Prime Minister Hon. James Marape this afternoon (Friday, 5.09.25) farewelled Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Antonio Guterres, at the Jacksons International Airport, Port Moresby, after a productive four-day visit to Papua New Guinea.
In his farewell remarks at the joint press conference held by the two leaders at the airport, Prime Minister Marape expressed his deep appreciation to the Secretary-General for his passion and commitment in promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including Climate Action, in PNG during his visit.
Besides addressing the National Parliament on 03 September, 2025, H.E Guterres also travelled to the East Sepik Province where he visited the memorial site of founding father and PNG’s first prime minister, the late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare. He then took an aerial tour of the rainforest of the Torricelli mountains before visiting with the people of Nuku District in West Sepik Province.
After that, the Secretary-General travelled by air to Mt Hagen in Western High- lands Province to meet with UN representatives and civil society members in charge of UN projects in the Highlands, where he sat with them well into the night.
In his speech in Wewak, shared on the UN TV YouTube Channel, H.E Guterres acknowledged the work of Sir Michael on forest conservation, highlighting the existential threat of Climate Change to humanity.
H.E Guterres pointed out that the Paris Agreement is an important treaty aimed at culling rising global temperature and its effects of climate change, and two articles in the Paris Agreement – Article 5 and Article 6 – were; “due to the initiative of this extraordinary statesman”, referring to Sir Michael and his contribution to the Paris Agreement.
He said as he laid the wreath at the memorial of the Late Grand Chief, he was paying respects not only to PNG’s founding father but also to a distinguished citizen of the country.
H.E Guterres also thanked the people of Papua New Guinea in Nuku for pre- serving the rainforests and highlighting challenges brought about by climate change.
The Secretary-General was farewelled in Port Moresby by the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. Justin Tkatchenko, Chief Secretary to Government Ivan Pomaleu, and Secretary for Foreign Affairs Elias Wohengu with a military guard of honour. He returns to the UN headquarters in New York, the United States.