New Zealand: Pandemic is damaging tourism economy

A full week into the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders, here's something new: a speech delivered live. More than 170 heads of state and other senior officials have delivered their addresses via video recorded days in advance as a coronavirus pandemic precaution. On the final day, in the final session Tuesday, New Zealand's U.N. ambassador, Craig Hawke, spoke from a seat in the sparsely occupied U.N. General Assembly chamber, with the luxury of speaking impromptu if he liked.

He used the opportunity to speak about how the pandemic-damaged economy is badly hurting areas of the Pacific that rely on tourists. Hawke called on the international community to invest in Pacifc island countries.

The ambassador called for unity against COVID-19 in a fractured world. He also stressed the urgency of action to slow global warming, a major concern for many island states, saying that "there will be no vaccine against climate change."

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