FIJI’S negotiators and climate diplomats have been commended for their gruelling shifts and round-the-clock sacrifices on the global stage at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
The acknowledgment was extended by Minister for Environment and Climate Change Lynda Tabuya, during Fiji’s first comprehensive delegation briefing at the international climate summit.
Comprising state officials, civil society advocates, and grassroots activists, the unified Fijian contingent has been engaged in intense diplomatic manoeuvring to elevate the plight of frontline Pacific communities.
“Behind every climate negotiation is a community in Fiji living with the impacts of climate change,” Ms Tabuya reminded the delegation.
“From rising seas threatening our coastal villages to families facing stronger storms and the loss of their ancestral land, these are the realities Fiji’s negotiators are carrying into COP31.”
Detailing the exhausting nature of the high-stakes environment, Ms Tabuya noted that the team routinely pushes through early morning coordination briefs straight into volatile, late-night negotiation sessions alongside like-minded state allies to guard the Pacific’s red lines.
“These negotiations are not easy. Every word matters, every decision is contested, and every outcome has consequences for communities back home.”
Ms Tabuya urged the team to draw strength from the collective regional solidarity established during the recent Pacific-led Pre-COP31 session hosted in Fiji.
On the margins of the main plenary sessions, bilateral ties between Fiji and Eastern Europe were also boosted following successful climate and nature conservation talks between Ms Tabuya and Armenia’s Environment Minister, Hambardzum Matevosyan.
During the meeting, Fiji reaffirmed its ambitious pledge to protect 30 per cent of its total land and sea territories by 2030 using community-centric models.
Acknowledging Fiji’s proactive leadership, Mr Matevosyan announced his intention to formally bestow the prestigious COP17 Medal of Friendship upon Ms Tabuya, signalling a deepening of technical cooperation and nature finance sharing between the two nations.
