Pacific leaders have issued a unified call for urgent global action to protect the world’s largest tuna production region from the accelerating impacts of climate change. This comes with a call to action – to recognise and support the Pacific’s decades-long leadership in ocean sustainability and to ensure justice for those bearing the heaviest costs of a crisis they did not create.
This message was reinforced at the 3rd UN Oceans Conference in Nice during a side event on this week, co-hosted by the Government of Niue and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA).
Tuvalu Prime Minister Hon. Feleti Teo led the high-level side event with the keynote opening remarks under the theme On the Road to Climate-Resilient Fisheries, describing climate change as an existential threat to Pacific Island Countries and Territories.
‘Pacific Island countries, including Tuvalu, rely deeply on our tuna resources. For us, tuna is not just food or revenue – it is sovereignty, it is development, and it is dignity,’ the Tuvalu Prime Minister said in his keynote address.
‘As tuna moves further from our Exclusive Economic Zones to the high seas under the weight of climate change, so too do our hopes of a stable, secure future. This is not just an environmental issue. It is an issue of justice.’
He went on to highlight the Pacific’s global leadership in sustainable fisheries management, noting that while global discussions continue around achieving sustainability, the Pacific has quietly led by example for decades.
Through regional institutions like the FFA and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), Pacific nations have collaborated to sustainably manage tuna stocks – which remain among the healthiest in the world today.
H.E. Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, commended Pacific nations for their stewardship and leadership in sustainable fisheries, and called for strengthened international commitment to climate-responsive governance.
Niue’s Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Mona Ainu’u, reiterated the key role of regional cooperation.
‘Our greatest strength lies not in scale, but in solidarity,’ said, acknowledging FFA’s role in uniting small island nations under a shared vision for sustainable, science-based management of tuna resources.
The event also featured key interventions from Papua New Guinea Minister for Fisheries Hon. Jelta Wong, Fiji Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Hon. Alitia Bainivalu, Kiribati Minister for Fisheries and Ocean Resources Hon. Ribanataake Awira, Palau Minister for Fisheries and Environment Hon. Stephen Victor, Marshall Islands Minister for Natural Resources Hon. Anthony Muller, Federated States of Micronesia Minister for Resources and Development Hon. Elina P. Akinaga, and Permanent Secretary for the Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs H.E. Colin Beck.
Two voluntary commitments were pledged during the side event: Niue’s pioneering Niue Ocean Wide (Niue NOW) initiative and ocean literacy efforts, and the launch of the Pacific Tuna Transparency Pledge that is jointly championed by Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Papua New Guinea.
