Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. Iakwe.

First of all let me warmly welcome you to our capital Majuro. It is a deep honor for us to host this workshop on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States. As most of you will know, Marshall Islands was one of the founding Members of the Alliance, and I am therefore particularly pleased to see so many of the Small Island Developing States represented here today.

I am also grateful to see the interest which the industrialized countries have taken in this workshop, and you are also most welcome. Let me in particular thank Canada, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United States and the United Nations Trust Fund on New and Renewable Sources of Energy for their very generous support for the hosting of this workshop. I wish to give a very special welcome to our friends from other developing countries and the experts from the United Nations Development Program, United Nations Environment Program, United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, Small Island Developing States Network, South Pacific Regional Environment Program, South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commissions, South Pacific Forum Secretariat, and the non-governmental organizations Earth Negotiations Bulletin, the Center for Clean Air Policy and PVI International.

Let me also thank the National Organizing Committee for their hard work in making the arrangements ready for us.

For some of you this is perhaps your first visit to an atoll country such as ours. By now you will be getting a better understanding of our vulnerability to climate change and sea level rise, and why my Government has been taking an active role in the negotiations on this issue. To my mind the situation is very clear. Although economic growth and high standards of living are being enjoyed by some, others are having their livelihoods and dignity endangered. If no action is taken at an early stage, then we will all soon see the results in the destruction of many Small Island Developing States and low lying coastal areas. It may seem to be a simple question, but we have found that there are no easy answers. This Clean Development Mechanism may have great potential, but it must be devised in such a way that it will function effectively. The way forward is for all to cooperate fully and constructively.

I would be very happy to see this workshop come out with a clear statement in which such cooperation can be directed for all of us, so that we can act firmly and decisively on the question of climate change. Part of this action must be to ensure that the Clean Development Mechanism becomes a credible tool for the fight against climate change. We set out to save the planet from destructive and irreversible climate change. Let us take that as our focus. Let us not be side tracked by discussions on how costly the necessary measures will be. But let it be said, that if we are to talk about costs, can we really afford the loss of land and cultures, can we really afford to make this planet uninhabitable?

The climatic changes of this century have greatly influenced the global environment. Here in the Marshall Islands we have witnessed our seashores being eroded day by day, reducing our very limited land area.

The rising sea level has washed away some of our burial grounds, a very sad situation for our people, and also an environmental concern. Situations like this could be avoided in the near future and beyond if only we, as the global community, could manage our resources and our environment in a prudent manner.

A few miles from here there stands a memorial to the victims of the typhoon of 1918. This was regarded as a hundred year storm, which we are to a large extent spared here in the Marshall Islands. In our history these islands are the gift from God, the safe haven away from the storms of other areas. We have been safe here for almost two thousand years. That storm was repeated many times in the 1980’s and 1990’s to varying degrees. There have been many other extreme weather events like storm surges. We can not remain silent against the danger of climate change, and we rely to a great extent on the Alliance of Small Island States to help us. We also count on the cooperation of our friends in the industrialized countries to take the necessary actions as required by the principles of the Climate Change Convention. It is for these reasons that I hope for a successful outcome to your deliberations as the first steps in a new process towards clean development and climate protection.

I wish you all success in your discussions, and I hope that our Pacific Way and Island Hospitality will assist in bringing us a good result from this workshop. In closing, The First Lady and I would be grateful to all of you if you could please join us for dinner tonight after the meeting.