Introduction by Croakey: In the lead up to COP30 in Belem, Brazil, an alliance between the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon in Brazil, the Pacific Islands and First Nations people of Australia articulated a declaration to seek Indigenous protagonism – or self-determination – in future Conference of Parties.
The declaration, announced at this week’s Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL), or Free Land Camp 2025, Brazil’s largest Indigenous mobilisation, states:
The climate crisis does not wait, and governments fail to act in the face of the greatest threat to humanity. We, with our ancient cultures and knowledge, are the guardians of the lands and seas that regulate the planet’s balance. The Amazon and the Pacific are connected by the urgency of saving what is most precious: life.”
In this month’s edition of the Pacific Islands focus column, Isabelle Zhu-Maguire highlights the impact of climate change on food security in the region, as well as the importance of foreign aid for the development of critical infrastructure.
Zhu-Maguire, PhD candidate at the Coral Bell School of Asia and Pacific Affairs, Department of International Relations within the Australian National University, also provides an update on worrying HIV and dengue-fever outbreaks, and a new health promotion campaign for leprosy in Papua New Guinea.
The quotable?
Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Teo emphasised that curbing climate change to protect fisheries is a matter of survival, proposing that compensation for vulnerable nations like Tuvalu should be considered.”
Isabelle Zhu-Maguire writes:
As I reported in last month’s ‘Pacific Island focus’ column, about 1,000 Fijians were diagnosed with HIV between January and September 2024 – nine times more than the 120 infections recorded in all of 2019.
The HIV outbreak continues to be a significant concern – ABC Pacific reported in March on dangerous ‘bluetoothing’ drug sharing techniques and cultures of unsafe sex practices that are worsening the outbreak. The story also highlights a new government ‘Condom Campaign’ launched by Fiji’s Ministry of Health which is aimed at curbing the spread.
The RNZ Pacific put a spotlight on health and stigma in March, reporting on the work of Leprosy Mission New Zealand. This charity organisation has been working in 45 communities across Papua New Guinea, where approximately 500 cases of leprosy are reported each year – likely thousands more cases are left undiagnosed. The organisation is running education campaigns aimed at reducing the stigma about leprosy being a disease for ‘poor’ or ‘unhygienic’ people, and the ostracisation of patients.
The Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ) is concerned about the low number of Pasifika, people of the Pacific Islands, participants enrolled in their studies, which would benefit from greater diversity to ensure their work is representative of the Aotearoa/New Zealand population.
Finally, I have also been following the various dengue fever outbreaks in the Pacific including in Fiji and Tonga.
In January, 88 cases of dengue were reported in Tonga. This surged to 339 cases reported to the Tongan Health Ministry in March. No dengue fever related deaths have been reported; those with symptoms have been urged by the Tongan Health Ministry to stay at home.
Aid, development and the Australian budget
The development of infrastructure can be a key determinant of health, particularly the development of health infrastructure. Roads, schools and other public infrastructure can drastically change determinants of health.
As in previous months, March saw discussions about funding sources for various infrastructure projects across the region.
According to RNZ Pacific, discussions were held in Dubai between Nauru government officials and Indian contractors about more cost-effective railway development for transporting phosphate rock on the Nauru Islands, and a Chinese-funded sports complex in Tonga was also completed.
Dr Lucas de Toca, Australia’s Ambassador for Global Health, also shared news of an Australian funded, new Naha Birthing and Urban Health Centre currently being built in the Solomon Islands.
Aotearoa/New Zealand provided new specialised medical chairs to Samoa for patients receiving chemotherapy or dialysis treatment.
Continued concerns remain about the implications of the USAID funding freeze development in the region. Of particular concern is the withholding of US$200 million in new funding that was pledged by the Biden Administration in 2023 – in particular for climate adaptation.
Baron Waqa, the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum called for collaboration amongst the Islands to identify alternative funding solutions. Waqa has also told his Pacific colleagues to ensure that development deals made with China and Australia prioritise the needs of Pacific people over military interests.
Robin Davies, an honorary professor at the Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy, told RNZ Pacific that he remains confident development assistance from other donor nations will continue to flow into the Pacific.
