The Pacific won’t settle for weak climate deal: PS outlines priorities

Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr Sivendra Michael says Pre-COP31 will be a disappointment if the 36 ministers and leaders arriving in Nadi and Tuvalu this week return home without changing their minds on the Pacific’s climate fight.

Dr Michael told journalists on Saturday that the region had a chance to turn the world’s attention to small island states.

"If their mindset is still not going to change with everything they have seen, then yeah, for me that is the most upsetting thing," he said.

He said many negotiators worked "out of context" because they were "so used to paper and the office".

Pacific negotiators met in Nadi on Thursday and Friday to set their best case, worst case and red lines.

Dr Michael said the region would rather walk away than accept a weak outcome. No decision, he said, "is better than a weak decision".

He said the just transition (JT) mechanism, which helps countries move away from fossil fuels, could not be separated from money.

"You can't discuss JT mechanism without discussing finance," he said.

He also pointed to Brazil, India and China. They are counted as developing countries, he said, but "have the capacity to contribute".

Pre-COP31 runs until Thursday, ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20.

Sources list these leaders and ministers: Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Cook Islands’ Mark Brown, Tonga’s Lord Fatafehi Fakafanua, Solomon Islands’ Matthew Wale, Vanuatu’s Jothan Napat, Mauritius’ President Dharambeer Gokhool, New Caledonia’s Roch Wamytan, Palau’s Steven Victor, Kiribati’s Ruth Cross Kwansing, Papua New Guinea’s John Kaupa and Azerbaijan’s Mukhtar Babayev.