Pacific leaders

The Government of Fiji hosted the Seventh Regional Meeting of the Pacific Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services (PHOAFS), held virtually from 25 – 27 August with partners the Pacific Community (SPC), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Fiji Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry.  

Antony Blinken told a virtual summit of leaders and delegates from 11 Pacific countries that economic coercion across the region was on the rise.

While making no specific mention of China, he also spoke of threats to order in the region.

"The United States is all for more development and investments in the Islands, but that investment should adhere to international standards for environmentally and socially sustainable development, and should be pursued transparently, with public consultation.

The leaders including former presidents and prime ministers, foreign ministers, archbishops and other church leaders, have written an open leader to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, “as Pacific Islander leaders whose homelands and cultures face certain devastation from climate change”.

“Pacific island nations have long been leaders in driving global progress to combat climate change,” the letter says. “However, Australia’s current Paris Agreement emission reduction target remains one of the weakest among wealthy nations.”

The Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown, said as he watched the polls unfold, he admired Biden's patience and calming comments encouraging the votes of the people to be counted.

Brown said once the election result was in Biden's favour, he watched with admiration the unifying addresses given, decribing them as inspirational to the American people and many admirers internationally.

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said his country looked forward to enhancing its bilateral engagements with New Zealand and advancing regional and global issues of common interests to both countries.

He said through the leadership of Ardern, the Pacific region would become stronger and more resilient together when negotating the unprecendented challenges that existed.

The Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown, said he texted his congratulations to Ardern and looked forward to working closely with her.

About 100 students will attend the ASB Polyfest Leaders Conference at Unitec on Wednesday and Thursday, which is aimed at empowering them before they return to school and ASB Polyfest group rehearsals.  

PMN News reports the students will hear and experience presentations from Annie Crummer and Luke Crawford, dance challenges with tutoring from Vincent Farane and Leki Jackson-Bourke, video challenges and cultural masterclasses.

Forum leaders met with António Guterres on Saturday ahead of the UN supremo's special Climate Action Summit and UN General Assembly.

They highlighted critical priorities to securing the future of the Pacific region.

New Zealand's Minister for Pacific People's represented the country ahead of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's arrival.

Aupito William Sio says beyond the plea for action, Pacific leaders urge industrial nations to then stay on course to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in order to limit temperature rise.

The High-Level Dialogue between Pacific States of the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) Group and the EU Commissioner for International Development and Cooperation, Neven Mimica, was held in Apia, Samoa, on 26 February 2019. The Dialogue was the first EU high-level engagement with the ACP regions since the launch of the post-Cotonou negotiations in September 2018.

Vanuatu's prime minister Charlot Salwai, a longtime supporter of West Papuan self-determination, told the General Assembly in New York that decolonisation must remain on the UN agenda.

He said the Human Rights Council must investigate human rights abuses in the Indonesian provinces.

The Marshall Islands president, Hilda Heine, told the assembly's 73rd session that the Pacific Islands Forum supported "constructive engagement" with Indonesia on the issue.

While Tuvalu's prime minister Enele Sopoaga continued his call for recognition of the indigenous people.

Pacific leaders, climate scientists, academics and civil society leaders are among 240 delegates attending this month's Climate Change Conference in Wellington.

Aupito William Sio, along with Climate Change Minister James Shaw, will address the three day summit which has the theme "Pacific Oceans, Pacific Climate". 

"For our part in New Zealand, we've already set a goal that New Zealand becomes carbon-free by the year 2050," he says. "That's sending a very strong signal to the rest of the world that as small as we are, we're prepared to do our part."