What were the highlights, key points, priorities and notable excerpts and quotes in Taneti Maamau's speech at the UN General Assembly?

Here are the highlights and excerpts from the address by President Taneti Maamau of the Republic of Read Kiribati at the 81st UN General Assembly.

What follows draws on the official text of Kiribati's national statement delivered to the 80th session, which Maamau personally delivered and which the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat published in full, combined with his confirmed speaking themes at this session. His framing and priorities have been highly consistent across sessions. The official text for today will appear at gadebate.un.org and forumsec.org when published.

Highlights

• Climate resilience, not retreat. Maamau consistently pushes back on the narrative that Kiribati is simply "sinking." His government's position is that traditional and modern adaptation strategies can allow the I-Kiribati people, the indigenous residents of Kiribati, to remain on their islands, and he calls on the world to limit warming to 1.5°C. He has called the International Court of Justice's landmark ruling giving legal permanence to maritime zones regardless of sea-level rise "firm hope and assurance" for vulnerable countries.

• The Loss and Damage Fund. Kiribati has been a leading voice calling on wealthier nations to operationalize and adequately fund the Loss and Damage Fund, which is the international mechanism agreed at recent climate conferences to compensate the most climate-vulnerable countries for harm they cannot adapt their way out of.

• Ocean governance and illegal fishing. Kiribati's ocean is, as Maamau has put it, "vital for its identity, economy, and food security." He has cited IUU fishing (illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing) as causing over $600 million in annual losses to Pacific economies, calling it "a moral and economic injustice that could fund universal child health care." He supports the BBNJ Agreement, the international treaty on protecting biodiversity in the high seas beyond any country's national jurisdiction.

• A nuclear-free ocean. Kiribati experienced the world's largest thermonuclear test, Operation Grapple, on Kiritimati Island. Maamau has consistently called for an end to the dumping of nuclear waste, radioactive water discharges, and the traversal of nuclear-powered submarines through Pacific waters, and supports the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

• UN reform and the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index. He has called for the UN80 Initiative reforms to protect mandates vital to small island developing states, and pushed for the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI, a measurement tool that goes beyond income to capture economic, social, and environmental fragility) to be formally adopted in how international aid and concessional finance are allocated, so that countries like Kiribati can access more support.

• Pacific Resilience Facility. Maamau has championed a Pacific-led and Pacific-owned climate finance facility, with $162 million already pledged, as an alternative to navigating complex global financing systems that small island states often cannot access.

Priorities

• Binding global commitment to limit warming to 1.5°C, not just in declaration but in practice.
• Full operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund with adequate resources for frontline states.
• Adoption of the MVI as the basis for allocating international finance to vulnerable nations.
• Protection of Pacific maritime zones and ratification of the BBNJ Agreement.
• A nuclear-free Pacific ocean, including an end to radioactive water discharges and nuclear waste dumping.
• Reforms to the international financial system so that Least Developed Countries can access concessional finance without prohibitive barriers.

In his own words

These are direct quotes from Maamau's confirmed national statement at the 80th session, which represent his clearest public articulation of Kiribati's positions on these themes:

On climate and resilience: "While some narratives claim our islands are sinking, we have traditional and modern strategies to adapt and thrive. Our efforts, aligned with international climate goals, focus on building resilience, protecting livelihoods, and preserving our culture."

On the ICJ ruling: "We welcome and commend the International Court of Justice in its landmark decision giving us firm hope and assurance that Kiribati and other vulnerable countries will continue to exist in light of climate change impacts."

On ocean and fishing: "IUU fishing causes over $600 million annual loss, a moral and economic injustice that could fund universal child health care."

On nuclear weapons and the ocean: Kiribati "fully support[s] the United Nations' push for a world free of nuclear weapons and are committed to addressing the man-made disasters like dumping of nuclear waste, radio water discharges, traversing of nuclear-powered submarines and testing that pose grave risks to our ocean's fragile health."

On closing: "Allow me to close by bestowing upon the United Nations and all its members and all its staff our traditional blessings of Te Mauri, Te Raoi ao Te Tabomoa meaning Abundant Health, Peace and Prosperity."

Worth knowing

Kiribati is an archipelago of 33 coral atolls scattered across the central Pacific, most sitting only five to six feet above sea level. It is one of the countries most immediately threatened by rising seas. Maamau has led Kiribati since 2016 and has taken a notably different approach from his predecessor, Anote Tong, who argued for planned relocation. Maamau's position is that faith, resilience, and infrastructure investment are the right response, not departure. Kiribati is also one of the world's last countries to have hosted nuclear testing on its own soil, which gives its calls for a nuclear-free ocean particular weight at the UN.

The Pacific Islands Forum, the regional body that includes Kiribati, released a joint statement ahead of this week's debate calling on Forum Leaders to elevate Pacific priorities on the global agenda at UNGA81, signaling that Maamau's speech is coordinated with the broader Pacific bloc strategy.

Watch and read the full speech

President Maamau was the first speaker on Day 4 of the general debate. The UN's own video of the whole Day 4 session:

Watch Day 4 of the UNGA 81 general debate on the UN's YouTube channel

The UN posts each country's statement on the general debate website.