Belém, Brazil, 13 November 2025
Fiji reaffirmed the call for stronger global action to protect the ocean, urging the COP30 Presidency to formally adopt the Oceans Agenda as a core element of the United Nations climate negotiations.
Delivering the Alliance of Small Island States Statement on behalf of 39 member states at the COP30 Special Event on the 2025 Ocean Dialogue Outcomes, the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Mosese Bulitavu emphasized that the ocean is central to climate stability and to the survival of island nations.
“For Small Island Developing States, the ocean is our first line of defense against the climate crisis,” Minister Bulitavu said.
The Minister as the AOSIS Oceans Champion noted that the ocean absorbs more than ninety per cent of excess heat from human activity, produces half of the world’s oxygen and captures a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions. Yet ocean based climate solutions remain critically underfunded, receiving only a fraction of global development finance.
Minister Bulitavu reiterated that COP30 must become a turning point for oceans, calling for the ocean to be fully integrated into the UNFCCC process and reflected across all agenda items, including Nationally Determined Contributions, adaptation and climate finance.
“Elevating the ocean within the UNFCCC is fundamental to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and to protecting people whose lives and livelihoods are inseparable from the ocean,” he said.
The Minister commended countries that have placed the ocean at the heart of their updated NDCs and encouraged others to follow suit. He stressed that, for Pacific Island nations, adaptation begins at the shoreline through the protection of reefs, mangroves and wetlands that shield communities from storms, sustain fisheries and secure food and livelihoods. Long term and predictable finance, he added, is essential to scale up these solutions.
Fiji also called for deeper regional cooperation through platforms such as the SIDS Centre of Excellence, established at the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, to mobilize finance and strengthen collaboration on ocean science and knowledge sharing.
In closing, Minister underscored that "COP30 must be the moment when we move from recognition to action, for a future in which our people and our ocean can thrive together"