REMARKS: Welcome Remarks by Secretary General, Baron Divavesi Waqa, at the Pacific ACP Leaders Meeting

Honourable Leaders, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues,

It is indeed an honour to welcome you to this Pacific ACP Leaders Meeting here in Honiara.

We meet at a moment of profound global change. The World Bank projects global growth this year at only two-point-three percent — the slowest pace in decades outside times of crisis. At the same time, the International Monetary Fund warns that more than 60 developing countries are already in or at high risk of debt distress. Many are small island economies like ours, facing the same structural vulnerabilities.

For our Blue Pacific region, the urgency could not be any clearer. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the World Bank estimate that climate disasters already cost our economies between six and nine percent of GDP each year. Think about that - nearly a tenth of our economic output is lost annually due to cyclones, floods, and rising seas. This is not just a number — it represents homes and livelihoods destroyed, schools closed, damaged infrastructures, and futures disrupted.

Despite shifting global political currents and economic turbulence, our Leaders have remained unwavering in their efforts to address the impacts of climate change to our countries and Pacific people. Climate change remains the single greatest threat to the lives and livelihoods of our people. That is why climate action must stay at the centre of our collective work. The Pacific has demonstrated how political advocacy can amplify our priorities on the global stage through the Political Climate Champions. As we approach COP30, let us carry forward our call for Climate justice, amplified by the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice.

Excellencies, these realities demand stronger institutions, sharper diplomatic advocacy, and deeper partnerships. The Samoa Agreement, signed in Apia in 2023, gives us a new platform to embed Pacific priorities within the EU-OACPS partnership. Our Pacific islands Forum 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent gives us the vision to safeguard our sovereignty and resilience for generations to come.

But vision alone is not enough. 

We need clear institutional arrangements, a costed plan of implementation, and adequate resources to carry it forward. Without that, the Samoa Agreement risks becoming a framework of words rather than a driver of change.

Representation also matters. The post of Assistant Secretary-General in the OACPS Secretariat, earmarked for the Pacific, is not just symbolic. It is strategic. It places a Pacific voice in Brussels — at the very centre of finance and administration decisions that affect our region. Unity behind this nomination will be critical to strengthening our influence.

On development financing, we must be equally candid. The EU’s Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI Global Europe) is valued at seventy-nine and a half billion Euros globally for the period 2021 to 2027. Yet, of this vast envelope, the Pacific’s share is less than two hundred million euros.

We appreciate the support already committed: ten million euros for the Pacific Trade and Sustainable Development programme, and twenty million euros for the second phase of the PEUMP programme. 

But let us be frank: this is not proportionate to the scale of our challenges or commitments made. More of our members are joining the iEPA, and the obligations of implementation grow heavier. 

If the NDICI is to remain fit-for-purpose for our region, the Pacific envelope will need to expand.

Excellencies, as we move to endorse the outcomes before us, we must do so with clarity and resolve. Our institutions must be made fit-for-purpose. Our advocacy must remain sharp. Our partnerships must deliver real impact. And our unity must remain unshakable.

If we succeed, we will reaffirm the Pacific not as a bystander to global change, but as a confident, resilient, and future-ready force shaping the world around us.

Thank you.