The 50th anniversary of the Pacific Island Forum provided a chance for the region’s leaders to celebrate their successes – but also served as another reminder of its fragile state
Rising seas and the risk of a shrinking membership were at the fore as Pacific leaders hit a notable milestone while trying to steer out of what one leader called “a perfect storm”.
The Pacific Islands Forum held a virtual leaders’ retreat on Friday, marking the 50th anniversary of the forum’s inaugural 1971 meeting in Wellington.
Outgoing forum chair and Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano spoke of how the Pacific voice had become “more united and focused”, with clearer and more pronounced messages on the need for global action to tackle climate change.
While the pandemic had proven a formidable challenge to the Pacific’s way of life, the region “did not sit idly by”, but responded both as individual governments and as a collective to the crisis.
But that formidable challenge is far from over, as both Natano and his successor, Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, made clear.
“We live in a world that is in turmoil. We are beset by a runaway climate crisis, a raging Covid-19 pandemic, and a worsening socio-economic crisis – one you might term the perfect storm,” Bainimarama said.
“Our statehoods, our sovereignty, our people and our identity – indeed, our past, present and future economic development strategies and nation-building aspirations are based on the security and permanency of the maritime zones against sea level rise.”
It was climate change that emerged as the focus of a leaders’ declaration, setting out the Pacific’s desire to maintain both existing maritime zones and the associated entitlements in the face of rising seas.
As Natano pointed out, sea level rise “threatens the very core” of the Pacific’s existence.
“Our statehoods, our sovereignty, our people and our identity – indeed, our past, present and future economic development strategies and nation-building aspirations are based on the security and permanency of the maritime zones against sea level rise.”
Covid-19 also remains a significant problem for Pacific nations, with Bainimarama concluding his remarks by thanking Pacific leaders for their prayers as Fiji continues to be ravaged by the virus.
But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sounded a note of optimism on vaccine access after the meeting, telling media: “We’ve gone from a period where in the beginning of the year, there was an issue with supply of vaccines to a situation now where it’s very much a matter of coordinating vaccine distribution, [and] there’s really good bilateral work going on between Pacific Island neighbours to ensure that everyone has the supply they need.”
Another threat facing the forum, one of its own making, cast a shadow over proceedings.
Earlier this year, five Micronesian states – Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau –announced their intention to leave the forum, after former Cook Islands prime minister Henry Puna was controversially selected as its next secretary-general in breach of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’.
While all five are still members given the 12-month withdrawal process, only Nauru President Lionel Aingimea was present at the start of the leaders’ meeting – and he disconnected from the video conference just before Puna delivered some remarks, only returning after they were completed.
Unity ‘not a nicety but a necessity’
Bainimarama offered apologies to “our Micronesian brothers”, conceding: “We could have handled the situation better, but I remain confident that we will find a way forward together.”
Natano too acknowledged the unrest, saying the forum’s value came from members’ ability to address difficult issues in a “frank and respectful manner” and find a way through.
“Unity and solidarity for us is not simply a nicety, but a necessity placed upon us by the extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances which we face, by our own history, and the conditions confounding the globe.”
Puna himself did not shy away from addressing the situation, saying: “Our bond as one forum family is being put to the extreme test, but … challenges are not new, differences are not unexpected, and resolution and unity will always remain our objectives.”
Speaking after the meeting, Ardern sounded a note of optimism that the Micronesian members could be persuaded to change their minds, emphasising New Zealand’s belief that Pacific nations were stronger together.
As well as marking history, Pacific leaders made it, with Joe Biden becoming the first US president to address the forum.
Speaking about the threat of Covid-19, Biden touted American plans to buy and donate half a billion doses of the Pfizer vaccine through the global COVAX scheme, adding in a thinly veiled dig at China: “We’re not attaching any strings or conditions to these doses – this is about saving lives.”
In pre-recorded remarks, Biden described the US as “a proud Pacific partner … and a friend to all your countries”, saying the country would continue to play an active role in the region.
“A free and open Indo-Pacific is vital to each of our nation’s security and prosperity and all our shared futures.”
Speaking about the threat of Covid-19, Biden touted American plans to buy and donate half a billion doses of the Pfizer vaccine through the global COVAX scheme, adding in a thinly veiled dig at China: “We’re not attaching any strings or conditions to these doses – this is about saving lives.”
On climate change, he highlighted a US commitment to dramatically reduce its emissions by 2030 and ramp up its climate finance contributions to developing nations.
But as several Pacific watchers noted, if Biden hoped to send a message of American backing for the forum, it was undercut somewhat by its other diplomatic dealings the same day.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. skipped the leaders’ meeting to instead speak to American aid officials and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III.
“The optics of this on the US side are pretty poor and reflects how disconnected and disjointed Washington’s Pacific strategy is,” Massey University senior lecturer Dr Anna Powles said on Twitter of the US decision to host one of the Micronesian walkouts.
