Let Us Not Be Left Behind

As the second week of the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) begins, Pacific Oceans Commissioner Filimon Manoni is urging Pacific Ocean champions at COP28 to engage in conversations and not be left behind.

He was speaking on the margins of COP28 in Expo City, Dubai.

“I told my team, let us not be left behind, let us be part of conver­sation wherever we can be,” Mr Manoni said.

“Let us inject ourselves into that conversation, let us leverage on these global processes, let’s make sure that however small our voic­es are, that we will still be heard,” he said.

“The reality is that we have not come here empty handed. As I have alluded to earlier, we have come here having done so much for our oceans, our communities, our resources to make sure that climate change does not in any way change the way that we have lived.”

He said what oceans champions needed to do were to be strategic as they moved forward.

“Of course, we come and speak to partners. We are looking for genuine partnerships.

“We want partnerships that are mutually beneficial, long lasting, meaningful and responsive to the needs of the pacific in the long term.

“Climate change is standing on the way for all of us. We travelled here to COP28 wanting to all have a say on the one thing that con­nects us, that we treasure and that is the ocean.

“We also need to be consistent on our messaging. We can’t be com­ing to one COP and saying this and come into another cop and say another thing.”

Fiji’s lead negotiator Ambassa­dor Amena Yauvoli said the chal­lenge was to include oceans in the climate space.

“I think we are already there but it’s only one-half leg. We need to be their full body,” Mr Yauvoli said.

“We’re hoping that we are able to achieve this come COP31 when we plan to host COP with Australia.”

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