Podcast: the detail
There’s climate change, gender equality and Covid-19 to contend with on the Pacific stage this year, but the region’s key diplomatic meeting didn’t go smoothly
Unity and family are keywords at the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva this weekbut no shows from some island nations and the presence of superpowers have disrupted efforts to tackle serious challenges like climate change.
As a sign of the growing interest in geopolitical activity in the region, around 180 journalists from Australia, Japan, China and the US are on hand to watch events unfold.
“Suva recoils,” says Sam Sachdeva, newsrooms national affairs editor. He says there was a sobering atmosphere at the forum this week as leaders met face-to-face for the first time in three years.
“I don’t think people mince words about the magnitude of the challenge,” Sachdeva says. “That said, there is optimism.”
Fiji President and Forum Chair Frank Bainimarama spoke in his opening welcome about the region caught in the crossfire of the “three deadly Cs: Covid, climate and conflict, with each factor dangerously aggravating the other, that is the inescapable reality of the situation” .
In addition, words used to describe Kiribati’s surprise last minute no show ranged from disappointing to devastating.
Many leaders in the forum hope that competition between the US and China will bind the region rather than tear it apart, but there is also frustration that geopolitics are drawing attention away from other issues, Sachdeva says.
“The risk is simply that the more time nations spend talking about geopolitics and dealing with geopolitics, the less time they have to devote to climate action, fisheries actions and all the other pressing issues for the region,” he says.
Sachdeva tells The detail why the forum is so important to a region made up of many island nations with populations smaller than some cities in New Zealand and the value of being able to speak with one voice. That has been undermined by the withdrawal of Kiribati.
“The more leaders that jump out of the forum, the more vulnerable it gets. Yes, for now it’s Kiribati, but other states are starting to move and what does that mean in terms of how superpowers like the US and China are interacting with the region?”
Tuvalu Secretary of State Simon Kofe says Kamala Harris’s speech to the forum and its focus on geopolitics draws attention away from climate change.
“If you look at it from our perspective, you have these superpowers fighting for influence in the region and yet we have countries like Tuvalu fighting for existence. We’re on completely different wavelengths,” he says.
Coffee also explains to The detail over pressure to secure the survival of the state and maritime zone claims for Tuvalu and other Pacific countries in the worst case scenario that they will disappear under rising seas.
“It’s a forward-looking initiative and we hope the Pacific can get behind it too.”
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