GHEMU: FINANCING OUR OWN RESILIENCE DOES NOT MEAN FINANCING IT ALONE
Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology Hon. Wayne Ghemu says Pacific countries must strengthen their systems for resilience while developed nations meet their climate finance responsibilities.
Minister Ghemu said pacific countries are taking greater ownership of how climate finance is managed, while international partners must continue to meet their responsibility to provide adequate and accessible climate finance.
Speaking at a Pre-COP31 side event in Nadi today, Minister Ghemu said strengthening public financial management is critical to ensuring climate resources are directed towards national priorities and communities most vulnerable to climate change.
“Financing our own resilience does not mean financing resilience on our own,” Minister Ghemu said.
He said reforms such as climate budget tagging can help governments identify and track climate-related expenditure and strengthen the link between national climate priorities, planning and budget decisions.
“This includes connecting climate budget tagging with integrated vulnerability assessments, helping bring greater visibility to the realities faced by vulnerable communities when national investment decisions are made,” he said.
Minister Ghemu said such efforts demonstrate Pacific leadership, ownership and agency.
But said it should not be interpreted as transferring responsibility for climate change to countries that have contributed least to the problem.
“The international community must continue to meet its responsibility to provide climate financing that is adequate, predictable and accessible for vulnerable countries like ours that are at the frontline of climate change,” he said.
The Minister also highlighted work towards a regional Pacific climate finance taxonomy.
He said this could establish a shared understanding of climate-related expenditure and investment while strengthening the region’s evidence base and collective advocacy.
Minister Ghemu said the goal is to put Pacific governments more firmly in the driver’s seat of their own resilience, while ensuring international climate finance can effectively support priorities identified by Pacific countries.
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