Discussions at this year’s Conference of the Parties will focus on the New Collective Quantified Goal, highlighting the need for accountability and transparency in fund allocation from the previous 2009 goal.

Permanent Secretary for Environment Dr. Sivendra Michael stressed that agendas rejected at the last COP meeting will be renegotiated under Rule 16 of the procedural rules.

He also highlights that the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment is working with three technical groups to prepare Fiji for the COP29 meeting.

Dr. Michael says that Fiji will focus on both securing climate financing and addressing relocation-related loss and damage at the upcoming meeting.

“We are also looking at how will the fund be operationalized, when would be the first disbursement of funds. So a large part of that contribution will lean to this workshop, because the questions that we are asked as developing countries is how do you quantify the economic losses and damages from relocation, from climate change, how do you quantify non-economic losses and damage.”

Dr. Michael adds that the national position paper has been prepared and is awaiting cabinet approval.

The 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will take place in November in Baku Azerbaijan.