Fiji, Palau and Tuvalu look set to host world leaders and climate change ministers in the lead-up to COP31 in a bid to encourage larger countries to accelerate cuts to emissions.
Both Fiji and Palau had offered to host the “pre-COP2 meetings secured for the Pacific under a complicated deal struck last year that saw hosting rights for the main climate summit go to Türkiye while giving Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen a key position in global climate negotiations.
Australia and Pacific Islands nations have declared they want to use the opportunity to publicise the Pacific’s existential battle with climate change.
But negotiations on who should host events in the lead-up to the summit have dragged on.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr told the ABC that Pacific leaders were close to landing a deal that would hand Palau, Fiji and Tuvalu a prominent role ahead of COP31.
Palau is already hosting the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting in early September.
Under that deal Whipps would also invite other global leaders to a high-level climate summit around the same time.
Whipps said the climate meeting in Palau would be a good “launching board” to build momentum for COP climate negotiations through the back half of the year, while also drawing new commitments from global leaders to help Pacific nations decarbonise and build infrastructure to withstand climate impacts.
“At the PIF our priorities are going to be 100 per cent renewables, the ocean-climate nexus and … accelerating investments that build resilience from climate change,” he told the ABC’s Pacific Beat.
“We believe these topics are important outcomes we can come out of PIF with.
“And if we bring other high leaders in, then that can help springboard that message. We’re adding another dimension to really maximise that impact.”
Under the proposal, Fiji would host the traditional pre-COP meeting with climate change ministers in October.
Whipps said that meeting would likely include a trip to the low-lying island nation of Tuvalu, which is extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise and has played an outsized role in Pacific climate advocacy for years.
Bowen said Pacific discussions on the pre-COP events were “very close to a resolution” and he expected an announcement “very, very soon”.
“It’s an important opportunity to bring senior climate ministers and others from around the world to the Pacific to see firsthand the impacts of climate change,” he said.
Whipps said he had also invited US Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the PIF leaders’ meeting and was hopeful one of them would be able to attend.
Palau has close links to the United States as one of three Compact of Free Association states that accept substantial American funding in exchange for guaranteeing U.S military access.
