Fiji has been selected as one of five pilot countries for the Climate Implementation Bridge, or BRIDGE, a programme launched in New York by the COP31 Presidency of Türkiye and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN’s development agency, the Fiji Sun reported on 25 September 2026. Minister for Environment and Climate Change Lynda Tabuya, who attended the launch, said a key focus for Fiji would be extending renewable energy to rural communities still off the national electricity grid.
Key facts
- BRIDGE was launched in New York by the COP31 Presidency of Türkiye and the UNDP, with Fiji named one of five pilot countries, according to the Fiji Sun.
- The initiative is designed to help countries move from climate pledges to implementation by developing practical, investment-ready projects that can attract funding and support.
- Fiji will develop an NDC3.0 Costed Implementation Plan as part of the pilot.
- Tabuya said her island province of Kadavu is home to around 12,000 people and is not connected to the national electricity grid.
- The Fiji Sun report does not put a dollar figure on BRIDGE or name a funding source for Fiji’s projects.
Why it matters
The pitch behind BRIDGE, as the Fiji Sun describes it, addresses a gap Pacific governments have complained about for years: pledges that never turn into built projects. For Fiji, the practical test named by the minister is grid-free communities getting power.
It is also the second climate commitment in recent weeks where the headline arrives without a number attached. China pledged to keep backing Fiji on climate resilience without naming a figure, and the BRIDGE announcement likewise sets out a process rather than a budget.
What Fiji has signed up to
Under the pilot, Fiji is to produce its NDC3.0 Costed Implementation Plan, the Fiji Sun reports. The Government says that document will help translate Fiji’s climate ambitions into concrete actions while supporting sustainable development and resilience in vulnerable communities.
The announcement lands during the UN General Assembly period in New York, where Fiji’s delegation at the UN ahead of its Pre-COP31 role has been working alongside other Pacific governments.
Kadavu named as the first target
Tabuya framed the renewable energy focus in personal terms. “For me, this is personal,” she said of Kadavu, according to the Fiji Sun, noting the province’s roughly 12,000 residents have no grid connection.
She said the opportunity was to connect Kadavu straight to renewable energy rather than leave communities dependent on fossil fuels — a dependence that has drawn political attention elsewhere in Fiji, including a row over fossil-fuel advertising at Fiji’s airports. Electricity access, she said, would improve services at schools and health facilities and open up opportunities for families and small businesses.
Pacific leaders push the same message at the UN
While Fiji was being named a BRIDGE pilot, two other Melanesian leaders used UN platforms in New York to demand faster action from large emitters, RNZ reported the same day.
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape, speaking at a General Assembly high-level plenary on sea-level rise, told industrialised nations to end what he described as empty promises. “Stop your carbon emissions,” he said, according to RNZ, adding that sea-level rise is already present and that it is “enough of talking”.
RNZ reports Marape said climate conversations have stayed at the forefront of international diplomacy while actual mitigation by big polluters has been minimal, and he urged the biggest economies to do more on sea-level rise threats facing PNG and Pacific small island states.
Solomon Islands: 0.0015 percent of emissions
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale told a UN Secretary-General’s summit session that his country contributes less than 0.0015 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet its communities regularly face rising seas, king tides, saltwater intrusion, cyclones, droughts and extreme rainfall, RNZ reports.
Wale said Solomon Islands did not cause the crisis but bears its consequences every day, and that vulnerable countries are being forced to choose between climate action and essential development priorities including education, health, food and water security, and infrastructure, according to RNZ.
What is not yet clear
Neither report says how much money is attached to BRIDGE, when Fiji’s NDC3.0 Costed Implementation Plan is due, or which Kadavu communities would be connected first. The Fiji Sun describes the plan as a step toward attracting funding, not a commitment of funds. The sources also give no detail on the technology, contractors or timeline for any Kadavu renewable energy project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which other countries were chosen for the BRIDGE pilot alongside Fiji?
The Fiji Sun reports that Fiji was selected alongside Ethiopia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The five make up the pilot group for the Climate Implementation Bridge launched by the COP31 Presidency of Türkiye and the UNDP.
What will Fiji’s NDC3.0 Costed Implementation Plan actually contain?
According to the Fiji Sun, the plan will identify priority climate projects, estimate their costs and map out delivery mechanisms. The Government says it will help translate Fiji’s climate ambitions into concrete actions while supporting sustainable development and resilience in vulnerable communities.
Where at the UN did the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands leaders make their calls?
RNZ reports that Prime Minister James Marape spoke at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Plenary Meeting on Addressing the Existential Threats Posed by Sea-Level Rise. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale spoke at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit on ‘Just Transition’ at the Trusteeship Council in New York.
What kind of climate finance is Solomon Islands asking for?
Wale told the summit that climate finance must be grant-based, predictable and accessible, aligned with national priorities and without adding to the debt burden of vulnerable countries, RNZ reports. He said commitments must become finance and ambition must become resilience on the ground.
