The director of the Pacific Security College Professor Dave Peebles, has addressed one of the urgent security challenges confronting the Pacific.
And Professor Peebles shared the concerns of Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka of a “polycrisis” or multiple problems happening at the same time, facing the Blue Pacific.
“Climate change, challenges to human security, transnational crime, geopolitics – these represent some of the biggest challenges in human history, and these challenges have all come together in the Blue Pacific,” Professor Peebles said at the Pacific Regional and National Security Conference (PRNSC)in Suva.
Professor Peebles stressed the importance of this week’s regional security conference in tackling these multifaceted threats.
“Given these challenges, how do we protect the future? How do we look after the next generation?” he asked.
The PRNSC has gathered 150 security professionals and experts from across the Pacific and beyond, including officials from national security, law enforcement, legal, fisheries, customs, borders, and foreign affairs sectors.
“The Pacific Security College, which I lead, has been honoured to work with nine Pacific security organisations to bring everyone together,” said Peebles.
“We’ll talanoa about every aspect of the polycrisis before the Blue Pacific. And we’ll conduct a futures exercise on how we navigate the voyage between now and 2050.”
He highlighted the critical questions to be addressed at the conference.
“There are two key questions before the Conference: What are the urgent actions we need to take today to tackle the polycrisis before the Blue Pacific? And what are the urgent actions needed to prepare for tomorrow, to protect our children and our grandchildren?”
Reflecting on the conference’s goals, Peebles noted, “The leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum have given us a timeframe in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. How do we safely get to 2050?”
The three days of intense discussion and strategic planning is aimed at securing a sustainable and secure future for the Pacific region amidst an array of complex and interlinked crises.
The conference participants are drawn from the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO), Pacific Fusion Centre, Pacific Immigration Development Community (PIDC), Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP), Pacific Islands Forum, Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and the University of the South Pacific (USP).
