By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau
Pacific Islands Forum leaders have issued a new call for urgent global climate action, demanding faster cuts to fossil fuel emissions, a major increase in climate finance and stronger international action to keep the 1.5°C temperature limit within reach.
In the Belau Declaration for Urgent and Inclusive Climate Action to Keep 1.5°C Within Reach, adopted at the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, leaders said climate change remained “the single greatest threat” to the security, livelihoods, wellbeing and future of Pacific peoples.
They warned that current global climate action was not enough to prevent a 1.5°C overshoot.
“Current global actions and the aggregate ambition and implementation of NDCs are insufficient to halt a 1.5°C overshoot,” the declaration said.
The leaders said the Pacific was already experiencing severe and irreversible impacts, including loss and damage, displacement, ecosystem degradation, threats to food and water security and growing economic and fiscal pressures.
They again pointed to the inequity facing Pacific Small Island Developing States, which contribute little to global greenhouse gas emissions but face some of the world’s most severe climate impacts.
“Pacific peoples contribute least to global emissions yet bear among the gravest impacts of climate change,” the leaders said.
Pacific commits to action
The declaration commits Forum members to submit and implement ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans during what leaders described as a critical decade for keeping 1.5°C within reach.
Leaders also committed to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and towards a 100 percent renewable energy future for the Blue Pacific.
They backed the accelerated development of a Regional Renewable Energy Transition Strategy and implementation of the renewed Framework for Energy Security and Resilience in the Pacific, known as FESRIP 2.0.
The work could also be supported by a new Pacific Renewable Energy Commissioner once the position is established.
The declaration recognises that Pacific countries will take different national pathways but says the regional direction is clear.
Leaders also committed to strengthen monitoring, reporting and accountability for climate commitments and to implement the Pacific Pact on Gender and Climate Action.
They will take the region’s position to Pacific Pre-COP leaders’ events in Fiji and Tuvalu, COP31 and other international meetings, with a focus on 1.5°C, climate finance, the ocean-climate connection, youth leadership and intergenerational equity.
Fossil fuel transition
The Forum called on all countries to submit and implement climate plans aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Leaders said the transition away from fossil fuels must accelerate during this decade and lead towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 on pathways consistent with the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal.
They also called for stronger global action to reduce methane and other short-lived climate pollutants.
“Pacific leadership must be demonstrated through action,” the declaration said.
The leaders called for a transition away from fossil fuels that is “just, orderly and equitable”, while recognising the different national circumstances and pathways of countries.
They also called for the best available science, including the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Pacific Indigenous and traditional knowledge, to continue guiding global climate action.
ICJ opinion strengthens Pacific call
The Belau Declaration also builds on recent international legal developments, including the advisory opinions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the International Court of Justice on climate change.
Leaders described the opinions as landmark contributions to clarifying states’ responsibilities under international law and protecting present and future generations.
They called on states to give effect to their obligations to protect the climate system and other parts of the environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
The declaration also refers to a United Nations General Assembly resolution welcoming the unanimous ICJ Advisory Opinion and its role in clarifying existing international law.
Leaders urged states to act consistently with their international obligations, noting the Court’s finding that a breach of an identified climate obligation could constitute an internationally wrongful act carrying state responsibility.
Ocean-climate action
Forum leaders also pushed for stronger recognition of the ocean as a critical climate regulator and a foundation of Pacific economies, cultures, livelihoods and security.
They called for ocean considerations to be integrated more meaningfully into the UN climate process.
The declaration said international discussions must move “beyond dialogue towards implementation”.
Leaders called for greater recognition of integrated ocean management in addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, radioactive waste and other pollution.
They also demanded scaled-up and fit-for-purpose ocean finance to support ocean stewardship, sustainable livelihoods and resilient blue economies.
Forum members will also push for stronger international support for Pacific-led ocean initiatives and innovative financing mechanisms developed by Pacific Small Island Developing States.
Push towards 100 percent renewable energy
The declaration identifies renewable energy as both a climate imperative and a major energy security and development priority for the Pacific.
Leaders called for the tripling of global renewable energy capacity and the doubling of the global annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.
They also called for increased investment across the Pacific in renewable energy, electrification, energy storage and climate-resilient energy infrastructure.
The transition, leaders said, must be inclusive.
They called for “just, inclusive and equitable transition pathways” that protect workers, Indigenous peoples, women, youth, marginalised groups and other communities.
Leaders also backed stronger regional renewable energy supply chains, manufacturing partnerships and technology transfer.
They called for faster decarbonisation of maritime and land transport, including through wind-assisted propulsion, green fuels and electrification.
Climate finance under pressure
The strongest demands in the declaration focus on climate finance, with leaders expressing “grave concern” at the lack of adequate, predictable and sustainable funding for Pacific countries.
They said the finance shortfall was increasing the exposure of already vulnerable populations to loss and damage and other global shocks.
The Forum called for adequate, predictable and accessible climate finance and greater recognition of the special circumstances and vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States in eligibility rules, allocation and access to climate and development finance.
Leaders called for effective delivery of Article 9 of the Paris Agreement and the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, including grants and other non-debt creating instruments with simplified and direct access arrangements.
They also called for urgent action to close the adaptation finance gap, including responding to the UN climate process call to at least triple adaptation finance.
Forum leaders demanded increased funding to avert, minimise and address loss and damage, including through the timely and adequate replenishment of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage.
They also called for scaled-up, predictable and grant-based finance directly accessible to Pacific Small Island Developing States to support renewable energy and adaptation without increasing unsustainable debt.
Backing for Pacific Resilience Facility
The declaration also puts the Pacific Resilience Facility at the centre of the region’s climate finance architecture.
Leaders called on the international community and multilateral and bilateral partners to help finance a fully capitalised Pacific Resilience Facility.
They described the facility as “the cornerstone of our financial architecture” for building resilience through Pacific community-led and Pacific community-owned interventions.
The Belau Declaration sends the Pacific into the next round of global climate negotiations with a sharpened message: commitments must now be matched by implementation and climate ambition must be backed by finance.
With Pacific leaders preparing for Pre-COP meetings and COP31, the declaration makes clear that the region will continue to press the international community to act faster to keep 1.5°C within reach and deliver the resources needed by communities already living with the consequences of climate change.
