“An ocean pledge means little unless it protects the people who depend on the ocean.”
Minister for Environment and Climate Change Hon. Lynda Tabuya delivered that message at the Ocean Panel Leaders’ Meeting in New York. The meeting was chaired by the President of Palau and the Prime Minister of Norway, with the President of Namibia in attendance.
Also attending were the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat’s Special Envoy on Oceans and Fiji’s Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Inia Seruiratu, and UN Oceans Commissioner Peter Thomson, Fiji’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Minister Tabuya said Fiji’s commitment to protect 30% of its ocean must be backed by funding, effective management and enforcement, while safeguarding food security, livelihoods and customary rights.
“Pacific countries care for vast ocean areas. We need predictable support for science, communities and surveillance to turn commitments into action,” she said.
Fiji will put the ocean–climate nexus at the heart of Pre-COP31 next month and carry that work through COP31 and the first BBNJ COP.