Pacific Islands Forum

The '2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent' was endorsed by regional heads of governments on 14 July, as the curtains fell on the 51st Forum Leaders' Meeting in Suva.

"As Pacific Leaders, our vision is for a resilient Pacific Region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion and prosperity, that ensures all Pacific peoples can lead free, healthy and productive lives," the 2050 strategy's leaders' vision states.

Forum chairman and Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said the new regional blueprint "is about who we are".

Jacinda Ardern is attending the forum alongside Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta.

The funding announced for Pacific crop seeds this afternoon allowed the preservation of the region's biodiversity, "which is incredibly important to all of us", Ardern said.

She said it was important for the region to move away as much as possible from the reliance on fossil fuels.

Mr. Puna said this Sunday while officially opening the media masterclass of the 51st PIF Leaders Meeting in Suva, Fiji.
This PIF Meeting will be the first face-to-face meeting in three years.
“What three years it has been with pandemic disruption and recovery alongside the ongoing challenges of the climate crisis, and the ongoing geostrategic and geopolitical priorities and interests in our region as well,” he said.
Mr. Puna said the Pacific media, in the last 12 months, had reported 50 years of the Pacific regional family and the challenges that it had faced.

Speaking to Journalists yesterday (Sunday) Henry Puna says the Pacific Islands 2050 Strategy has been tailored towards addressing challenges and opportunities for Pacific Islands States in the next 50 years.

He says Pacific leaders who are currently in Suva Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting will be discussing the Strategy and put the strategy forward for adoption at the end of the meeting.

Prime ministers from Australia and Papua New Guinea are expected to fly into Suva tonight, however the empty seats with Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Nauru name tags will not be filled.

This morning's meeting for leaders, observers and associate members was opened by Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama, who acknowledged the 'breakdown in communication' with the Micronesian bloc.

He called on the leaders to remember the necessity of re-establishing "our family bonds".

It was revealed at the weekend that the Kiribati president Taneti Maamau was not attending the gathering, and his nation had formally withdrawn from the Forum.

Nauru's Lionel Aingimea was also understood to not be attending, ostensibly because of the soaring levels of Covid-19 in his country.

Now, Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown has also pulled out, and said he wants to focus on the election, which is to be held in three weeks.

Pacific Minister Pat Conroy said the federal government's new climate target had been well supported by nations in the region and a sign of improved ties amid growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific.

“Our renewed and increased action on climate change has been welcomed by Pacific island nations,” Conroy told ABC Radio on Monday.

“There's a real enthusiasm on Australia's climate policy, a palpable sense of relief that we have finally listened to the region's priorities ... it's giving us a huge opportunity to rebuild our relationship with the Pacific.

He was 67.

 “We are shocked and saddened upon learning about the passing of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Leaders around the world knew him as a man deeply devoted to his country,"  Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and Lieutenant Governor Josh Tenorio said in a statement.

 The Pacific has become a site of intense geostrategic competition, as a result of increased interest from China, and Kiribati’s withdrawal will weaken the forum at a time when Pacific regionalism in the face of fierce geopolitical attention has never been more important.

 Taneti Maamau, the president of Kiribati, outlined his reasons for the decision in a letter to the PIF secretary general that was first reported by 1News New Zealand but which has been obtained independently by the Guardian.

The five northern Pacific states, Palau, Nauru, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia, vowed early last year to pull out of the organisation.

They were angry their nominee for secretary general, Marshall Islands diplomat Gerald Zackios, had been overlooked in favour of Cook Islands Prime Minister Puna.

The spokesman for the FSM government said the Micronesian states have been given an undertaking by both New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne that Mr Puna is to step down by June.