Pacific youth and women’s advocates used the opening of the Pacific Pre-COP31 in Nadi on Monday to demand that frontline communities be given real decision-making power, not just a chance to tell their stories. The meeting, which Australia is co-hosting with Fiji and Tuvalu, runs in Nadi from 5 to 8 October alongside a Leaders’ event in Tuvalu on 5 and 6 October, ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, in November.
Key facts
- Pacific Youth Council representative Miliana Iga told the opening that communities should not have to relive trauma to be believed, according to FBC News.
- More than 50 countries and thousands of decision makers, experts and advocates are expected to take part, The Australia Today reports.
- Fiji’s Permanent Secretary Dr Sivendra Michael said developing countries’ adaptation needs are estimated at about 12 times current international public adaptation finance, Islands Business reports.
- Fiji has identified 43 communities where planned relocation may be required, with each relocation able to cost millions of dollars and take years, the same outlet reports.
- Fiji Women’s Rights Movement executive director Nalini Singh says men continue to dominate climate negotiations and delegations, excluding women from decision-making, RNZ Pacific reports.
Why it matters
Nadi is the last large gathering before negotiators meet in Türkiye, and Australia secured the COP31 President of Negotiations role at COP30 along with an agreement to deliver a Pacific-hosted Pre-COP, including a Leaders’ event, The Australia Today reports. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the region’s priorities would be heard, describing the Pacific as the front line of climate change and a source of solutions, the outlet reports.
The speakers in Nadi argue the gap is not only in money but in who decides how it is spent. Michael said the challenge was not simply the amount available but how it reaches communities, according to Islands Business.
Youth want stories turned into decisions
FBC News reports Iga said communities would share their experiences through the week and that those receiving the stories carry a responsibility to take them forward, in what she called the spirit of reciprocity. “But sharing pain must never be the price of being believed,” she said, as quoted by FBC News.
COP31 Youth Climate Champion Sally Higgins told the opening that climate change is already shaping young people’s lives, affecting jobs, education, safety and the cost of living, the broadcaster reports. Higgins said young people were not describing a distant threat but a present reality. Youth leaders said their knowledge and lived experience must directly shape the decisions that follow the talks.
Women press for a seat at the table
RNZ Pacific reports a new study, ‘Rising Tides, Rising Voices: Building a Pacific movement for greater gender justice, climate and water’, finds women are often excluded from decision-making circles, contributing to gendered impacts of climate change across the region. Singh, one of the co-authors, said water security, menstrual health and women’s leadership need greater attention while global discussions focus on emissions, financing and adaptation.
She traced the exclusion to patriarchal customary and traditional structures that do not naturally see women as decision makers, RNZ reports. Singh gave the example of a Fijian community whose women, on moving to their new settlement, asked where the kitchens were; she said kitchens and washrooms had not been properly considered in the planning, which also affected hygiene needs during menstruation. The study found the most affected were often the most marginalised, and Singh called for Pacific women, including women with disabilities and gender-diverse people, to be treated as equal decision makers. That sits alongside the villagers who have brought their relocation stories to Nadi, and Torres Strait Islanders have also pressed for a place at the Fiji talks.
The finance argument
A Pre-COP31 session on adaptation finance brought together Fiji, Palau, ADB (the Asian Development Bank), the Green Climate Fund and regional agencies, Islands Business reports. Michael called for a shift from “financing the project” to “financing the plan”, greater use of grants and highly concessional finance, and a new measure he called “time to community” — how long finance takes to move from approval to tangible results. He noted projects such as coastal protection, food security and infrastructure often do not generate the returns conventional lenders seek; in Fiji, MPs have already questioned a stalled $2.7m relocation site.
Artur Cardoso de Lacerda, Director of Governance Affairs and Secretary to the Board at the Green Climate Fund, said it has deployed around US$7 billion in adaptation finance across about 145 countries, the outlet reports. Pacific approvals have grown from around US$500 million in 2023 and could approach US$1.3 billion if a major joint ADB-GCF regional programme is approved. Islands Business reports the fund is also working to streamline disbursements and expand the role of Pacific-based and locally led organisations.
Background
Leaders and delegations began the Pre-COP journey with a church service in Nadi on Monday, The Australia Today reports, with Revd Charissa Suli, President of the Uniting Church in Australia, saying the Pacific begins with prayer and listening to the Word of God. The outlet says the Tuvalu Leaders’ event will highlight climate impacts on the island nation and how Tuvaluans are responding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is travelling from Australia for the Pre-COP events?
The Australia Today reports Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Fiji and Tuvalu from 5 to 7 October, joined by Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Special Envoy for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Kate Thwaites. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is Acting Prime Minister until Albanese returns. It is Albanese’s fourth official visit to Fiji and his first to Tuvalu.
Is the Green Climate Fund setting up in the Pacific?
Yes. Islands Business reports the fund plans its first regional offices, with a Pacific office planned for Suva in 2027, and is targeting completion of funding proposal reviews within nine months. It currently has eight accredited entities from the Pacific, five of which already have board-approved proposals.
Which Fijian village is cited as a relocation example at the talks?
The Australia Today points to Vunidogoloa, a remote village in northern Fiji whose community was moved from the coast to higher ground. The outlet reports rising sea levels and changing environmental conditions made life there increasingly difficult, and the village has since become an example of climate adaptation and community resilience in the Pacific.
What did Palau say about the length of adaptation projects?
Palau’s National Climate Change Coordinator, Xavier Matsutaro, told the Nadi session that many adaptation investments need time horizons far beyond the traditional three-to-five-year project cycle, according to Islands Business. He said ports, food systems, waste management and coastal resilience can require programmes lasting a decade or more.
