PACIFIC island countries have pledged $US17million ($F45m) to the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF).
The pledges came following the pre-COP31 Leaders Plenary in Nadi where Fiji committed $US10million ($F22.5m).
PRF chief executive officer Finau Soqo said the pledges sent a clear message to the global community that regional countries were pledging to a facility that allowed vulnerable communities to efficiently access grants.
“The pledge by Fiji would make it one of the largest Pacific island country that’s pledged apart from Australia and New Zealand,” said Ms Soqo.
“Papua New Guinea just pledged, and we’ve had Naoero pledge, Republic of Marshall Islands, and Solomon Islands.”
She said regional member support for the facility was gaining support before the COP31 meeting where island nations intend to seek more support.
“We need to rally the membership so that when we go to the world, we’re saying, we’re trying to help ourselves, and this is important, and now we’re asking you to help us, but this is where we’ve set our bar as a collective.
“So with Fiji’s pledge at $US10 million, and with other pledges makes it about $17.1million.
“So when we go to the world, we’re saying, well, we’ve already pledged $17.1million as a collective, and we’re pretty small countries.
“Why are you not giving respectable and meaningful amounts if we are taking this out of our national budgets?”
Pacific island nations have set a target of $US500million ($F1.125trillion) to be achieved after COP31.
Minister for Environment and Climate Change Lynda Tabuya said Fiji’s pledge would be sourced from its National Budget over a period of time.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader and Pacific Ocean Envoy for COP31 Inia Seruiratu said he would support for Fiji’s decision to source its pledge from the National Budget.
“We need to put our money where our mouth is,” said Mr Seruiratu.
“Parliaments in terms of allocation of resources has a responsibility to ensure that resources are allocated accordingly.
“We have made that commitment so Parliament is going to ensure that the resources are allocated. I fully support it because this work is above politics.
“It is about survival, sustainability and the betterment of every Fijian and Pacific islander.”
