Pacific Islands Forum leader urges island leaders to remain vigilant amid climate and regional security threats
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
While advising Pacific leaders to remain vigilant in the face of growing geopolitical tensions, Baron Waqa called on island nations and territories to leverage the region’s collective strength to achieve its goals and meet its needs.
“We may be small island countries, but as the Blue Pacific Continent, we are a force to be reckoned with,” the Pacific Islands Forum's secretary general said Monday at the opening of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum in Nuku’alofa, Tonga.
“We are the center of strategic geopolitical interest. We are at the forefront of the battle against climate change and its impacts,” Waqa said. “We continue to manage an evolving economic development landscape.”
According to the Forum's website, the agenda is focused on implementation and action to deliver on the 2050 Strategy and a "fit-for-purpose" regional architecture. Climate ambition and financing are priorities, with international support for the Pacific Resilience Facility critical.
Regional stability is currently threatened by the escalating tension between China and Taiwan, the raging competition between Washington and Beijing, and the colonized territories’ growing discontent with their administering countries.
“We need to remain vigilant on issues of regional security and we must ensure that these respond to national and regional needs,” Waqa said.
“We own the strategic potential of our collective, and together, reaffirm that we act together from a position of strength. We must not forget this,” he added.
Waqa called on the Forum members to “be clear and decisive in the direction, priorities and actions” they will take.
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The Forum consists of 18 member states, from Australia to Vanuatu.
“We need to integrate resilience as a matter of priority across all policy and implementation processes, most especially in sectors that relate to our people – primarily health and education,” he said.
This year's gathering of leaders is themed "Transformative, Resilient Pasifiki - Build Better Now."
Waqa said the region’s goal must focus on ensuring that island nations and territories can secure prosperity for future generations.
The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, launched two years ago, sets a “collective vision” for the region.
“The 2050 Strategy is our commitment to ensure that we will not leave our future to chance and that together, we will be stronger and more resilient,” Waqa said. “We call on all our partners to engage with us, to support our vision and our priorities.”
Antonio Guterres, UN secretary general, addressed the opening, telling leaders that while much of the world is embroiled in conflict, injustice and socio-economic crisis, the Pacific “is a beacon of solidarity and strength, environmental stewardship and peace.”
“The world has much to learn from you. It must also step up to support you," he said, adding that their region of “fearless seafarers, expert fishers, and deep ancestral knowledge of the ocean”, and the ocean worldwide is being treated “like a sewer” by humanity at large.
Noting that the Pacific region is doing what it can, Guterres urged the G20 nations – the biggest emitters of carbon – to "step up and lead, by phasing out the production and consumption of fossil fuels and stopping their expansion immediately."
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