting our precious resources can exacerbate geopolitical tensions and conflicts.
 
Yet, too often environmental health is overlooked or downplayed by other government sectors.
 
This Summit is our opportunity to show the world that there is another way.
 
We have to change course and transform our relationship with the natural world.
 
By living in harmony with nature, we can avert the worst impacts of climate change and recharge biodiversity for the benefit of people and the planet.  
 
I see three priorities for conserving and sustainably managing biodiversity:
 
First, nature-based solutions must be embedded in COVID-19 recovery and wider development plans.
 
Preserving the world’s biodiversity can yield the jobs and economic growth that we urgently need today.
 
The World Economic Forum signals that emerging business opportunities across nature could create 191 million jobs by 2030.  
 
Africa’s Great Green Wall alone has created 335,000 jobs.
 
Nature-based solutions are also vital tools in our fight to solve the climate crisis.
 
Forests, oceans and intact ecosystems are effective carbon sinks.
 
Healthy wetlands mitigate flooding.
 
We have natural solutions at our fingertips to protect us from natural disasters, job loss and economic fallout.  
 
Let’s use them.
 
Second, our economic systems and financial markets must account for and invest in nature.
 
Nature’s resources still do not figure in countries’ calculations of wealth.
 
The current system is weighted towards destruction, not preservation.
 
The OECD estimates the annual global funding needed for nature at between 300 and 400 billion dollars – much less than current levels of harmful subsidies for agriculture, mining and other destructive industries.
 
Investing in nature will protect biodiversity and improve climate action, human health, and food security.
 
Governments need to include biodiversity as a criterion in financial decision-making.
 
The new Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures will help financial institutions to shift finance from destructive activities and toward nature-based solutions. 
 
Third, we must secure the most ambitious policies and targets that protect biodiversity and leave no one behind.  
 
The Convention on Biological Diversity estimates that services from ecosystems make up between 50 and 90 per cent of the livelihoods of poor rural and forest-dwelling households.  
 
Nature offers business opportunities to poor communities, from sustainable farming to eco-tourism or subsistence fishing.
 
All of them depend on conserving biodiversity and using it sustainably.
 
Most indigenous peoples, in particular, depend on healthy ecosystems that can provide the economic and financial services they need to preserve their cultures and livelihoods.  
 
I count on you during this Summit to send strong signals of leadership to bend the curve on biodiversity loss.
 
I welcome the Leader’s Pledge for Nature and coalitions such as the Campaign for Nature launched at the Climate Action Summit last year.  
 
These coalitions of leaders send a strong signal to raise political ambition in the run-up to COP15 of the Convention of Biological Diversity.  
 
This includes committing to addressing the causes of biodiversity loss.
 
I urge all leaders to join these efforts.
 
We need to secure an ambitious Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework.  
 
One that will help us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
 
One that sets out concrete and measurable targets and includes means of implementation, particularly finance and monitoring mechanisms.
 
One that mobilizes a full and effective partnership across state and societies, with businesses, youth, women, indigenous people and local communities.
 
Ten years ago, we secured commitments that should have protected our planet.
 
We have largely failed.
 
But, where effort has been made, the benefits to our economies, human and planetary health are irrefutable.
 
Nature is resilient and it can recover if we ease our relentless assault.  
 
In the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, this Summit presents a unique opportunity for you all to make the decisions that will shape our shared future.  
 
We need a healthy planet for our societies to thrive and our economies to rebuild.
 
The world is counting on you, and I thank you.

September 24, 2020

Press Release

Congratulatory message from H.E.  The Prime Minister of Republic Democratic of Timor-Leste, Taur Matan Ruak on the 75th anniversary of the UN

This year the United Nations is celebrating the 75th Anniversary of its existence, an umbrella organization with a global purpose and vocation.

On its anniversary day, I would like to express my sincere congratulations to H.E. The President of the General Assembly, Mr. Volkan Bozkir, and H.E. the Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres.

We feel sad that in this festive year, the General Assembly is forced to meet under a virtual context imposed by the COVID-19.

We take the opportunity to express our gratitude for the notes made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations encouraging the reinforcement of collective efforts as the only way to overcome the world pandemic.

Fortunately, Timor-Leste with the grace of God has been able to avoid the spreading of COVID-19 and its related casualties.

The Government is now working with commitment and effort towards the mitigation of the negative impacts caused by this disease, therefore preparing a program with a package of economic recovery.

Happy birthday to the Organization of the United Nations! END

COVID-19 is a global pandemic requiring varying degrees of countermeasures to prevent the further spread of the virus. In response to the threat, the National Parliament of Timor-Leste authorized the President of the Republic to declare a State of Emergency (SoE). Government Decree No. 3/2020 lists the measures for implementation of the Declaration, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on 28 March 2020 with an end date of 26 June 2020. Accordingly, the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) imposed various actions such as domestic and international travel restrictions, closure of schools and physical distancing.^[1]

To date (26 August 2020), Timor-Leste has contained the spread of COVID-19 relatively well, recording 26 positive cases with no community transmission identified and no fatalities. Rapid containment measures undertaken by the GoTL and the country’s relative geographic isolation have contributed to maintaining this low level. However, the country’s dependence on agricultural production, high levels of persistent multidimensional poverty, unemployment and chronic malnutrition, lack of basic infrastructure, dependence on exports, and unequal access to essential services mean the ongoing socio-economic impact of the pandemic could be severe. According to the United Nations, the pandemic poses risks ‘by directly reversing the hard gains made by countries toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and impacting severely the existing infrastructure and services’.^[2]

To understand the extent of the impact on vulnerable groups, poor households, and Micro-, Small and Medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the United Nations system in Timor-Leste conducted the rapid Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA). This assessment observed changes in livelihoods, employment, food security, healthcare, education and other basic services, including social protection and gender equality. In addition, it monitored variations in supply, demand, income and employment for MSMEs as a result of the GoTL measures. Information about the major challenges faced by various government agencies, non-government organizations and their response were also collected. The assessment can be used for informing socio-economic response and recovery programmes in Timor-Leste.

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^[1] Government Decree No. 3/2020 of 28 March - Implementing Measures of the Declaration of the State of Emergency Made by the Decree of the President of the Republic no 29/2020, of March 27

^[2] United Nations. June 2020. Brief #2: Putting the UN Framework for Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19 Into Action: Insights, p.3

Joint Statement calling on all Governments to immediately recognize seafarers as key  workers, and to take swift and effective action to eliminate obstacles to crew changes,  so as to address the humanitarian crisis faced by the shipping sector, ensure  maritime safety and facilitate economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic 

10 September 2020 

The maritime shipping sector faces a humanitarian crisis 

The maritime shipping sector moves more than 80 per cent of global trade and is a crucial  component of the global economy. As a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic this sector, and in particular the seafarers who drive it, are facing severe challenges in making the necessary crew changes of seafarers. This is due, among other reasons, to restrictions on  travel, embarkation and disembarkation in ports; quarantine measures; reductions in available  flights; and limits on the issuing of visas and passports.