Page 21 - Islands Business September 2023

Pacific Economies Pacific Economies

under the rising seas, and another six have lost large parts of
their land. Some communities are losing sacred lands where
their families are buried.
“When you have that context where climate change is
not a dinner table topic but a reality for our people and our
children, and understanding that the world is an island, and
it is sinking because of our inaction, it moves you to act,” she
wrote in Nature Briefing.
That’s the same message that ESCAP head, Alisjahbana
delivered to the Forum Finance Ministers in Suva, that even
though volatile fiscal conditions and lack of investment-led
growth are creating challenges, “we must not lose sight of
ambition”.
Despite this urgency, the FEMM hardly ended on an
ambitious note. There were no major announcements except
the approval of the implementation of the redesigned Pacific
Resilience Facility (PRF), which aims to make access to
climate finance for adaption needs much faster and more
ESCAP Executive Secretary, Armida Alisjahbana with Forum Secretary General,
Henry Puna. accessible.
Ministers did discuss Correspondent Banking Relationship
challenges, which have proved crippling for some countries
past 20 years. In the current times, most of the sugarcane where banking services have dramatically contracted, the
fields are cultivated by the middle- to late-age farmers, with continued presence of some economies on the European
their children leaving to attend universities to receive the Union’s list on non-cooperative tax jurisdictions issues, and
education they need for white-collar jobs. Consequently, the economic implications of labour mobility schemes.
the farmers of this middle–late-age group do not feel secure They also focused on long-standing calls for deeper and
and are not passing on their farms to the next generations. more accessible financing beyond the PRF to fund climate and
Considering the sugar industry’s unresolved problems, disaster resilience.
particularly those related to the sugarcane farmers, the Pacific Islands Forum Chair and Cook Islands PM, Mark Brown
industry is now in crisis.” said if the region’s donor partners are serious about helping
Tourism overtook sugar as Fiji’s leading foreign exchange Pacific economies grow and recover, they “have to be serious
earner in the late 1990s, but COVID-19 showed up Fiji’s about looking at changing the rules around financing, and
dependence on tourism—and the long-standing need to debt management.”
diversify its economic base. The inextricable links between climate change and the
Highlighting opportunities for Fiji to take concrete steps region’s economies—and the gap between rhetoric and
toward future change, the World Bank’s Country Private action—were again highlighted a week after FEMM by Pacific
Sector Diagnostic identified “unlocking new sources of growth Elders’ Voice, a group of key Pacific Island leaders, including
beyond tourism” as part of a strategy to help Fiji “build back several former national leaders. They called on their countries
better” following COVID-19. The other parts of the strategy not to support Australia’s plan to host COP31 in 2026 until it
were: strengthening economic and climate resilience, stops expanding fossil fuels.
leveraging the nation’s potential as an economic hub in the In a full-page newspaper advertisement to coincide with
Pacific region, and creating inclusive job opportunities. Australian Climate Change Minister, Chris Bowen’s visit to Fiji,
The report said the “lack of sectoral diversification” Pacific Elders’ Voice said while the world had moved into what
was among some of Fiji’s “long-standing structural the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, called an era of
vulnerabilities”. global boiling, Australia was stuck in “the era of fossil fuel
expansion.”
Ambition against crisis From Nadaro village in Fiji where he was visiting to see
Back in Solomon Islands, watching parts of Fanalei slowly Australian-funded climate resilient infrastructure, Bowen said
being lost to the ocean is what pushed law student Cynthia he is confident of the Pacific’s support for COP31. He pledged
Houniuhi, President of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Australia’s continuing support for resilience projects.
Climate Change (PISFCC), into climate advocacy. PISFCC, ESCAP says that under both 1.5°C and 2°C climate
with Vanuatu’s backing, has successfully taken the Pacific’s scenarios, the Pacific region faces losses of around 8% of their
fight against the climate crisis to the United Nations (see GDPs, and that adaptation costs in the Pacific SIDS “could
p14), getting the UN to ask the International Court of Justice place a strain on government budgets, compromising disaster
to outline the legal obligations of states to combat climate preparedness and recovery efforts. Economic contractions
change. also often lead to reduced public spending, affecting
At least five of her country’s 992 islands have disappeared healthcare and education.”

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