FOR Pacific nations racing to cut fuel dependence, the challenge is no longer deciding whether to transition – it is figuring out how to pay for it.
As regional maritime leaders gather here for the Heads of Maritime meeting ahead of the Sixth Pacific Regional Energy and Transport Ministers’ Meeting (PRETMM), countries like Samoa and Kiribati are confronting the same reality: the shift to cleaner energy is urgent, but expensive.
For Samoa, fuel reserves are stable for now but uncertainty in global markets continues to cast a shadow over the Pacific’s energy future.
“Samoa’s fuel reserves are currently holding, but the future is unpredictable,” Samoa’s Assistant CEO Maritime, Makerita Atonio-Lese, said.
That uncertainty is driving Samoa’s push toward renewable alternatives.
Speaking to Islands Atonio-Lese, said the country was actively exploring cleaner fuel options as part of a broader national energy transition.
Samoa has set an ambitious target of reaching 70 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Its Renewable Energy Division under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment leading the transition.
But maritime transport one of the country’s most fuel-dependent sectors remains one of the hardest to decarbonise.
Working alongside the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Samoa is exploring measures to reduce emissions and lessen dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Atonio-Lese says the country is investigating new fuel alternatives.
“Other alternative resources, mainly like ammonia and some other type of fuel.”
Among those alternatives is green ammonia, increasingly discussed globally as a cleaner fuel option because it can be produced using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, creating more sustainable energy storage and supply systems.
But Samoa’s energy transition is not limited to one solution.
“We are also looking into biofuel, renewable energy and a number of existing projects already underway, from the maritime perspective we are working on the alternative technologies, and alternative fuels that we are looking to scale up,” Antonio-lese said.
To support this transition, Samoa is developing its National Decarbonisation Strategy alongside regional partners, a roadmap aimed at reducing emissions across its maritime sector and strengthening long-term energy security.
Ambition alone will not be enough.
Like many Pacific Island countries, Samoa’s biggest barrier is cost.
“We have many challenges, the scarcity of resources and the technology that we are trying to introduce need donor funding.”
And the reason is simple.
“It is because it is quite costly,” Antonio-lese said.
“The technology, the set up and all the measures to introduce it is very expensive, that is why we need donor funding in order for us to implement it as we do not have allocated funds.”
It is a challenge echoing across the Pacific.
For Kiribati, the issue is not only funding, but also capacity.
Kiribati’s Director of Maritime, Ruoikabuti Tioon, says, “outdated infrastructure and limited technical expertise are slowing progress toward safer and more sustainable maritime systems.”
For Kiribati, the human resource gap is becoming just as urgent as the technology gap.
“We need younger people to enter the maritime sector to support maritime safety in Kiribati,” she said.
As Pacific leaders meet this week to shape the region’s transport and energy future, Samoa and Kiribati are carrying a shared message: the Pacific is ready to transition but cannot do it alone.
For island economies heavily reliant on shipping and imported fuel, the move to cleaner energy is about more than emissions.
It is about affordability, energy security, safer transport and building resilience in a region where distance, cost and climate risks continue to define everyday life.
And for many Pacific countries, the success of that transition may depend on whether international financing can match Pacific ambition.
