The Pacific Islands Forum chair says shared values are why the regional body is increasing partnerships with Middle Eastern countries, including Israel.
The Forum’s chairman, Surangel Whipps Junior, and secretary-general, Baron Waqa, are on the road in the Middle East to lobby for investment in the Pacific’s Resilience Facility for coping with climate change impacts.
Whipps, who is Palau’s president, spoke to media late Friday in an online press conference from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, after meeting with the leadership of the UAE.
Whipps said the UAE has offered to help support the Pacific region’s resilience to climate change.
“So it’s about financing, it’s about oceans, bringing the ocean and climate access to the forefront.
“It’s about renewable energy, delivering projects, and that’s why we talked about the perspectives that carry that forward.”
Asked how the Forum could justify its recent move to partner with Israel’s government when the Benjamin Netanyahu-led regime is accused of serious abuses of international law, Whipps gave the following answer:
“We are a long ways away from this region, but I think it’s important for us to be able to engage as a partner because we have shared values of interest in climate impacts, building resilience and sustainability, and oceans.
“One of the things that we share with the UAE, for example, is our love and care for the oceans and protecting them. Same thing with Saudi,” he explained.
“So we want to take these opportunities to engage not only in those areas but on a broader level.”
The Forum is justifying its new drive to forge closer ties with countries in a region mired in conflict by emphasising its goal of building the PRF.
The PRF is a Pacific-led financing mechanism designed to provide grants directly to communities dealing with climate change impacts.
Whipps echoed comments by Fiji’s representative at this week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, urging the international community to support the PRF.
“The Pacific has also invested in it. In fact, we’ve raised US$200 million to date. US$100 million of that comes from Pacific Island Forum members,” Whipps explained.
The Forum has a US$500 million target for the Facility by end of the year.
“At the end of the day, the people want to see action, and that’s why PRF is an important part of that,” he said.
Whipps and Waqa are due to travel to Doha next.
