MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE HON. MOSESE BULITAVU’S OPENING REMARKS AT THE BLUE ECONOMY FRAMEWORK LAUNCH

Distinguished guests,
fellow leaders,
government officials,
development partners,
members of the diplomatic corps,
representatives of civil society and the private sector,
ladies and gentlemen.
 
Bula Vinaka and good evening.
 
We are gathered this evening not merely to launch a document, but to affirm a national resolve.
 
Fiji is a Big Ocean State (a BOS). Our exclusive economic zone spans more than 1.3 million square kilometers, making our ocean space over seventy percent larger than our landmass. In this vast blue domain lies both our inheritance and our obligation.
 
The sea feeds our people. It sustains our communities. It connects our islands and shields our shores.

Nearly nine out of every ten Fijians live along the coast, and thousands of livelihoods depend directly on healthy marine ecosystems. When the ocean thrives, Fiji thrives.
 
Coastal and marine ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass, support fisheries, tourism, shoreline protection, and rural livelihoods across Fiji, particularly in outer islands and maritime provinces.
 
It is clear that climate change, ocean degradation, and economic vulnerability are no longer distant threats. Rising seas, coral bleaching, declining fish stocks, and extreme weather events now shape the daily reality of our people.
 
Fiji’s Ocean Health Index score currently stands at 76 out of 100, slightly higher than the global average of 72. This shows that our oceans remain in relatively good condition, supported by strong traditions of stewardship and past conservation efforts. At the same time, the score also highlights areas where pressure may be increasing, particularly in tourism and recreation, food supply, and the sustainable use of marine resources, as climate impacts intensify.
 
These are not abstract indicators; they point directly to risks facing food security, employment, and foreign exchange earnings. This is not a statistic to be ignored, but a warning that demands action.
 
It is for this reason that we launch the Fiji Blue Economy Framework 2025–2035.
 
This Framework sets a clear course. It recognizes that economic growth divorced from environmental stewardship is growth without a future. It commits us to a model of development where sustainability, resilience, and inclusion are not competing goals, but shared ones.

The Blue Economy already matters deeply to Fiji’s prosperity. Tourism contributes close to 40 percent of our national GDP, supports over one-third of total employment, and generates more than two billion dollars in foreign exchange earnings annually, and fisheries remain central to food security and rural livelihoods.
 
Yet the Framework looks beyond today’s returns. It asks how these sectors can endure, adapt, and grow without exhausting the very ecosystems upon which they depend.
 
This is why the Framework advances sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, climate-resilient marine tourism, renewable ocean-based energy, low-emission maritime transport, and conservation-led enterprise.
 
It strengthens marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based management, and it places science, data, and traditional knowledge at the heart of decision-making. This is not only an economic framework. It is a human one.
 
It recognises that coastal communities, customary resource owners, women, youth, and small enterprises are not bystanders to development. They are its custodians and its beneficiaries.
 
It acknowledges the long and faithful work of civil society, faith-based organizations, and academic institutions who have protected our oceans long before policy caught up with practice.
 
This Framework is aligned with our National Development Plan, our National Ocean Policy, and our climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, including our pledge to sustainably manage 100 percent of our ocean and fully protect at least 30 percent by 2030.
 
In doing so, Fiji once again affirms its place as a leader among large ocean states not only in voice, but in action.
 
I wish to acknowledge the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and all partner ministries for their leadership in shaping this Framework. I extend sincere appreciation to Blue Prosperity Fiji and the Waitt Institute, whose partnership and technical support have strengthened this national effort.
 
I also recognise our development partners and the private sector, whose responsible investment and innovation is essential to turn policy into progress.
 
Yet no framework, however well written, can succeed by government alone. Its success will depend on cooperation across ministries, on partnership with communities, on trust between public and private sectors, and on accountability at every level. It will depend on our willingness to act not for short-term gain, but for long-term good.
 
This Framework is not the conclusion of our work. It is the foundation upon which the work must now begin.
 
As we mark this moment, let us remember that we do not inherit our ocean from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. The decisions we take today will shape the Fiji they inherit tomorrow.
 
Let us move forward with purpose, guided by wisdom, united by responsibility, and committed to a Blue Economy that is fair and resilient.
 
Vinaka vakalevu, and may God bless Fiji.