Page 16 - IB September 2024

Forum Leaders Meeting Forum Leaders Meeting

and nuclear legacies.
After years of preparation, leaders confirmed that the
All the heads of state Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) will be domiciled in Tonga,
and prime ministers “the first Pacific-led, member-owned and managed and
that I met were saying people-centred climate and disaster resilience financing
‘Gosh, we are seeing facility.” PRF General Manager Finau Soqo said “this decision
the comeback of opens the way for the next steps”: a pledging conference
colonial France. We with development partners to boost the fund’s capital beyond
had forgotten about existing donations; then legal / political work next year,
it, but we are seeing aiming for operations in 2026.
it again’. Last year, Saudi Arabia (US$50 million), Australia (US$66.5
million), China (US$500,000), and the United States (US$5
million) contributed to the PRF, with the US committing
another US$20 million this year “pending Congressional
President of French Polynesia,
Moetai Brotherson. notification and completion of domestic procedures” (a
Photo: Nic Maclellan
significant proviso, given the dysfunction of the US Congress,
the hostility of the Republican Party to climate action and
November’s elections). Nauru also pledged US$0.67 million, as
Forum Secretary General. A former President of Nauru, Waqa a symbol of Pacific ownership of the initiative.
is now backed by two deputies in the Forum Secretariat in A key international participant, United Nations Secretary
Suva: Esala Nayasi of Fiji and Desna Solofa of Samoa (this General António Guterres, said he’d assist with a pledging
Micronesia / Polynesia / Melanesia triangle is now a feature conference, aiming to raise US$1.5 billion: “I will do my
of Forum leadership, after the damaging split in 2021-22 with best to help mobilise international resources for the Pacific
members of the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit). Resilience Facility.” The UN leader had previously met Forum
Some Forum leaders’ meetings come away with ringing leaders in Suva in May 2019 and at side-bar meetings in New
declarations that frame discussions in subsequent years – but York, but his presence in Tonga signalled the importance
this year focused more on implementing past commitments. of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) as allies at
At the opening ceremony of the 2017 Forum in Apia, then- Guterres’ “Summit of the Future” in New York this month.
Sāmoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said: “The Some Forum members are using UN mechanisms to
Blue Pacific provides a new narrative for Pacific regionalism advance core agendas: Vanuatu mobilised support for a UNGA
and how the Forum engages with the world. It will require resolution to seek an advisory opinion on human rights and
a different way of working together, that prioritises The climate change from the International Court of Justice (ICJ),
Blue Pacific as the core driver of Forum policy-making and while the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ membership of the
collective action.” UN Human Rights Council since 2019 has raised international
The 2018 summit in Nauru then issued the Boe Declaration, awareness on nuclear legacies, and the need for greater
as Forum Island Countries sought to redefine the regional support for nuclear survivors.
security debate. They urged partners to reallocate more In Nuku’alofa, joining representatives of the UN Office of
resources to human and environmental security, especially the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Republic
“the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and of the Marshall Islands (RMI) President, Hilda Heine, outlined
wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific” – climate change. an RMI initiative on nuclear legacies and human rights at
After extensive national discussions, Forum leaders adopted the Human Rights Council: “We are now working to reshape
the 2050 Strategy for a Blue Pacific Continent in Suva in 2022. the narrative, from being victims to one of active agency, in
Last year in Rarotonga, the Forum Secretariat presented an helping to shape our own future and the world around us.”
Implementation Strategy to put meat on the bones of the In October 2022, the Human Rights Council adopted a
concept. This year’s summit in Tonga approved a study to set consensus resolution, requesting OHCHR to prepare a report
indicators on each of the 2050 objectives, as a baseline for on the human rights implications of nuclear testing in the
future years. Marshall Islands. The report will be lodged this month, and
Another problem is that—instead of focusing on island Forum leaders endorsed RMI’s bid to gain another term on the
agendas—much international media coverage tends to Human Rights Council in 2025-27, to continue this work.
highlight the inevitable US / China / Taiwan brawl, or the
annual cage match between the Australian Prime Minister Increasing the focus on peace
and the official villain of the moment (Sopoaga on climate; As usual, other agenda items were kicked down the road
Bainimarama on democracy; Sogavare on China etc.). Despite for further discussion. Fiji Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka’s
this, Forum 2024 saw major steps forward on key regional proposal on an “Ocean of Peace” was handballed to the
agendas: climate resilience and climate finance, kava exports, Forum Secretariat, to develop a concept paper for discussion

16 Islands Business, September 2024