The pre-COP informal gathering which concluded on Denarau Island yesterday was different from similar events in the past.

As highlighted by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, this year’s pre-COP event:

Had more people, more nations and more members from the wider Grand Coalition present.

Had added Partnership Days to give practical meaning to the Presidency’s vision of a Grand Coalition.

Was different because it was hosted at the heart of one of the most vulnerable regions on earth.

“We needed you to come here to see it and feel it for yourselves.

“And I am sure that many of you will leave with a much better understanding of what is at stake,” he said.

“Bringing the pre-COP to Fiji and widening its scope has also had a very beneficial impact on the understanding of Fijians and Pacific Islanders generally about this process and its relevance to their lives.

“I wondered whether COP would really fire the imaginations of my own people.

“Whether this would be seen as just another conference in Fiji in a great location that had little relevance to ordinary people.

“But one of the best things about the Fijian presidency in my mind so far is that we are already making a difference at home.

“Imaginations have been fired.

“We are bringing the Paris Agreement to Fiji and the Pacific.”

Edited by Mohammed Zulfikar

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