Office of the Prime Minister Assistant Minister Hon Sakiusa Tubuna arrived in Vanuatu yesterday to attend the 2nd Pacific Ministerial Dialogue on Pathways for the Global Just Transition.
The Governments of Vanuatu and Tuvalu are co-hosting the Ministerial Dialogue that is currently being held at the Iririki Island Resort in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Following on from a successful inaugural dialogue on Pathways for the Global Just Transition at COP27, Pacific Ministers with climate change, energy and/or finance portfolios, were invited to attend the 2nd Pacific Ministerial Dialogue that would focus on:
1. Phase out: The needs and opportunities for Pacific Island Countries to lead and manage a just phase out of fossil fuels;
2. Just Transition: International law and governance proposals including, inter alia the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty; and
3. International Law & Governance: A coordinated regional position on fossil fuel production, including the development of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to manage the phase out of fossil fuels production worldwide.
The meeting provides Pacific Ministers and senior officials the opportunity to reflect on post-COP27 and regional solidarity on the global just transition away from fossil fuels in the lead up to COP28.
At COP27 several key fossil fuel supply and just transition initiatives were highlighted including the call for a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty, formally endorsed by the Governments of Vanuatu and Tuvalu, and the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.
Hon Tubuna is accompanied by the Chief Statistician/Policy Advisor, Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Kemueli Naiqama; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director Oceania, Mr Solo Momoivalu; Principal International Relations Officer, Office of the Prime Minister Ms Genevieve Jiva; and Ms Cheerieann Wilson, Media & Communications Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister.
The meeting ends on Friday 17 March, 2023.
Backstory: Pacific Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) successfully led the fight to enshrine the global goal to limit average temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius in the Paris Agreement. There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that existing fossil fuel reserves – those which private corporations and governments currently intend to extract and sell – would lead to a significant overshooting of 1.5 degrees if consumed.
It is increasingly clear that the current global economic and climate change frameworks are failing to constrain fossil fuel extraction at a rate consistent with the global goal. Pacific SIDS must again demonstrate global leadership to address this gap in multilateral governance.
For Pacific SIDS and many other developing countries, navigating the shift away from fossil fuels requires support for an economic transition that cushions fossil fuel intensive economic sectors such as fishing and tourism, while at the same time adapting to the negative and intensifying impacts of climate change.
