Solomon Islands Leads Pacific Call for Urgent Climate Finance at COP30

Belem, Brazil- Ministers and Heads of Pacific Small Island Development States (PSIDS) joined the Third High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Finance, on 15th November 2025, in Belem.

The dialogue provided a platform for representatives of nations deeply affected by climate impacts, many of whom described access to financial resources as “a matter of survival.”

Solomon Islands joined Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia and Tuvalu in delivering statements at the ministerial level.

Hon. Polycarp Paea, Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology of Solomon Islands, spoke on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum (Solomon Islands is the current Forum Chair), describing the harsh realities of Pacific PSIDS.

“The Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) stand today at the frontline of a climate crisis not of our making. We contribute less than 0.03 percent of global emissions, yet face the most devastating consequences — rising seas, intensifying storms, and the slow erosion of our cultures, sovereignty and livelihoods.

This reality underscores a fundamental truth: climate finance is not charity; it is an obligation grounded in equity, responsibility, and international law.”

He pointed to the recent Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, emphasising that developed states have binding legal obligations under international law to provide financial resources, technology transfer, and capacity support — especially to SIDS and least developed countries.

Hon. Paea also welcomed the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap, calling it a transformative pathway to scale climate finance “from billions to trillions” by 2035, in line with the New Collective Quantified Goal.

“Our economies are already strained by high debt-to-GDP ratios; loan-based finance only compounds our vulnerability. What we need is grant-based and concessional financing, provided in ways that are timely, simplified, and accessible”

//ENDS//

Read Hon. Paea’s Remarks: https://forumsec.org/publications/remarks-statement-pif-chair-hon-polycarp-paea-minister-environment-climate-change

Caption: Other PSIDS countries – Fiji, Tonga and Marshall Islands giving their statement during the HLMD on climate finance. Photos supplied by PIFS.

Caption: High Level Ministerial Dialogue on climate finance. Photo supplied by PIFS.

MECDM Media Contact: Sosimo Narasia