THE Asia-Pacific region can be both a test bed and torchbearer for the world, says Fisheries Minister Alitia Bainivalu.
Opening the Science-Policy-Business Dialogue on the Environment for the Asia Pacific region in Nadi yesterday, she said if science were aligned, policies enabled and finances mobilised, “we can turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s competitive advantage”.
Ms Bainivalu proposed that the dialogue deliver three concrete outputs:
– A shortlist of scalable solutions — technologies and business models ready to expand across multiple countries within the next 12–24 months, with guardrails for equity and community benefit clearly defined;
-A partnership roster — clear public-private-community commitments with named leads, milestones, and timelines, ensuring balanced representation and accountability; and
– A follow-up mechanism — a light, time-bound process to track progress and report back to ministers and the UNEA, ensuring accountability and transparency.
“Let this dialogue be remembered as the moment we moved from good intentions to measurable, investable action, action that is fair, inclusive and safeguards the rights and resilience of our people.”