Prime Minister and COP23 president Voreqe Bainimarama says Germany’s support of $70 million Euros (around F$155m) to host the COP23 is a wonderful gesture.

The conference will be held at Bonn, Germany, in November. Fiji’s Cop 23 logo was launched at the Suvavou House yesterday.

Mr Bainimarama said the logo would be viewed by billions of people around the world through media and social websites.

He said while Fiji was the incoming president for COP23, there was no way that the country could accommodate more than 20,000 people at the meeting.

Welcoming the German State Secretary for Environment, Jochen Flasbarth and his delegation, Mr Bainimarama said Germany was generously hosting the conference and picking up the cost of doing so.

“It is a wonderful gesture and especially when the German Government has said that it wants this to be a Fijian COP and has offered to pay for our branding of the event and the Fijian performers, cultural items and artifacts that we will take to Bonn to infuse COP23 with the Bula spirit,” he said.

He said Fiji would be working closely with Germany and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to make COP23 an absolute success.

Meanwhile, he announced the winners of our national logo competition and unveiled the winning design.

Maria Ronna Pastorizo-Sekiguchi of the Fijian design company – the Greenhouse Studio – is the winner.

Mr Bainimarama said the final design was based on her entry into the competition and a logo that would be seen around the world in the coming months and one which every Fijian could be proud of.

He said the logo captured the vulnerability to climate change of a small island developing state like Fiji.

“The island partially submerged and a huge wave bearing down on it. The wave as you can see is also in the form of a cyclone, with that eye in the middle.

“So especially in light of our experience with Cyclone Winston last year that caused so much heartbreak, this is a very stark and effective message to take to the world,” he said.

Ms Pastorizo-Sekiguchi, who has a designer and communications background said she came up with the concept as she thought of Fiji’s state during TC Winston.

“I was thinking about Fiji being a small island developing state how vulnerable we are with the adverse effects of climate change specifically with experiencing all types of disasters and hazards for a smaller island like Fiji is really what affects the people,” she said.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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