Pacific small island states enter COP31 with six priorities: 1.5°C, clean energy, accessible finance, adaptation, loss and damage, and the ocean. Fiji chairs the 14-country group and says ambition without delivery resources remains paper.
Climate Minister Lynda Tabuya says the region will not lower its goals but needs finance, technology and implementation capacity. More than $16 billion has been committed since Paris, yet complex applications and institutional conditions slow community projects.
Countries seek predictable grant-based and direct-access funding so low emitters do not borrow after every disaster. The Pacific Resilience Facility has pledges just under $200 million against an initial $500 million target.
The 1.5°C limit protects tangible assets. Reefs may decline 70-90% at that level and over 99% at 2°C; mangroves, water, homes and fisheries also need restoration, warning systems and resilient services.
Fiji opposition leader and ocean envoy Inia Seruiratu warned warming could move tuna east, estimating annual losses of about $93 million for Fiji and nearly $210 million regionally. These are projections, not booked losses.
The Loss and Damage Fund must also become adequately financed and usable. Adaptation reduces future risk; loss and damage addresses unavoidable harm, and loans or undisbursed announcements should not be counted as equivalent support.
COP31 should publish amounts, grant shares, approval time, administrative cost and beneficiaries, tracing money from pledge to community. Tabuya's message is that Pacific ambition is fixed; delivery means are missing.
