A Macuata youth representative has told a pre-COP31 town hall in Savusavu that the Government should treat Indigenous people and coastal communities as key implementers of Fiji’s climate response, not just as voices in the room. Laisani Sepo made the call at the Fiji Media Association’s Pre-COP31 Climate Change Town Hall on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, and drew a response from the Minister for Rural and Maritime Development, Mosese Bulitavu, according to the Fiji Sun.
Key facts
- Sepo urged the Government to recognise Indigenous people and coastal communities as key implementers of Fiji’s climate response, the Fiji Sun reported.
- The call came at the Fiji Media Association’s Pre-COP31 Climate Change Town Hall in Savusavu on September 23, 2026.
- She said communities had protected natural resources and coral reefs for generations, long before climate change became a national and international agenda.
- Bulitavu, the Minister for Rural and Maritime Development, acknowledged the importance of traditional knowledge in addressing climate change.
- The Fiji Sun report contains no funding figure, timeline or new policy commitment arising from the exchange.
Why it matters
The exchange turns on a distinction Sepo herself drew: being represented in climate discussions is not the same as being the party that carries the work out. Her point, as reported by the Fiji Sun, is that villages on Fiji’s coasts and reefs are already doing the protecting, and that national and international climate processes have arrived after the fact rather than before it.
For readers in Fiji and in the diaspora, the question she put is a practical one about where climate decisions and climate money actually land — at conference tables, or in the maritime and rural districts that the minister’s own portfolio covers.
What Sepo asked at the town hall
Sepo’s argument, the Fiji Sun reported, was that coastal and Indigenous communities have a track record that predates the climate agenda: generations of managing natural resources and coral reefs.
She then put the question directly to the minister. “What can the Government do to make sure that they are not only represented in discussions, but as an implementer in coping with the challenges that they are facing in the different communities?” she asked, according to the Fiji Sun.
The minister’s response
Bulitavu accepted the premise. The Fiji Sun reported that he acknowledged the importance of traditional knowledge in addressing climate change, and said that because the knowledge already exists, some of it needs updating for the current generation rather than the country leaning on foreign solutions.
He also pointed to Fiji’s record in international climate negotiations and to how forums and funding, in his account, can flow down to communities. The report does not record any commitment attached to that — no programme name, no allocation and no date.
Background: Indigenous knowledge in Fiji’s climate debate
The Savusavu town hall lands in a run of Fijian arguments about who controls traditional knowledge and who benefits from climate work. Fiji News has reported claims that foreign researchers “poach” Fijian Indigenous knowledge, a complaint that sits close to Sepo’s distinction between consultation and ownership of the work.
On the delivery side, Fiji News has also reported that Fiji joined the UNDP BRIDGE climate pilot, with Kadavu named first — an example of the community-level programming Sepo was asking about.
The Macuata and Vanua Levu angle
Sepo spoke as a Macuata representative at an event held on Vanua Levu, the province and island group whose coastal villages are the ones her question described. The Fiji Sun gives no attendance figure for the town hall and names no other speakers from the floor.
What the report does not say
Several things stay open. The Fiji Sun does not report any government decision to formally designate communities as implementers, nor any change to how climate funds are channelled to villages, nor any dollar amount in FJD. It does not say whether Sepo’s request will be carried into Fiji’s COP31 positions.
That silence on figures is a recurring feature of Fiji’s climate announcements: Fiji News has reported that China’s pledge to keep backing Fiji on climate resilience came with no dollar figure either.
What the Savusavu session did produce, on the Fiji Sun’s account, was a minister on the record agreeing that the knowledge is already in the communities — and a youth representative asking, in public and before COP31, what the state intends to do with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the minister say Indigenous people are part of Fiji’s COP delegation?
Yes. According to the Fiji Sun, Mosese Bulitavu said Fiji’s COP delegation included Indigenous representatives. He also said traditional knowledge and Indigenous rights were areas in which Fiji had advanced in international negotiations.
Did Bulitavu explain how climate funding would reach villages?
Only in general terms. The Fiji Sun quoted him saying that when such forums are held in Fiji, or when funding comes, those things can go down to the communities. The report carries no mechanism, application process or amount in FJD.
Where exactly was the town hall held?
The Fiji Sun places the Fiji Media Association’s Pre-COP31 Climate Change Town Hall in Savusavu, Vanua Levu. Its photo caption of Bulitavu and Sepo is more specific again, naming the Savusavu Town Hall in Nukubalavu Village on September 23, 2026.
Who is Laisani Sepo?
The Fiji Sun identifies her only as a Macuata youth representative who spoke at the Savusavu town hall. The report gives no organisation, title or age, and no further biographical detail.
