Pacific Ocean Envoy Inia Seruiratu says the ocean must be placed at the centre of international climate negotiations ahead of COP31, the United Nations climate summit. FBC News reported his comments on 14 October 2026, carrying them alongside remarks from Oceans Envoy Tina Stege, who said the Pacific wants ocean issues written into the talks on adaptation, mitigation, financing and resilience.
Key facts
- Seruiratu, described by FBC News as the Pacific Ocean Envoy and a climate envoy from Fiji, says protecting the ocean safeguards food security, livelihoods and the cultural identity of Pacific communities.
- He says coastal communities are already experiencing climate change impacts, which makes ocean protection urgent.
- Stege says any outcomes at the summit must respond to the fact that the world will be overshooting 1.5.
- The ocean holds 90 per cent of the excess heat in the climate system and 30 per cent of all carbon — figures cited by Australia’s COP31 Youth Ocean Advocate, Kal Glanznig, in an interview published by Mirage News.
- COP31 runs in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026, with Australia serving as President of Negotiations, Mirage News reports.
- Australia partnered with Pacific island countries to host the Pacific Pre-COP in Fiji and Tuvalu from 5 to 8 October 2026.
Why it matters
Seruiratu frames the ocean as more than a natural resource, telling FBC News it is central to economic security, traditions and daily life: “It is our food security. It is our economic security.” He says protecting marine ecosystems matters not only to Pacific communities but to the world, and warns that a healthy planet cannot exist without a healthy ocean.
In Fiji that is close to literal. Tourism, the country’s largest industry, sells reefs, lagoons and beaches directly to visitors; inshore fishing feeds coastal households and supplies domestic markets; and licensed tuna fleets work the exclusive economic zone around the islands. This site has reported that Fiji’s roughly 6,000 sq km of reefs along Fiji’s coast are already under pressure, and that villages have turned to community reef restoration at Naidiri to rebuild the habitat both industries sit on. Whether Antalya treats the ocean as a line item in adaptation and finance decisions is therefore a decision about Fijian earnings, not only about ecology.
What the envoys are asking for
Stege’s stated goal is narrower than a general appeal. She says ocean concerns should sit inside the four workstreams already on the table — adaptation, mitigation, financing and resilience — rather than being handled as a separate conversation. She told FBC News the region has a clear mandate from the Pacific and from others in the room, based on the response she heard there. Neither report names the government or body she speaks for; Stege has served as the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ climate envoy since 2018.
FBC News also reports the envoys want stronger international partnerships and faster access to climate finance for communities facing climate impacts. The two reports used here carry no figures, timelines or funding target, and do not set out what an ocean-inclusive COP31 text would contain, how an overshoot response would be structured, or who would pay for it.
The 1.5 overshoot
Stege ties the Antalya outcome directly to overshoot. She says the response must be forceful and overwhelming, that outcomes in Antalya need to respond to the overshoot of 1.5, and that this is the portfolio she is charged to champion all the way into Türkiye.
Australia’s role in the summit
The ocean push lands inside a presidency Australia is running. Mirage News reports Australia has appointed Glanznig — a surfer, local councillor and environmental leader from Cronulla in New South Wales — as Youth Ocean Advocate, with a brief to elevate diverse youth voices, champion the climate-ocean connection and promote inclusive community participation in climate action. “We’ve got one shared ocean, there’s no fences, there’s no borders,” he said in the interview published by the outlet.
Glanznig says the ocean is entwined in Pacific national identities and culture as well as Australia’s, and that the lead-up to COP31 is the moment to put it in front of the rest of the world. He also advocates on mental health, including the effect of climate change on young Australians.
Background
The Pacific’s run-up to Antalya already passed through Fiji, and Mirage News reports Glanznig was to take part; this site covered the Pacific Pre-COP leaders’ meeting in Nadi.
FBC News is also not consistent on titles. It calls Seruiratu the Pacific Ocean Envoy in one line and a climate envoy from Fiji in another, and gives Stege only as Oceans Envoy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Australia’s COP31 Youth Ocean Advocate say about the size of the Pacific Ocean?
In the interview published by Mirage News, Kal Glanznig says the Pacific Ocean makes up 30 per cent of the world’s ocean and that the ocean provides two or three of the breaths we take. He calls it our greatest climate superpower.
Who will Kal Glanznig work with inside the COP31 presidency?
Mirage News reports that Glanznig will work closely with COP31 Presidency Youth Climate Champion Sally Higgins to ensure youth perspectives are embedded in climate decision making.
What is Kal Glanznig’s background before the COP31 appointment?
According to Mirage News, the 26-year-old from Cronulla, New South Wales, co-founded Blue Minds, a national program encouraging young Australians to lead ocean action, and Plastic Free Cronulla, which helped secure the New South Wales ban on single-use plastics. In 2024 he became the youngest independent councillor elected to Sutherland Shire Council.
