The Pacific has opened its home at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), with the official launch of the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion and Pacific Delegation Office in Antalya this evening.
With the support from the Governments of Australia and New Zealand and managed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Pavilion will host a two-week programme of side events, talanoa sessions and exhibitions. Pacific experts, youth, women, community and indigenous leaders will share what they know from living with the climate crisis every day.
Together with the Pacific Delegation Office, Pacific negotiators have a dedicated space to prepare, coordinate and work together until the conference ends on November 20th.
The opening was led by Lynda Tabuya, Fiji’s Minister for Information, Environment and Climate Change and Chair of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), alongside Chris Bowen, Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy and COP31 President of Negotiations, Stuart Coleman, New Zealand’s Ambassador for Climate Change, and Sefanaia Nawadra, SPREP Director General. Pacific Ministers, the Pacific’s Special Envoy for Oceans, Inia Seruiratu, and heads of delegation joined an evening of performances by Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts and This Is Our Home Band, with prayer and devotion led by Reverend Faaimata Havea Hiliau.
The Pavilion is located at the centre of the COP31 venue. It is close to the pavilions of the COP31 Presidency, Türkiye, and the President of Negotiations, Australia.
SPREP Director General, Sefanaia Nawadra thanked New Zealand “for being with us right from the start” and Australia for helping make the Pavilion possible. He recalled that the Pavilion began at COP24 in Katowice (Poland), as the Pacific and Koronivia Pavilion. It was named after the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture that Fiji led and secured at COP23.
“I think there’s a good omen there. This time around, we need to get the ocean through as a formal item at COP. With our Ministers who are here, and our envoy for oceans, we know we will do what we need to do. – get oceans onto the formal agenda.”
While acknowledging the performers, who are mainly from the Pacific diaspora in Australia, he said, “they are Pacific Islanders who don’t live in the Pacific, but they are still Pacific people. And I know all of you who come here to join us as the Pacific family will go back and speak loudly, to help amplify the Pacific voice that needs to be heard at COP31 and beyond.”
Minister Tabuya thanked the Matavai performers “for reminding us of who we are” and called on the Pacific to bring its heart to the negotiations.
She said “I believe that hearts can change here, and this is what we need. We need hearts to change when we are here at COP. We will bring the heart of the Pacific, and the heart of the Pacific is the ocean.”
“The ocean, again, is struggling to get on the agenda. We see the glaciers and the forests have now made it. So where is the ocean, once again? We need to fight for the ocean. Let’s do this for the Pacific. Let’s do this together,” Minister Tabuya urged everyone.
Minister Bowen said the Pavilion’s place beside the COP presidencies was deliberate.
“It’s right and proper that this year the Moana Pavilion is right here in the centre, next to Australia and Türkiye, where the presidents have their pavilions. We wanted the Moana Pavilion to be right here with us.”
He recalled the Pacific putting 1.5°C on the agenda in Paris. “Let us never forget, the Pacific insisted 2 degrees is not good enough. We must reinforce that commitment and push again for that commitment.”
“Oceans, the world’s largest climate regulator, have not received enough attention at COP. That changes here at COP31. And it’s not good enough that 0.2 per cent of the world’s climate finance goes to small island developing states for adaptation. That has to change.”
“Getting consensus across more than 190 countries is not easy, and I can’t promise you exactly what the outcome will be. But I can promise you this: the Pacific will be right there with us at the heart of the negotiations, every single day. This is your chance to tell our story as a Pacific family. Let’s tell it loud, let’s tell it proud, and let’s tell it consistently over the next fortnight,” said Bowen.
New Zealand Climate Change Ambassador, Stuart Coleman acknowledged SPREP’s vision in conceiving the Pavilion and Australia’s support in creating a space to put Pacific voices at the forefront of climate action at COP31.
“New Zealand has been a long-standing supporter of this Pavilion, and we’re really pleased to continue the partnership here at COP.” He added that the Pre-COP partnership with Fiji and Tuvalu this year had been a special moment in setting out the messages the Pacific wants to send to COP31.
The opening closed with a screening of the poem “Breathe 1.5” and the trailer for Pacific Rising, a 75-minute documentary premiering at COP31, which follows communities across six Pacific nations (Tuvalu, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, the Marshall Islands and Samoa). It brings to the fore indigenous knowledge and science to respond to a changing climate. Narrated by Australian-Samoan actress, Catherine Laga’aia and produced by Wild Pacific Media, the film’s message is what the Pacific has carried to Antalya – what happens to the Pacific, happens to the world.
Delegates and media are invited to visit the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion throughout COP31 and to join its programme of side events.
