With global attention focused on Brazil for COP30, Fiji’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Mosese Bulitavu, says the conference “cannot be business as usual,” urging decisive action for the world’s most vulnerable nations.
Speaking alongside Pacific negotiators advocating the One Pacific Voice, Bulitavu said the talks must deliver “meaningful outcomes for all involved, especially those already living the realities of climate change.”
“This work is about our survival,” he said.
“We are fighting for our identity, for the protection of our culture, and for our coastal communities that are already being displaced. Families and villages in Fiji have had to relocate — this is happening now.”
Bulitavu welcomed Brazil’s emphasis on ocean protection, noting that “the Ocean Special Envoy and blue initiatives recognise the importance of Oceans in climate discussions.”
“This COP is critical as we prepare for the next, where Fiji will co-chair the Ocean dialogue. We want the Ocean to be a permanent agenda item at COP.”
Fiji and other Pacific nations are backing Australia’s bid to host COP31, envisioned as the first “Pacific COP.”
“We want the world to come to our region, to see our vulnerability and understand why 1.5 degrees matters so much to us.”
He praised SPREP and the One CROP partners for uniting the Pacific’s voice.
“Our voice is stronger when we are united — one family, one Ocean, one Pacific.”
