STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE HON. MOSESE BULITAVU AT THE WORLD ISLANDS FORUM

· Excellencies,
· Ladies and Gentlemen
Ni Sa Bula Vinaka and a Very Good Afternoon to you

I thank the Government of France for convening this important dialogue and for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the people of Fiji, and the broader Pacific family of Small Island Developing States.
 
For island nations like ours, vulnerability is not a headline, it is a lived experience. The triple planetary crisis of  climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution cuts deep across our environment, our economy, our society, and our sovereignty. It makes national development strategies and international cooperation difficult. 
 
Sea levels are rising. Cyclones are stronger. Coral reefs that once fed and protected us are bleaching and dying. In Fiji, we endure over $500 million in damage from disasters each year—yet we contribute less than 0.03% to global emissions.
 
Climate finance must reflect this imbalance. Income levels alone don’t tell the full story of our exposure, our risk, or our capacity to respond.
 
We welcome the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS. It sets a vision for resilient prosperity—and importantly, it calls for financial systems that actually work for vulnerable nations like ours. The SIDS Centre of Excellence, with its Data Hub and Investment Forum, is a step in the right direction.
 
We support the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) as a tool to help ensure finance flows to where it is truly needed. But tools must be followed by action. Innovation in finance means direct access, simplified processes, and local ownership.
 
In Fiji, we are doing our part. We are trialing green and blue bonds to invest in nature and resilience. We’re working with partners on risk insurance and building regional safety nets like the Pacific Resilience Facility. These are not theoretical—they are practical tools to give our people breathing room before and after the next disaster.
 
Our National Ocean Policy, blue carbon initiatives, and marine spatial planning are not just policy frameworks, they are grounded solutions rooted in the knowledge that our ocean is our lifeline. They are helping us restore ecosystems, protect livelihoods, and build a sustainable blue economy.
 
We also acknowledge efforts like the Paris Pact for People and Planet and the Dialogue of Banks and Funds on Vulnerability. But early warning must be followed by early action that is anchored in science, yes, but also in the traditional knowledge of our people. This is where real resilience lives.
 
Finally, let us be clear: SIDS are not waiting. We are already leading with courage, with creativity, and with community. But leadership must be matched with partnership. We ask not for charity, but for fairness. Not for sympathy, but for solidarity.

The Pacific is rising, not only in challenge but in resolve. Let this Forum be the moment we turn words into action, ambition into delivery.
 
Vinaka vakalevu.