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In the Blue Pacific, our livelihoods, cultures, and traditions are intertwined with the ocean, which accounts for almost 98% of the Pacific region.

For our 10 million Pacific islanders, the Pacific Ocean is our major economic, social, and cultural lifeline. Its coastal and marine environments sustain a multitude of important activities that fuel local, national, and international economies and provide livelihoods and food security for millions of islanders.

But our role as stewards of the world’s largest ocean is being threatened by climate change unless urgent transformative actions are taken by wealthy and major emitters to achieve net zero carbon by mid-century.

At , our ocean is already heating and decimating our coral reefs, and our seas are rising. These have fundamental effects on our tourism sector and tuna migration patterns, which are key sources of revenue for many Pacific Small Islands Developing States, and threatens the core of our very survival and sovereignty.

The Code Red painted by the latest science points to a global surface temperature that will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Many changes are irreversible for centuries to millennia, especially changes in the ocean, ice sheets and global sea level.

This is why our Pacific Islands Forum Leaders called for the work on to be advanced within the . To secure our homes and maritime zones now and into perpetuity, our Leaders recently issued the related to sea level rise — a decisive collective action firmly grounded in the 1982 .

Supported by leaders of the Alliance of Small Island States on Sept. 22, the declaration will be promoted at COP26 and will continue to influence international discourse and solutions for climate change-related sea level rise, which leaders have expressed as “a defining issue that imperils the livelihoods and wellbeing of our peoples, and undermines the realization of a peaceful, secure and sustainable future for our region.”

As the tropical cyclone season begins again in the Pacific, our people will certainly look to their weather charts for signs of storms. They know very well that the main feature of climate-induced disasters is the increased frequency and severity of extreme events such as tropical storms, king tides, droughts and flooding.

Disaster-related economic losses in Pacific Small Island Developing States are undeniably higher than almost anywhere else in the world. Last year alone the total economic costs of disasters in the Pacific were around U.S. $1 billion. Tropical Cyclone Pam in 2016 caused damage amounting to 63% of Vanuatu’s GDP, TC Winston in 2017 cost 31% of Fiji’s GDP, and TC Gita in 2018 cost 38% of Tonga’s GDP.

Indeed, we have endured the reality that a few hours of climate-induced disasters have the potential to reverse decades of development gains. Loss and damage is our new normal in the Pacific.

Pre-COVID, Pacific SIDS were already in a constant state of recovery from disasters — responding to a multitude of cascading risks. This has been worsened by the raging impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, to the brink of crippling national economies that are heavily reliant on tourist arrivals.

The consequence is Pacific SIDS are being forced to borrow funds to build back better and adapt to climate change and disaster risks, increasing debt stress for many of our island nations.

But why should Pacific SIDS, which are among the most vulnerable to climate change as recognized in Article 4 of the UN framework on climate change and Article 9.4 of the Paris Agreement, take loans to adapt to climate change?

Essentially, we should be given priority with an allocation of climate financing that should ideally be delivered as grants and more concessional modalities.

Last year alone the total economic costs of disasters in the Pacific were around U.S. $1 billion.

Our assessments have shown that only around U.S. $220 million per year — or a mere 0.28% of the U.S. $79.6 billion reported by the of climate finance mobilized globally in 2019 — flows to Pacific SIDS. That same Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report confirms that only 1.9% of the climate finance generated in 2019 flows to all SIDS globally and just 26.5% was delivered as grants.

This is an alarming trend that should be seriously reviewed by all developed countries, and certainly warrants a reset of the global financing architecture.

These issues elevated the importance of COP26 to us in the Pacific.

‘No Time To Waste’

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is with our Pacific negotiators and delegations in Glasgow this week to raise the urgency for climate action and mobilize global support towards a strong COP26 outcome.

This Conference of the Parties is important because we know this is the final opportunity to keep the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold within reach. Without this outcome, we are certainly destined for an irreversible climate catastrophe that is likely to occur within our lifetime. Therefore, there is no time to waste and no obstacles will prevent Pacific islanders from attending.

Most importantly, world leaders, like our Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, must affirm climate change as the single greatest threat facing all humanity and act with urgency to implement the Paris Agreement. This requires the Paris Rulebook to be finalized in Glasgow.

Climate finance will be a key determinant of success for COP26. There are many finance-related items that will impact COP26, including the delivery of the U.S. $100 billion goal and the long-term financing program, which was due to end in 2020, as well as the initiation of deliberations on a new post-2025 climate finance goal.

We are now at the tail end of 2021, yet the U.S. $100 billion expected by 2020 has not been delivered. Covid-19 must not be an excuse for developed country Parties to delay the provision of “scaled-up finance” for developing countries, as required by Articles 9.1 and 9.3 of the Paris Agreement.

Currently only 21% of total public financing is allocated towards adaptation, and only 5% of that is from bilateral sources. As the most vulnerable, adaptation is the immediate priority of Pacific SIDS. We need to achieve a balance between adaptation and mitigation financing and promote private sector investment in adaptation.

We also look to all parties for support in establishing a dedicated financing window for loss and damage within the Green Climate Fund. Loss and damage is treated separately from adaptation in the Paris Agreement. Attempts to divert adaptation funding towards loss and damage would undermine the purpose of the agreement.

‘Change Is Not A Debate’

As mentioned above, our leaders have also urged all parties to ensure that COP26 advances the work on Ocean in the UNFCCC, recognizing its centrality to our Blue Pacific Continent.

Indeed, we recognize that due to the COVID situation, not all our members will be represented in Glasgow at the senior political level. Therefore, we have initiated and appointed five COP26 Pacific Climate Champions to represent our collective voice on key regional priorities, including climate finance, climate ambition, loss and damage, oceans, and environmental integrity. We invite the international community to engage and support our Political Climate Champions.

What we need is for all world leaders to act now. We know our contribution to the global carbon emissions level in negligible, yet we have a moral authority on climate change, and we are doing our part to tackle the climate crisis facing us.

Pacific Islands Forum Leaders are pursuing regional solutions recognizing that each of our nation’s futures, as well as the actions we choose to take, are interconnected.

We are defining the collective future we want for our children through the development of our “2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific.” This collective vision will put climate change at the centre of our development plans and together, we will take ownership of and collectively respond to pressing challenges ahead. The continues as our clarion call for urgent climate action as we approach COP26.

Furthermore, our leaders have endorsed the and its complementary Pacific Resilience Partnership to mobilize multi-stakeholder and multi-sector support towards resilience building in the Pacific.

We will do all that’s possible to fight for our Blue Pacific.

As a region highly vulnerable to disaster risks, we cannot afford to wait for disasters to strike before we act. We want to be innovative and we aspire to self-sustenance. We know our problems and the solutions that could work in our unique context.

Recognizing that for every U.S. $1 spent on disaster preparedness saves up to U.S. $7 in recovery costs, our leaders have also established the — a Pacific-led, sustainable financing mechanism to build the resilience of our communities in the face of climate change and disasters.

Finally, I call on the global community to uphold the goals of the Paris Agreement as it’s not just a political tool — it’s a roadmap for our very survival. The urgency of COP26 to deliver the required ambition and resourcing towards a 1.5-degree future cannot be understated. It’s incumbent upon all of us therefore to roll up our sleeves and put our shoulders to the proverbial wheel as we approach COP26.

For us in the Pacific climate change is not a debate, it’s a matter of survival. Every day of inaction brings us one step closer to a perilous future which could see many of our homes disappear. But we will not relent. We will do all that’s possible to fight for our Blue Pacific, and this planet’s future.