Climate Change, Security Take Top Billing as Pacific Island Leaders Prepare to Meet

Climate change and security will dominate discussions at next week’s meeting of Pacific Islands leaders in Tonga as China and the United States jostle for influence in the region. The chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, told foreign ministers from the 18 member nations this month “regional solidarity amidst the ever-increasing geostrategic interest, navigating the ongoing climate crisis and managing emerging challenges” are top priorities. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres will also travel to Tonga, which has a population of 100,000 spread across 36 islands and is reliant on overseas aid, to highlight the need for greater climate change assistance. Slow economic growth, rising costs for imported basic goods and the severe impact of climate-induced disasters were raised by economic ministers in the lead up to the meeting. The decline of international banking services across the region will also be discussed.

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