Page 26 - IB FEB 2020

Opinion Opinion

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Dame Meg Taylor (right) at COP25 in Spain. Photo: SPREP

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

By Ambassador Kaliopate Tavola Leaders given that Australia is generally viewed in the region
as a problematic climate change dissident. This hard-to-
For the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), COP25 in Spain was get sign of unity obviously fuelled great enthusiasm in the
viewed with great optimism and hope. A number of issues and region to the extent that Secretary General Dame Meg Taylor
developments contributed to that frame of mind. However, elevated the Declaration to ‘the strongest statement the
the Conference proved a disappointment. In the light of that Pacific Islands Forum has ever issued collectively’.
setback, PIF needs to pursue additional approaches that are The Forum’s pre-COP25 excitement was further heightened
more oriented toward progress through effective collective by the action of the COP25 Chilean Presidency. The Presidency
advocacy and tactical factional initiatives that can fuel and is a strong advocate for the need to address the nexus
propel global actions. between oceans and climate change. The Presidency thus
Leading up to COP25, PIF Leaders released ‘The Kainaki II coined COP25 as ‘the Blue COP’. This was enthusiastically
Declaration for Urgent Climate Change Action Now’ at their taken up by Spain, who hosted the Conference under a
annual summit in Tuvalu. It was enthusiastically promoted partnership arrangement with Chile. Given the Forum’s
as “a signal of our strength.” Kainaki II, for instance, is a position on the oceans and the Forum Secretariat’s role as the
recapitulation of the climate change issues contained in the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner, the added sobriquet
Boe Declaration adopted by PIF Leaders the year before in to COP25 as ‘the Blue COP’ should have been manna from
Nauru. The Boe Declaration, for the first time, had reaffirmed heaven. The ‘EU Ocean Day’, celebrated during The Blue COP
“that climate change remains the single greatest threat to in Madrid should have been the icing on the cake.
the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the But it was not to be. The Blue COP was a disappointment.
Pacific.” The Fiji Times of 23 December 2019 carried an article:
The Kainaki II Declaration raised the aspirational bar a bit ‘COP25 issue: PIF members express disappointment.’ PIF
higher through its reference to “the climate change crisis” Chair and Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano said “the lack
which even Australia was happy to endorse. As it turned out, of ambition and urgency on climate action emanating from
Australia endorsed the critical phraseology not only once, but COP25 was very concerning, particularly for small island
twice – in the same Declaration. Such endorsement would nations on the frontlines of the present climate crisis.”
have been a source for self-congratulation for the Forum It was evident that that the ‘climate change crisis’ that

26 Islands Business, February 2020