Pacific leaders press climate action as Fiji and Tuvalu prepare for Pre-COP31

Tuvalu wants world leaders to see the effects of climate change with their own eyes, rather than relying only on reports and presentations. Prime Minister Feleti Teo said the country was preparing to use the leaders’ segment of the Pacific’s Pre-COP31 meetings to show its vulnerability and its response.

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It is important to bring them to the Pacific so they can see firsthand why climate change and acting on it is both an opportunity but also a challenge.

Australia, Fiji and Tuvalu advanced preparations during a trilateral meeting in Palau. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Teo and Fiji Foreign Minister Sakiasi Ditoka met in Koror as Fiji and Tuvalu prepared to host key meetings later this year.

The gatherings will bring international leaders and climate decision-makers to the Pacific before COP31. Albanese said the visit would help them understand why climate action represents both an opportunity and a challenge for Pacific countries. “It is an existential challenge to nations such as Tuvalu, but also a threat of increased extreme weather events, more frequent and more intense, that can do enormous damage and change the way that the Blue Pacific operates,” he said.

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It is an existential challenge to nations such as Tuvalu, but also a threat of increased extreme weather events, more frequent and more intense, that can do enormous damage and change the way that the Blue Pacific operates.

Albanese said the meetings would allow Pacific countries to demonstrate why climate action remains their highest priority. Teo said Tuvalu was grateful to Pacific leaders for designating it to host the leaders’ segment and reported “a lot of excitement on the ground.”

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This is the opportunity for leaders that will make it to Tuvalu to see for themselves the extent of our vulnerability to the impact of climate change and particularly sea level rise.

Teo also stressed that Tuvalu had already begun building resilience with resources from Australia and other partners. “We have not been sitting idly around,” he said. “We have taken on board the resources that you and other partners have provided us to try and build our own resilience.” The visit is intended to present both the seriousness of the country’s exposure, particularly to sea-level rise, and the practical adaptation measures underway.

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We have not been sitting idly around. We have taken on board the resources that you and other partners have provided us to try and build our own resilience.