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“The question of recycling plastics is big, as well, on the agenda, if you know what is happening to our oceans with plastics. If we do nothing or if we continue on the present trajectory, by 2050, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. So, consider going to the market and buying a five pound plastic rather than buying a five pound King Fish (The Scomberomorus cavalla – King Mackerel, also known as Surmayi is a popular and premium delicacy in Trinidad and Tobago, and other Caribbean islands).
Ambassador Francis has had a career in diplomacy for his native Trinidad and Tobago for some 40 years. He assumed the position of President of the General Assembly in September 2023, and is due to demit office in September 2024. The United Nations General Assembly (the main policy-making body of the UN, where all 193 members are represented) elects a president annually, to chair and preside over the Assembly. His Excellency Dennis Francis, continues in term as President of the General Assembly until September 2024, when the current session of the General Assembly ends.
General Assembly President Francis met with a cross section of UN staff in Trinidad and Tobago and reminded them that their mission is vital to the impact of the United Nations, “…as much as we who sit in the house in New York tend to believe that we are at the seat of the UN, the more astute among us know, very well, that the UN’s existence really is in the field. Close to the people that the UN is intended to serve.”
As he has been known to do over the year of his service to the General Assembly, and the people of the world, President Francis touched on a range of issues, from the war in Gaza, to the lack of progress on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), energy, the climate crisis and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
On the rush to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, a task on which the countries of the world are desperately behind, he said: “My own take on this, is that the UN had given a commitment in 2015. The United Nations has an obligation. It's a matter of honour to complete the commitment that you gave. So, we are working on that and using the Summit of the Future to get Heads of State and Government to recommit to completing the SDGs and not just recommit by rhetoric, but recommit, in terms of action, deliberate state action… 980 million people suffering from a hunger and poverty in 2024 is not acceptable. It just is not acceptable when we have the means and the opportunity to do something about it. Particularly when you consider that one, man, a single man can buy one company for 41 billion dollars.”
This year, the world crossed the critical milestone of the mid-point in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To mark the occasion and to reinvigorate the push for sustainability, President Francis championed a UN General Assembly Sustainability Week. He cites it as one of the high points in his tenure. It included high-level discussions on Tourism, Transportation and Global Stocktaking on Energy.
Pointing to the blue 1.5°C pin fastened to his jacket’s lapel, he stressed the importance of the temperature increase limit for small islands.
“I wear this every day, it’s a very important message, because there is a lot of pushback on this 1.5. There are people who are talking 2 and 2.5. That will devastate the Caribbean, and the Pacific and the Indian ocean SIDS.” “One point five to stay alive!” is a slogan coined and used widely in islands, activist, youth, climate and diplomacy circles to stress the importance and existential danger of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees. February 2023 - January 2024 was the first 12-month period to exceed the average 1.5°C increase.
Speaking seriously to the UN staff keen on his word, he continued, “So politically, this is a crucial and very important message. Otherwise, we’ll all have to develop gills and fins in 20 or 30 years. So, you have to wear it!”
Passionate about sustainable development, especially for SIDS, he said the global concern of energy, and tapering the usage of fossil fuels towards net zero is moving in the opposite direction as coal plants have begun to reappear in Europe. He is concerned that some developed country governments have been reversing their commitments to climate action, “… it certainly imperils, those of us who are already highly vulnerable to climate change like Small Island Developing States and low-lying areas. Infrastructure... you can't develop an economy without having an enabling infrastructure. Transportation, same thing. And of course, global debt. Which is a drag, as you know from your work in the regional commission. It's a real drug on development.”
Director of ECLAC Caribbean Diane Quarless and UN Resident Coordinator ad interim chaired the meeting with United Nations staff from Trinidad and Tobago and other parts of the Caribbean. She said President Francis has shown his quality as a diplomat for many decades, as a highly skilled and deft negotiator. She said in the last year, his dynamic and purposeful presidency of the General Assembly has made every Caribbean citizen proud. She pointed out two standout highlights of his tenure.
“I remember, Ambassador, being rivetted by your words at the opening of Special Session on the Escalation of the Violence in Gaza, when you spoke sternly of violence breeding violence, despair, destruction and the dehumanization of people. Of disillusionment of those who look to the UN as the guarantor of good. Of each life lost a stain on our moral conscience. It was your efforts to seek resolution in intractable circumstances such as that in Gaza, that attracted the attention of the Vatican and secured an invitation, most recently, for you to dialogue with Pope Francis.” He notes that his position on Gaza has been a tenet of his presidency.
“It is fundamentally your love of home and of all things Caribbean that inspired your initiative to have the Steelpan, the only instrument created in the twentieth century, recognized and enshrined in the house of the United Nations. As you enter the final month of your tenure as President of the General Assembly, 78th session, it is our distinct privilege to have this opportunity to engage with you directly and to hail you as a distinguished son of the Caribbean. We are proud to be giving service to your country even as you have given unstinting service to the world.”
