Mr. President,

Let me begin by thanking you and the Government and People of Denmark for so ably managing a very complex process here in this beautiful city of Copenhagen.

We must also place on record our gratitude for the kind hospitalities received and, Mr. President, we extend to you our best wishes for a successful COP Presidency.

As we are nearing the end of our deliberations here in Copenhagen many of us are disappointed that we have not made greater progress.

The job is not yet done.

The Bali Action Plan mandate has not been completed.

We have not yet arrived at ambitious legally binding outcomes.

But we have made some progress so far and I am assured that we will continue to do so during the remaining hours in this meeting.

I will not repeat the many arguments made by AOSIS on the moral imperative of saving this planet.

I will not repeat the many arguments for strong, ambitious and legally binding outcomes on the two-track process outlined in the Bali Action Plan.

Mr. President, we believe that the case for urgent and decisive actions on the global level to adequately deal with this global challenge was well articulated.

We believe that the case was made for a global deal on all elements of the Bali Action Plan to ensure the viability and survival of the most vulnerable among us – the Small Island States.

The response so far can best be described as inadequate but we remain hopeful to the end of this meeting and for the post Copenhagen period during your presidency.

The post Copenhagen period must be characterized by enhanced implementation of decisions already made while we seek to demonstrate greater political will and commitment to save this planet.

More efforts must be made “on getting the job done than getting the talk done”. We must spend less time in the negotiating rooms and more time in the engine rooms.

We must act to save the planet by acting decisively on agreed commitments. We must also seek to extend on those commitments.

While respecting the security and sovereignty of nations,

While respecting and promoting the primacy of the UNFCCC process,

And while acknowledging the need for development and the eradication of poverty in the developing world as the primary objective,

We must implement a long term emissions reduction goal commensurate with the state of our planet.

Development and strong mitigation efforts including the promotion of the green economy are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are complementary and can be facilitated by effective deployment of appropriate technologies in the developing world.

Enhanced and facilitated access to appropriate levels of finance for mitigation and adaptation must be a hallmark of the post Copenhagen period.

We MUST act collectively and collaboratively to design and implement an equitable global governance infrastructure for monitoring the actions taken by all Parties to secure this planet.

It is no secret that every country has committed to actions. We have heard the statements by many Heads of States’ and Government over the last two days and were encouraged by many of them.

Actions must be in accordance with the many principles outlined in our Convention and its Protocol. There is no need for more negotiation of those principles. Much effort on this has been expended since 1992.

The integrity of the Convention must be preserved.

In the post Copenhagen period we must strengthen the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol and any attempt to do otherwise must be vigorously resisted.

The popular refrain ‘time is of the essence’ has never been more appropriate.

We must act now fully, decisively to implement the commitments to save our planet.

Thank you.