Pacific island national leaders declared a climate emergency on Friday (local time) and agreed to the aim of bringing Kiribati back to the region’s main diplomatic grouping.
Kiribati announced it had withdrawn from the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum ahead of a leaders’ summit in Fiji this week. The move was seen as a sign of China’s growing influence in the region.
In a soon-to-be-released communique, the leaders “welcomed and fully supported” the new Australian government’s commitment to the forum’s climate change priorities.
Australia's new government has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels.
The nation's previous government committed to reductions of only 26% to 28% by 2030.
READ MORE: Three-decade strategy launched at Pacific Islands Forum
Another clause in the communique urges all forum nations to deliver “clear progress on turning pledges and commitments into action" consistent with containing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Australia’s current targets of a 43% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050 fall short of that aspiration.
Pacific unity was also a key topic, heightened by Kiribati’s withdrawal.
Australia and New Zealand will fund the Suva Agreement, which reforms the forum and new diplomatic efforts to bring Kiribati back to the fold.
China's growing influence in the region was a subject of discussion among the leaders.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand have been among the most vocal critics of a security pact signed between China and the Solomon Islands.
The pact has raised fears of a permanent Chinese military facility within 2,000 kilometres of the northeast Australian coast.
Australia already has a security treaty with the Solomons and Australian police have been in the capital, Honiara, maintaining peace since riots late last year.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said Thursday his country’s new security pact would not allow China to build a military base in his nation and make his citizens “targets for potential military strikes.”
The forum dialogue partners — including the United States, China, Britain and France — were not been invited to the summit, but Bainimarama allowed US Vice President Kamala Harris to deliver a virtual address that proposed increasing US diplomatic engagement and financial aid.
Two Chinese embassy defence attaches who were watching Harris’ address from media seating were spotted by a journalist and reported to police.
Police asked them to leave, The Guardian reported.
After Harris’ address, a Chinese official in Beijing said his government welcomes greater support from others to help develop and revitalize the Pacific islands.
But the official warned that such efforts should not be undertaken to counter China.
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