Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis on Tuesday referred to a need for a “new vision of global solidarity and inter-generational sustainability”, in his address at the UN Security Council on the issue of “Threats to International Peace and Security”.
“In the contemporary world, there is not a single challenge that does not interact with others. Climate crisis threatens food security, and they jointly threaten stability and social cohesion.,” he noted, while ticking off a handful of climate crisis challenges and concerns.
“Temperature increase has caused serious environmental damage. The Mediterranean basin has become in the last years the hotspot of the climate crisis, with extensive wildfires and catastrophic floods. Further, the rise of the sea level, endangers the quantity and quality of fisheries and fish stocks and in turn peoples’ health and livelihood.”
He also reminded that Greece will take the initiative prioritize the nexus between climate, peace and security in tabling its candidacy as a non-permanent member of the UΝ Security Council for 2025-26.
“What we need is a different mindset when it comes to environmental protection and food security. Such a cross-cutting policy is WHO’s OneHealth project, an integrated, unifying approach to balance and optimize holistically the health of people, animals and the environment. We need this type of new vision of global solidarity and intergenerational sustainability,” he said, adding:
“Through ethical and rule-based global governance and fair burden sharing among states. This is why we call for a universal alliance for sustainability. And we endorse the proposal for the appointment of a UN special envoy for a sustainable future. We owe it to the future generations from whom we have admittedly detached a significant portion of their natural dividends. After all, we must not forget: We are not owners, but merely caretakers on earth.”
He also mentioned Greece’s role in the upcoming Our Ocean conference, to be hosted in Athens on the 16th and 17th of April this year, and the country’s commitment to mitigating global warming, advancing sustainable tourism and green shipping and reducing microplastics pollution.
Greece was invited to participate in the discussions of the United Nations by the Permanent Mission of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
His address on Tuesday came after a previous day’s meeting in Washington with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on the occasion of the 5th Greece-US Strategic Dialogue.
Athens has also officially kicked off efforts to promote the country’s candidacy as non-permanent member to the UNSC for 2025-2026.
Earlier, Gerapetritis attended the New Year’s cake-cutting event at Greece’s permanent mission to the United Nations.
