STATEMENT BY PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM CHAIR
The Honourable Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
May 15, 2023, Bangkok — Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. Kia Orana and warm Pacific Greetings
Let me start by extending our sincere gratitude and thanks to UNESCAP for the opportunity for the Government of the Cook Islands to co-host this event focusing of Pacific Perspectives on Accelerating Climate Action. I stand here both in my national representation and as the Chair of the Pacific Island Forum. As such, our pacific presence here is a strong call to the wider region, to urgently hear and act upon our collective voices as we continue to elevate the crisis that is Climate Change.
The Pacific remains on the front line of climate emergencies. Our women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities are facing the greatest challenge as evident during the recent natural disasters in Vanuatu and New Zealand.
We know that climate change is a cross-cutting issue. UNESCAP publication on Pacific Perspectives attempts to identify and capture specific sectorial issues impacted by climate change like Oceans, Trade and Energy. It also touches on building resilience and climate synergies.
We must translate these climate policies into meaningful actions for our communities. The intersectionality of climate action is critical as we raise our ambitions. Investing in renewable technologies, facilitating access to climate change financing for adaption and mitigation, setting up contextualized mechanism to respond rapidly and efficiently to disasters, there are many actions that our region has already identified and continue to lobby for.
We must keep up our advocacy on ambitious mitigation efforts.
Phasing out the region’s reliance on fossil fuel and following a Just transition plan should be considered through the lens of equity, fairness and integrity principles.
There are opportunities to harness research on climate smart digital technologies.
As I outlined in my statement during the opening of the Commission session today, the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent sets out our Leaders’ vision and aspirations for securing the future of the Pacific. It also sets out long term approaches to working together as a region, as countries and territories.
In the Pacific, the Ocean defines our economies, culture, livelihoods and everything else. The Climate-Ocean nexus is one of the Pacific priorities.
We need concerted efforts from our development partners, sub-regional organizations, civil society, IFIs and UN Agencies to help deliver on the long-term goals, including the SDGs. We need to look beyond our specific sectors or special interests and explore opportunities to dial in to other areas noting that climate change is cross-cutting and pervasive.
Finally, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to extend appreciation and thanks to UNESCAP, especially the Subregional Office for the Pacific in Suva, for the opportunity to partner and work collaboratively on the various thematic areas that will ensure we not only deliver on the 2050 Strategy but that we also meet our sustainable development goals.
As a Chair of the Pacific Island Forum, I committed to expand the scope and scale of our genuine partnership with the UN agencies such as ESCAP and among CROP partners. I thank you.