15 November 2024, Baku Azerbaijan — The importance of a unified Pacific voice is critical at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. And there is no other space where this is more evident than the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion, considered “an oasis” for more than 300 Pacific delegates in Baku.
The Pacific Pavilion and the Pacific Delegation Office, managed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in partnership with the Governments of New Zealand and Australia, enables our Pacific Islands to strategise, coordinate, and prepare for the ongoing negotiations in Baku.
Director General of SPREP, Mr Sefanaia Nawadra said: “This is an oasis, where we come and refresh, express our concerns, invite visitors to talanoa and hopefully they will take the messages we have for the world and continue to amplify our Pacific voices.”
The Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General, Mr Baron Waqa said the One Pacific Voice is extremely important: “Every COP is important. We have to be known; we have to come with a unified voice.”
Each year at COP, Pacific delegates stand in solidarity, demanding accountability from global emitters. They call attention to the impacts of climate change on small island nations like theirs, which contribute little to emissions but bear some of the heaviest consequences.
SPREP’s Director of Climate Change Resilience, Ms Tagaloa Cooper, underscored the importance of this solidarity during an online briefing this week with Pacific journalists.
“When you are in this space, you gravitate to each other even more,” she said. “All 14 Pacific countries here share the same message and don’t depart from it. We see ourselves as Pacific people—all in this together.”
With over 70,000 registered participants, COP29 is the second largest COP ever, making a collective voice essential.
Part of that collective strength has been the convening since COP26 of a group of high-level political climate champions. At COP29, the champions include the Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon. Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, who is also the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum. As the climate finance champion, he is in strong demand at a COP which has a firm focus on this major issue.
“It is critical,” Ms Cooper said. “When you speak together, when you echo the same messaging, you are more powerful than one voice—and that is the beauty of the Pacific.” She adds, “The Pacific has been able to work together, agree to their red lines, and never depart from it. It helps to have leaders and officials who are friends, who know each other and have been doing this for years.”
Director Cooper also highlights how Pacific countries support each other in the negotiation rooms: “It’s important to have a Pacific person in a room, even if there are only two of them, echoing each other’s statements—that is how they amplify their voice in those different negotiating rooms. You’ll have one Pacific country speak, and another follows.”
The Moana Pavilion is also a space to amplify Pacific voices in the annual climate negotiations. The Moana Pavilion space has gained popularity across the global set up that is COP, with strong visitor stats and a gathering space for the Pacific and its allies across the world. It has become a critical space for Pacific delegates—a “home away from home” at COP29.
“We have come so far to get here,” Director Cooper shared. “When we have the pavilion, we’re telling our story from the Pacific. It’s the most well-attended pavilion here, packed with 80 side events for the duration.”
The Pacific delegation also has an office for bilateral and high-level coordination meetings. As Director Tagaloa describes it, “The Moana Pavilion is where we gather, where we’re strong, and where we’re heard.”—Sera Sefiti, Guest Editor, Pacific State of Play@COP29