Page 25 - Islands Business February 2023

U.S./Pacific U.S./Pacific

technological, economic, political, military, intelligence, and At President Biden’s Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April
global governance domain.” 2021, he pledged “the United States intends to double by
A key legislative achievement was the Inflation Reduction 2024 our annual public climate finance to developing coun-
Act (IRA) in August 2022, which guarantees billions of dollars tries and…intends to triple its adaptation finance by 2024. The
for infrastructure, renewable energy technologies and climate Biden Administration will work closely with Congress to meet
programs within the United States. these goals.”
On 29 December, President Biden signed the US$1.7 trillion As they say in the movies, “Show me the money!”
“Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023” into law, guarantee- Despite the rhetoric from Washington, the U.S. Congress
ing funds for fiscal year 2022-23. Within this global omnibus has failed to deliver, even as billions are pumped into the war
finance bill, US$1.8 billion is included for implementation of in Europe. While the IRA funded domestic climate action and
the Indo-Pacific Strategy “to counter malign influence and renewable technology, it did not include finance for the Green
promote peace, prosperity and democracy in the region.” Climate Fund, climate adaptation or loss and damage in de-
Spending for the Pacific islands nearly doubles to US$150 veloping nations. For the latest omnibus bill, the White House
million with a flurry of initiatives: plans to increase scholar- sought a US$1.6 billion package for the Green Climate Fund,
ships for Islanders to study in Hawai’i and the United States; but Congress failed to make any new commitments to the
extra funds for the Peace Corps, which is urged to increase global climate finance institution, which has funded projects
numbers in the Pacific after President Donald Trump closed across the Pacific islands.
programs in Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia; and The $150 million allocated for the Global Environment
US$22 million for the East-West Center, based at the Univer- Facility (GEF) in fiscal year 2022-23 was only $1 million extra
sity of Hawai’i at Manoa (the regional think tank gained a compared to the previous year. President Biden also proposed
new president in January 2022, when retired U.S. Army Major a major loan package to the Clean Technology Fund, but
General Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum took office). Congress only allocated $125 million for programs across the
At the 51st Forum leaders meeting last July, Vice President globe.
Harris pledged extra funding for the U.S.-Pacific South Pacific The US$1.7 trillion omnibus bill only included $270 mil-
Tuna Treaty, increasing to US$60 million a year for the next lion for global climate adaptation programs, with “language
decade. However, this $600 million commitment was not recommending no less than $20 million for climate resilient
included in December’s omnibus funding package, despite its development and climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in
importance for the Forum Fisheries Agency. the Pacific Islands.”
During the last Congressional session, Ed Case and Ameri- Spread across all the Forum Island Countries, $20 million
can Samoan Delegate Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen won’t go very far.
co-sponsored bill H.R.9538 – the South Pacific Tuna Act of The White House promise of US$11 billion climate finance
2022. Before Christmas, the bill was referred to the House a year by 2024 is a fantasy, and that’s bad news for Pacific
Committee on Natural Resources, but is yet to see the light communities. The contrast to the funding allocated for U.S.
of day. Case explained that this year, “the South Pacific Tuna military operations in the Pacific is stark, and this failure un-
Treaty needs to be re-authorised as a matter of law under our dercuts U.S. rhetoric about respecting regional priorities.
system, but in a new Congress, we basically have to start the
whole process again. But the treaty is critical and we under- Millions for base upgrades
stand that.” The omnibus funding legislation includes hundreds of
millions of dollars for military spending and joint exercises,
Failure on climate funding highlighting the strategic significance of U.S. military bases in
In January, the Forum Secretariat released its ‘Pacific Guam, Kwajalein atoll and Hawai’i.
Security Outlook Report 2022-23.’ The new report highlights “We are putting more of our defence resources in the Indo-
a broad range of regional security issues but stresses that Pacific, with very specific designations in the defence budget
“climate change remains the region’s single greatest security for the Pacific islands themselves,” Ed Case explained. “The
threat.” Defence Department has fully understood the significance of
“If you walk into any jurisdiction across the Pacific islands engaging with the Pacific islands and we want to give them
and ask them what is their top concern, you know the answer the tools to do that.”
is going to be climate change,” Congressman Case told Islands Representing Hawai’i’s First Congressional District on O’ahu,
Business. “So our country’s contributions to international Case noted that “Hawai’i plays a central role through various
climate efforts are not sufficient. Collectively, none of us are institutions, including of course the Indo-Pacific Command –
investing sufficient resources in combating climate change. INDOPACOM – which is in my congressional district. There is a
“Even so, although our contribution to the Green Climate lot of interaction with Pacific Island and Pacific Rim countries
Fund or other international institutions is nowhere near suf- through INDOPACOM.”
ficient, the funding that comes through the Inflation Reduc- The 2022-23 funding package includes a range of initiatives
tion Act (IRA) and the latest Omnibus Appropriations Act are through the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) and other pro-
the most significant investment we’ve ever made on climate grams, including support for missile defence systems in Guam,
change.” Continued on page 27

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