Kreetika Kumar 
Prime Minister of Tonga Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni during the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, Tonga [Source: AAP Image/Ben McKay]
As the Pacific heads into COP29 in Azerbaijan, Pacific Islands Forum Chair and Prime Minister of Tonga, Hu’akavameiliku, says the key goal for the negotiations must be to keep the 1.5-degree Celsius goal alive.
Hu’akavameiliku says that climate change is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods and security of the Pacific.
The Pacific as a region is fully committed to ensuring COP29 delivers outcomes that benefit not just our people but mankind as a whole.
Hu’akavameiliku says the longstanding commitment of Pacific leaders and negotiators since the first COP has helped to ensure recognition of the world’s most vulnerable nations, who have contributed the least to cause the current climate crisis yet suffer the most.
He adds that the efforts at COP29 will be further supported through our Pacific Political Climate Champions.
The Pacific Political Climate Champions, launched in 2021 at COP26, helped elevate Pacific priorities at the political level during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties.
