The Blue Pacific’s infrastructure needs will be between $A6billion and $A8b ($F8.7b and $F11b) annually for the remainder of this decade.
This was the stark reality provided by Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad while speaking to students of the University of Melbourne in Australia on what it would take to secure and sustain the region’s Blue Pacific.
“The total financial flows into the region through a combination of loans and grants is still barely above the $1billion mark,” said Prof Prasad.
“That infrastructure financing gap is the ‘gap of hope’.
“The Pacific’s infrastructure costs are extraordinarily high. It is not because we are corrupt. It is not because our capacity is low.”
He said the cost of a kilometre of road on our southernmost island of Kadavu would be five to seven times higher than in the Capital City, Suva.
“Equipment has to be shipped.
“Raw materials have to be shipped. There are no local contractors.
And if that were not enough of a hurdle, we need to make all infrastructure climate resilient to meet a climate-changed future that has already arrived.
“This can add an additional 10 to 70 per cent to the underlying costs of infrastructure.”
He said climate change was the gravest threat to the Blue Pacific.
“The Blue Pacific is undertaking sustained measures to adapt.
“The missing piece is climate finance.
“The scale and speed of climate finance will decide whether we can bend the arc of possibilities towards resilience and justice.
“As a region, we have consistently presented our case that climate finance should be pre-positioned; climate finance should be predictable, climate finance should be accessible, and climate finance should be on scale.”
Prof Prasad added the region’s mitigation, adaptation and climate-induced loss and damage needs were growing.
“The establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund – the vital third pillar of the climate financing regime was a significant step forward.
“This important new fund continues to struggle to secure long-term financing.
“The risks arising from climate change are so comprehensive, so multifaceted, and so severe that the Pacific’s economic, social, and political stability can be harmed irreparably.”