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STORY: SAMOA / SIDS WRAP
TRT: 3:18
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICITONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 4 SEPTEMBER 2014, APIA, SAMOA
4 SEPTEMBER 2014, APIA, SAMOA
1. Establishing shots, Samoa Lalomanu beach, Apia, SIDS Conference Site
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Anote Tong, President of Kiribati:
“My government [met] migration with dignity, strategy is an investment in education of our people and the up scaling of our young population to equip them with education or qualifications and employable skills that would enable them to migrate with dignity to other countries as a matter of choice in the event of the worst case scenario.”
3. Wide shot, Conference Center
4. Various shots, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English), Kuresa Nasau, Ulu o Tokelau, New Zealand:
“You can only reach our shores by taking a 24-hour-boat journey from here –from Samoa -. Since 2012, solar raised its toll on its record of supply to 90 percent of electricity it needs. That makes Tokelau on of the world’s top nations in renewable source of electricity and the first one to run almost exclusively on solar generated power.”
6. Various shots, biogas fuelled shuttle buses at conference site
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Henry Puna, Prime Minister of Cooks Islands:
“The Pacific Way is an idea that can spend the oceans and ignite the spirit of togetherness even in the harshest adversities of storms and unrest. And we need the right pathway to bring our partners in the developed world to our doors.”
9. Various shots, choir singing theme song of Conference at Cultural Ceremony
"There is hope, there is hope, there is new hope in the air, and hopelessness is no longer and despair"
10. Various shots, fire dance at ceremony
11. Group singing "Fa'afetai Alleluja" (Fa'afetai = Thank you in Samoan)
12. Various shots, UNFCCC Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and group singing
13. Various shots, prayer for the ocean
14. Handing over of coconut
15. Throwing coconut into the ocean
Small Islands got global attention this week in Apia in Samoa, where representatives of 115 countries discussed the unique development challenges people on the islands are facing.
Speaking in the closing meeting, the President of Kiribati Anote Tong noted that his government supports a migration with dignity. He said “strategy is an investment in education of our people and the up scaling of our young population to equip them with education or qualifications and employable skills that would enable them to migrate with dignity to other countries as a matter of choice in the event of the worst case scenario.”
With durable partnerships as its theme, the Conference generated more than $ 1.9 billion in commitments for sustainable development.
The partnerships are in the areas of sustainable economic development, climate change and disaster risk management, social development, sustainable energy, ocean health, and water and sanitation, food security and waste management.
The conference not only showcased bio gas driven shuttle buses on its campus - 500 million US Dollars were pledged to assist small islands to increase their share of renewable energy. In return, small island states spread some positive energy to the rest of the globe.
Henry Puna, Prime Minister of Cooks Islands, said “the Pacific Way is an idea that can spend the oceans and ignite the spirit of togetherness even in the harshest adversities of storms and unrest. And we need the right pathway to bring our partners in the developed world to our doors.”
With the theme song "There is hope in the air", it is now time to get all hands on board and carry this energy from Samoa to the Climate Change Summit in New York on September 23rd.
Also today, the top United Nations (UN) climate change official Christiana Figueres participated in prayer ceremony in the water along with a group singing “fa’afetai Alleluja” –thank you in Samoan.
After the prayers, Figueras –Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)- received a coconut that she later threw into the ocean as part of this tradition.
The UNFCCC is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. In this context, Ms. Figueres is overseeing talks between countries for a universally accepted climate treaty to be hammered out next year in Paris.
Following today's events, the UN flag was formally lowered over the Tuana'imato sports complex, symbolically returning the site to the Government of Samoa.
