The Ministerial Meeting between Pacific Ministers and Sweden in the island Kingdom of Tonga gave the Minister of International Development Cooperation of Sweden the opportunity to be the first Minister to visit the Pacific Small Island Developing States
The Ministerial meeting is to discuss Climate Change and its effects on the Pacific Islands especially with the Swedish Government aiming to cooperate with PSIDS in battling the many challenges of Climate Change as Swedish Minister Isabella Lovin addressed yesterday at the opening of the three days Conference at the Fa‘onelua Convention Centre in Nuku‘alofa.
“I am very proud and honoured to be the first Swedish Minister ever to visit the Pacific Island States.
I am very grateful for having the opportunity to address you all here today on the most important environmental and human challenges of our time, climate change and the protection of our oceans.
Since my government came into power 18 months ago, the relationship between Sweden and the Pacific Island States has developed tremendously.”
In her statement Lovin said that in March last year, the Swedish Government had the honour of receiving President Tong of Kiribati who became the first ever Pacific leader to visit Sweden and she’s now extremely happy to repay the President’s visit and visit Kiribati next week.
She highlighted that Sweden and the PSIDS may seem far apart but we they actually very close to each other when it comes to the common global challenges.
“For many years we’ve talked about Climate Change as something that may happen in the future, many years from now, we used to say that if we don’t manage to cut emissions and build a more environmentally friendly economy, there would be consequences in the future for our children and for our grandchildren but you know and I know that this isn’t really true, you know and I know that Climate Change is already happening, It’s here, Now, it’s real.
I know that glaciers are melting in the mountain of Sweden and you know that sea level is rising here because of that.
I know that firestorms have ravaged the forest of Sweden in a very unusual way as never before and you know that storms come more often and that fresh water resources are under threat.
There is one important difference between our situations, Climate Change is affecting us all but Climate Change is threatening many of your islands very existence.”
Minister Lovin said that the PSIDS didn’t cause Climate Change; PSIDS didn’t contribute substantially to the emission that is changing the world.
“That’s another reason we share this, that’s why I’m here today because I truly believe, we have the responsibility to cooperate in facing these challenges that we truly need to be solitary with each other in this common threat to our planet and to humanity.”
In her statement the minister says that the Swedish Government is currently discussing a new regional strategy for Asia for 2016-2020 and they’ve decided to also include the Pacific in this strategy and that is the reason for her being here.
The Regional strategy focuses on issues of cross boundary nature or challenges shared by many countries in the nexus of Climate Change and Human Rights.
Minister Lovin hoped that the inside knowledge gained on this trip with her delegations will serve as very valuable input for that work.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Tonga, Mr ‘Akilisi Pohiva acknowledged the work and commitment to bring into attention the issues faced by our oceans exemplified by the Swedish Government’s work and the author of the book ‘silent seas’ as well as their passion for work to combat the threats of climate change.
“We are also very thankful for the support of the government of the Kingdom of Sweden on these and other development issues. For example, we note that Sweden is the largest per capita contributor to the green climate fund, a source of financing that is necessary if we are to adapt to the impacts of climate change in the Pacific.
At the same time, we are grateful for Sweden support for our ministerial meeting today and our strategic planning meeting that our PSIDS chair from New York and colleague permanent representatives will lead tomorrow, concluding on Friday.”
The Meeting continued to the presentation of the Swedish Government on its proposed engagement with the PSIDS followed by the bilateral meetings between the ministerial delegations and Sweden.
The Prime Minister and Minister of International Cooperation and Development of the Kingdom of Sweden, Minister Isabella Lövin was joined by the President of the Republic of Kiribati, Anote Tong; the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Fiji, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, and the Chief Executive Officer for Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Independent State of Samoa, Ms. Peseta Noumea Simi, to launch the meeting.
Attendance in these meetings includes representative from member countries and regional organisations including Dr Colin Tukuitonga, Director General of the Pacific Community; Mr James T. Movick, Director General of the Forum Fisheries Agency; Mr Francois Martel, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Development Forum and Mrs Osnat Lubrani, Resident Coordinator of the UN Regional Offices and Resident Representative of the UNDP in Suva. Attending from Tonga are Cabinet Ministers and Government officials.
The PSIDS were founded in 2007 to give voice to the small island developing states in the Pacific, and over time has grown to include the 12 Pacific Island Countries with representation at the United Nations namely Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Tonga.