Rabuka: Pacific sounds climate alarm to world
Mr Rabuka said the Pacific should not be viewed through sympathy, but as a frontline indicator of the scale of challenges facing the world.
Wednesday 07 October 2026 | 08:00
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka with Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta.
Photo: Fiji Government
The Pacific is sounding an alarm for the world to act on climate change before it is too late, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has warned.
Using the traditional davui as a symbol of warning and unity, Mr Rabuka told world leaders that the climate crisis confronting Pacific island nations was a warning of what other parts of the world could face.
He delivered the message during the traditional welcome ceremony for Pre-COP31 at the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort on Denarau Island on Monday night.
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“And when danger came, the davui was sounded. Its call carried two meanings: Come together and take heed. The Pacific Ocean is sounding the davui now. And it is not sounding it for us alone,” he said.
Mr Rabuka said the Pacific should not be viewed through sympathy, but as a frontline indicator of the scale of challenges facing the world.
“I am not asking you to look at the Pacific out of sympathy. I am asking you to look at us as a bellwether – indicating the scale of the challenges to come,” he said.
“Rising seas, warming oceans, failing water supplies and food insecurity are not merely Pacific problems. They are human risks. They are shared risks.”
Mr Rabuka said the Pacific’s traditional concept of vanua reflected the inseparable relationship between land, sea and people.
“For us, land, sea, and people are not separate things. They are one, and we call that whole the vanua. What harms one-part harms all.”
He called for urgent action to keep 1.5 degrees within reach, deliver climate finance to communities and give the ocean a greater voice in global negotiations.
“That is why the message the Pacific carries are the simplest one: Heed the warning while there is still time to act on it,” he said.
Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta acknowledged the talanoa process and thanked Pacific leaders for their efforts to protect the ocean.
For Mr Rabuka, the message to world leaders was clear: the climate threats already confronting Pacific communities should be treated as a warning of wider global risks.
