REMARKS: Pacific Islands Forum Chair Representative at 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4)

1.    Chair, Excellencies, Colleagues,

2.    I have the honour of delivering this statement on behalf of the membership of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

3.    We thank the co-facilitators for their leadership and welcome the consensus adoption of the Compromiso de Sevilla. In a time of global division and uncertainty, this agreement reaffirms the multilateral system’s potential to deliver collective solutions to shared challenges.

4.    This conference matters deeply for our region. The Pacific—home to some of the world’s most vulnerable economies—is facing a convergence of global shocks, climate threats, and widening financing gaps. The FFD4 outcome must be more than a document—it must be a catalyst for practical and transformative actions that reaches those on the frontline.

5.    We particularly welcome the Compromiso de Sevilla’s commitment to a more inclusive, resilient and effective development finance system, including:

•    Recognising the role of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) in informing more equitable access to concessional finance—recognising its value as a complement to existing tools in elucidating exogenous structural development constraints—particularly those faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

•    Advancing debt sustainability tools, including the SIDS Debt Sustainability Support Service and climate-resilient debt clauses, to increase fiscal space for sustainable development.

•    Scaling up disaster risk reduction and pre-arranged disaster financing to safeguard hard-won development gains.

•    Strengthening inclusive governance across international financial institutions—giving developing countries, including SIDS, a stronger voice in how global rules are shaped.

•    And reaffirming commitments to gender equality, disability inclusion, and Indigenous participation, including investments in the care economy.

6.    We acknowledge and welcome the commitments already underway to address the withdrawal of correspondent banking services in the Pacific, including the Pacific Strengthening CBR Project, led by the World Bank and in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, and ADB’s technical assistance and financing initiatives . These efforts are critical in supporting our economies to strengthen compliance frameworks and maintain access to essential financial services. We call for sustained international collaboration, action and long-term solutions to ensure these measures deliver practical outcomes for Pacific economies and encourage financial inclusion across our region.

7.    We share deep concern about the sustainability of debt burdens across our region. We call for continued innovation in the debt and financing architecture and lifting the quality of infrastructure investment and development in the Pacific—including greater debt transparency, enhanced tools for liquidity management, longer-term low-interest instruments, and tailored solutions that reflect vulnerability and risk exposure. Reform of Multilateral Development Banks must prioritise SIDS’ needs and significantly increase access to grant-based and concessional finance.

8.    We also highlight the need for smooth, well-supported transition pathways for graduating countries—particularly those highly vulnerable to shocks and disasters. Current graduation approaches remain fragmented and risk undermining development progress. Transition frameworks must be strengthened with dedicated facilities, clear standards, and real resourcing—to facilitate tailored, coherent, and integrated approaches and ensure that graduation does not disrupt sustainable development progress.

9.    Climate change remains the single greatest threat to our region’s resilience, security and prosperity. We welcome the new aspirational goal of mobilising US$ 1.3 trillion per year by 2035 for climate finance from all public and private sources and all actors under the New Collective Quantified Goal for Climate Finance. However, we underscore that this ambition must be underpinned by action including developed countries taking the lead in mobilising predictable, accessible, and adequate finance.

10.    We also call on the international financial community to give full effect to the recognised “Special Circumstances” of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). This means restructuring financial flows to be country-owned, country-led, and country-managed—through mechanisms such as the Pacific Resilience Facility . Doing so will ensure that finance reaches those most in need, when they need it, and supports long-term resilience and sustainability in the face of escalating climate and disaster risks.

11.    We also underscore the importance of investing in the Pacific Roadmap for Economic Development (PRED), which articulates our collective pathway to economic resilience and sustainable, inclusive prosperity.  

12.    We also stress the importance of ocean finance and the blue economy. The Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) reinforced the urgency of protecting our ocean as the foundation of a sustainable economy and recognised that SDG 14, Life Below Water, remains the least-funded SDG.  Now is the time to translate the UNOC3 commitments into investments—by embedding sustainable ocean finance more firmly in global financing frameworks. The health of the Blue Pacific Continent must be at the centre of inclusive, climate-resilient development in our region.

Chair,

13.    This is a pivotal moment. Conference after conference, we come together and talk.  It is time to act now.  Our countries and communities are calling on the multilateral system to do more—and to do better. To rebuild trust. To deliver resources where they are needed most. To support the resilience of those most exposed to shocks and crisis they did not cause.

14.    We look forward to working with all partners to ensure the Compromiso de Sevilla becomes more than a document—that it becomes a platform for delivering inclusive, principled, and lasting progress for all.

15.    Mālō ‘aupito. Thank you.