Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo told world leaders at the Second World Summit for Social Development that climate change poses the single greatest threat to his country’s survival and must be addressed as a core issue of global social development.
“I am honoured to address this 2nd World Summit for Social Development as the Prime Minister of Tuvalu.
“This second global social summit is certainly long overdue,” Teo said in his address in Doha, Qatar last week.
He said the world faces new and complex challenges since the first summit in 1995, driven by “the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change and biodiversity erosion.”
“These social issues are further exacerbated by the persistent stresses on global peace and security occasioned by numerous armed conflicts and the strains on multilateralism and international cooperation,” he said.
Teo called for “new and innovative, strategic and smart solutions” to today’s global challenges, stressing that “social development is no longer the exclusive and sole responsibility of governments. It is now a whole of society, and a whole of country responsibility.”
He welcomed the summit’s theme “Partnership for accelerating social development and climate solution” calling it “timely and highly appropriate considering the limited time left to achieve the SDGs by 2030.”
Teo reaffirmed Tuvalu’s commitment to the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Pact for the Future.
“Tuvalu views investment in social development as an investment in the potential and resilience of humanity, and in the health and shared future for planet earth,” he said.
Announcing Tuvalu’s full support for the Doha Political Declaration, Teo said his country’s priorities are grounded in “inclusivity, gender equality and shared responsibilities,” ensuring that “every woman and man (young and old), including persons with a disability, can and is able to contribute to a resilient and sustainable Tuvalu society.”
“When women are empowered, communities grow stronger,” Teo said. “When women lead, peace and resilience follow. Tuvalu envisions a society where gender equality is not a matter for daily negotiation but a daily lived experience.”
The Prime Minister warned that Tuvalu’s social development efforts are being undermined by climate change.
“Climate change-induced sea level rise is the single greatest existential threat to the economy, security and future survivability of Tuvalu as a sovereign nation and as a people,” he said.
He thanked the UN General Assembly for convening the first high-level meeting on sea level rise and said he hopes the follow-up meeting in 2026 will adopt a UN Declaration “that espouses the principles of statehood continuity and the permanency of properly demarcated maritime boundaries.”
“For Tuvalu, the ocean that has sustained our livelihood for generations, the ocean that has defined us as a people and as a community with distinctive cultures and heritage now poses to engulf and challenge our very future existence,” Teo said.
“That is why Tuvalu continues to call on the global community to recognise the nexus between climate change and the ocean as an essential pillar of social development, poverty reduction, and global peace.”
“Climate resilience is social resilience,” he added. “Investing in climate resilience is an investment in the dignity, stability, and prosperous future of our people.”
Teo urged delegates to “rally behind the Doha Political Declaration” and ensure the summit becomes “a moment of action and a catalyst to putting back on track the UN social development agenda and the sustainable development goals.”
