PACIFIC leaders head for Azerbaijan and COP29 in November, buoyed by recognition at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa of the dangers of climate change to the region and the world.
King Charles—head of the Commonwealth—told CHOGM members that climate change was an existential threat.
“We are well past believing it is a problem for the future, since it is already, already undermining the development gains we have long fought for,’’ King Charles said.
“This year alone, we have seen terrifying storms in the Caribbean, devastating flooding in East Africa and catastrophic wildfires in Canada. Lives, livelihoods and human rights are at risk across the Commonwealth.’’
Interestingly, he made no comments about the threats to communities in Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, and Tuvalu, despite speaking in Samoa in the middle of the Pacific Ocean which rises each year.
And this is the challenge for the Pacific as it heads towards COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, a leading petroleum producer and exporter. How do they make the world take notice of the existential threat to which King Charles referred in his address?
Some countries have had enough. Papua New Guinea surprised CHOGM delegates with the announcement that it would not attend the global conference in Baku.
PNG Foreign Affairs Minister, Justin Tkatchenko, said the decision was designed as a stand on behalf of small island nations as a protest against “empty promises and inaction’’.
The Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) has decided to hold a series of side events in the region and virtually to highlight climate change, rather than attend talks which it believes are dominated by large countries and corporations.
“We need to take immediate, practical and sometimes home-grown steps to address issues around us,’’ said Pacific Conference of Churches General Secretary, Reverend James Bhagwan, who is recognised as a regional advocate on COP and climate change.
“The PCC has seriously reviewed its participation at COP. We’ve moved from advocacy at the event to accompaniment of church leaders, providing expert advice, being a voice for communities – now it’s time for a fresh approach.’’
But many Pacific nations will attend COP29 to support Australia’s bid to jointly host the event with its smaller regional neighbours in 2026.
However, several observers note that Australia’s bid to host and CHOGM’s in its final outcome statement makes no specific calls to end fossil fuel extraction.
Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, claimed his country played a leading role in climate change action in the region.
But his Tuvaluan counterpart, Feleti Teo, criticised Australia’s ongoing fossil fuel emissions.
“To put it plainly, it is a death sentence … for us in Tuvalu, if larger nations continue to increase their emissions levels,” Teo said.
“Australia is highly morally obliged to ensure that whatever action it does, will not compromise the commitment it has provided in terms of climate impact.”
At CHOGM, Teo was joined by Fiji and Vanuatu in launching a new Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, which found Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom are responsible for over 60 per cent of emissions in the Commonwealth since 1990.
Albanese said Australia had committed to net zero by 2050. To underline the commitment, Australia and the United Kingdom signed a new climate partnership aimed at speeding up the rollout of new renewable technologies like green hydrogen.
For the Pacific, however, rising sea levels point to the fact that action and commitment, not talks and treaties, are needed at COP29.