The efficacy of development planning in the region was also discussed in March. The new Tongan Government has committed to holding a national development summit, likely this year, to review the progress of development in Tonga over the last decade. Tonga’s Prime Minister Dr Aisake Eke has underscored that resilience and safeguarding heritage will be key themes of the summit.
On the theme of development efficacy, Kiribati reported that it has reduced poverty levels by 70 percent, citing the prioritisation of social protection programs, justice, education, and policy reforms as the reasons for this success. However, in my personal discussions with a former high-ranking i-Kiribati public servant, it seems that there is doubt this enormous feat has actually been achieved.
Finally, in late March, Australia’s Federal Budget highlighted the Albanese Government’s continued prioritisation of the Pacific Islands.
Overall, Australia’s aid budget will remain relatively steady with increases made only to keep up with inflation. In total, around AU$5 billion has been dedicated to go toward official development assistance.
The Pacific region accounts for about 42 percent of the Australian aid budget, almost doubled from a decade ago. Tonga and the Federated States of Micronesia saw the largest increase in Australian support.
Nuclear legacies and ongoing health concerns
Since the abhorrent testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific during World War II, Pacific Islands have been at the global forefront of anti-nuclear campaigning. March saw the topic of nuclear weapons, waste and legacies highlighted in the Pacific.
On 3 March, Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day, the Marshall Islands signed the Treaty of Rarotonga. This Treaty was opened for signatures in 1985 and commits signatories to a nuclear-free pacific.
I note that this treaty has been of particular interest recently given that Australia, one of the founding signatories, is pursuing nuclear submarines through its ‘AUKUS’ arrangement. This signing coincides with the 71st anniversary of US nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands, which continues to have a legacy of death, illness, and contamination in the Micronesian nation.
Also this month, President of the Marshall islands, Dr Hilda Heine, travelled to Japan for the Japan-Marshall Islands Summit where she met Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, who gave his assurance that Japan will continue to be transparent about the “controversial release of treated nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean”.
Fishing and security
In late February, regional experts, leaders, and the heads of Pacific states met in the Solomon Islands for the four-day Summit on SDG 14.4, Achieving Sustainable Fisheries (the ‘2025 Honiara Summit’).
The Honiara Summit was organised by the Solomon Islands Government and the Pacific Island Forum (PIF)’s Fisheries Agency (FFA), which is headquartered in Honiara. Highlights from the Summit reflect the severity of concerns about the security of sustainable fisheries.
For example, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Baron Waqa, called for unity to solve this crisis. Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape called for “urgent global action” to stop illegal fishing. Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Teo emphasised that curbing climate change to protect fisheries is a matter of survival, proposing that compensation for vulnerable nations like Tuvalu should be considered.
Just before the summit, as reported by the Pacific Islands News Association, the “Fisheries Ministers from Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia sign off on a world-leading tripartite commitment aimed at growing sustainable tuna markets”.
The MOU outlines a new ‘100×100’ framework which sets targets of “100 percent e-monitoring on all licensed fishing vessels, and 100 percent dockside offloading of tuna catches from those vessels”. The ministers have also expressed that they welcome other nations to join the agreement.
It was also announced that Conservation International and the Pacific Community (SPC) have secured US$156 million from the Green Climate Fund to better manage tuna stocks. This is one of the largest grants ever provided to the Pacific by the fund.
Whilst Australia was absent from much of the headlines from the Summit, Pat Conroy, Australia’s Minister for the International Development and the Pacific (and Defence Industries) did attend the event. However, there is not much in the way of published details about Conroy’s engagement.
About the author
Isabelle Zhu-Maguire is a PhD candidate at the Coral Bell School of Asia and Pacific Affairs, Department of International Relations within the Australian National University. Her thesis investigates the ways in which Australia listens and responds to the climate advocacy of Pacific Island Nations.
She has conducted extensive research into the experiences of women in Afghanistan and their perspectives and realities living through conflict, oppression, and climate change.
Isabelle has also been advocate for greater youth inclusion within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Croakey thanks and acknowledges Isabelle Zhu-Maguire for providing this column as a probono service to our readers.
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