The European Union is committed to advocating for climate action alongside its Pacific partners, says EU Ambassador to Fiji and the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert.
Yesterday, the EU partnered with Suva Marathon Club to host a fun run for climate action, which Ms Plinkert said aligned with COP28 underway in Dubai.
“I think we (EU) are very good partners to the Pacific in this cause because EU is itself, a frontrunner on climate action,” she said.
“We have set ourselves extremely ambitious goals to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions and to reach our climate targets in the Paris Agreement and we are also very determined to support partners who are most vulnerable and most affected by climate change and in the Pacific.
“So, I think we are fighting a common cause – the Pacific and the European Union – and what’s in the forefront this year is the phase out of fossil fuels, accelerate our pace towards greenhouse gas reductions and adaptation and mitigation and making climate finance more accessible to the most vulnerable countries.”
Ms Plinkert also reiterated that the EU and its member countries were committed to the Loss and Damage Fund. She added the EU was in full support of Pacific islands and other countries to set the fund up.
“We are very glad that it will come to fruition, and we are, as the EU and our member states, still the major contributors to climate financing.
“In (20)22, we have mobilised the EU and member states to get 30 billion euros ($F72.5b) to support climate action for the most vulnerable, so we are very supportive of the cause of Pacific Island countries in this.”
