Ruth Cross Kwansing, Kiribati’s Minister for Women, Youth, Sports and Social Affairs, has been confirmed as the new Pacific Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Climate Champion, a high-level advocacy role designed to elevate the voices of women, youth, and vulnerable communities in climate negotiations and regional resilience planning.
The announcement was shared via her official social media page.
Kwansing’s appointment—reportedly endorsed by Pacific ACP Leaders during the 54th Pacific Islands Forum in Honiara—forms part of a broader Pacific initiative to strengthen leadership under thematic “political champion” pillars that address climate, finance, oceans, and resilience.
The role aligns with commitments reaffirmed in the 2025 Forum Leaders’ Communiqué, which endorses coordinated advocacy and inclusive representation across all sectors tied to climate action. Pacific high level political climate champions are jointly supported by all regional organisations under what is known as the One-CROP acronym, with climate work led by the Samoa-based SPREP.
According to her parliamentary statement, Kwansing joins a high-level Pacific grouping supported by regional experts to shape collective negotiating priorities. She will consolidate perspectives from civil society, youth, academia, and the private sector to guide Pacific engagement at upcoming UN climate conferences.
Kwansing succeeds Mona Ainu’u of Niue, who served as the inaugural GESI Climate Champion and played a pioneering role in mainstreaming gender equality within Pacific climate policy.
At COP29 in Baku during Climate Action Week 2025, Kwansing delivered impassioned remarks highlighting inclusive adaptation: “Pacific women are not only shaping change — we deliver it.” Her new mandate continues that advocacy, amplifying women’s and Indigenous perspectives in global climate forums, advancing gender-responsive climate finance, and ensuring that the lived realities of Pacific communities shape future COP commitments.
The GESI Climate Champion portfolio builds on more than a decade of Pacific leadership in gender-responsive governance, first anchored in the Pacific Leaders Declaration on Gender Equality (2012) and renewed through the revitalized Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration (PLGED).
Regional observers note that Kwansing’s appointment underscores the Pacific’s determination to link gender equality with climate ambition ahead of COP30 in Baku and aligns with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
Additional political climate champions are expected to be announced in the coming days as the region prepares for COP 30 in Brazil, next month.
