Photo: Pacific Leaders at COP30 - Credit: SPC
Note from SPC's Director for Climate Change and Sustainability
The 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), held from 10–21 November in Belém, Brazil, brought together global leaders at a critical moment for climate action. For the Pacific, this was more than a conference; it was a fight for survival. Branded the ‘COP of Truth’, COP30 was to embody the spirit of Mutirão, a collective, community-driven effort.
To shape practical pathways forward to address climate change with the necessary urgency commensurate with the challenge. The challenge being the breaching of planetary boundaries at rates never experience before. Many of which underpin the tipping points of existentiality for the most vulnerable communities and countries in the region.
Pacific leaders and delegations stood united, advocating for urgent action to keep global warming below 1.5°C, ensure commensurate mitigation ambition in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) 3.0, and secure scaled access to climate finance for urgent adaptation measures, to address growing loss and damage in our region and to transition to a low-carbon future. In all their efforts they stressed the critical importance of the ocean-climate nexus and the importance of science in decision-making. The region also fought hard to secure the bid for hosting of COP31 in the Pacific Region in partnership with Australia. Under the leadership of the Pacific SIDS (Small Island Developing States) and supported by the One CROP mechanism, SPC worked alongside regional partners to ensure Pacific leadership and voices were heard and the region’s priorities were well represented on the world stage.
These articles highlight key moments from COP30, including the Pacific solidarity and leadership in climate negotiations, the voices of youth shaping global climate justice, the new SPC science on coastal fisheries and aquaculture impacted by climate change, and stories of resilience and adaptation from our communities.
The support for our Pacific Islands at COP30 was coordinated through the One CROP mechanism, led by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), in partnership with the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), and the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC).
GLOBAL AMBITION FOR 1.5 °C WARMING LIMIT (MITIGATION), AND PACIFIC LEADERSHIP
The Pacific stood united in solidarity as Pacific Small Island Developing States supported by OneCROP and amplified by friends of the region, including the Special Envoy for Oceania, Dame Jacinda Ardern, as appointed by the COP Presidency. “Pacific priorities should be global priorities. The Pacific is not only on the frontline of climate impacts but also at the frontline of solutions from the Pacific Resilience Facility to leadership on the 1.5°C goal.”
Despite the submission of 120 updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) under the UNFCCC, global ambition remains far from sufficient to meet the 1.5°C limit in warming – one espoused by the International Court of Justice as a legal obligation. Current projections indicate a trajectory towards approximately 2.5°C of warming, highlighting the urgent need for accelerated and enhanced action worldwide. This gap between the global limit and the reality of total ambition represents a line in the sand between survival and existentiality for many in our region.
Leading by example, Pacific Island Countries (PICs) through their new NDC 3.0 commitments, such as Tuvalu, the Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Fiji, are driving bold strategies to decarbonise key sectors, accelerate renewable energy adoption, and embed ocean-based (“blue”) solutions at the heart of their climate plans. These commitments reflect the Pacific’s determination to keep the 1.5°C limit alive, despite persistent challenges in resources, capacity, and technology. Their plans include ambitious renewable energy targets, electrification of transport, and efficiency measures across power and waste systems, often conditional on international finance and technology support.
Equally significant is the integration of blue actions within these NDCs. Pacific countries are codifying ocean stewardship through measures such as expanding marine protected areas, advancing blue carbon initiatives, and restoring coastal ecosystems. These actions link adaptation, mitigation, and food security in a coherent agenda that demonstrates global leadership. Bottom line: while global ambition falls short, Pacific Island Countries show how clean energy transitions and ocean-centred solutions can power a fair and feasible pathway, if matched by scaled international support for financing, technology transfer, and capacity building.
On the eve of COP30, Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern, Special Envoy for Oceania COP30 and former Prime Minister of Aotearoa New Zealand, and Ms Coral Pasisi, Director of Climate Change and Sustainability at the Pacific Community (SPC), show their solidarity for the Pacific’s call to keep global warming below 1.5°C and amplify their voices. Read more here.
ACCESS TO CLIMATE FINANCE
Pacific capacity growing for climate finance access - From readiness to resilience
COP30 saw agreement to tripling adaptation finance, launching of the call for proposals for the Fund for Addressing Loss and Damage, and a dialogue to advance how developed countries could deliver on their obligations of finance to developing countries to reach the 300b per annum by 2035, as agreed to at COP29. For SIDS (Small Island Developing States), however, the issue remains, however big the pie gets, if there isn’t sufficient simplified access for the least capacitated, it won’t change the current challenge of access, asportation and sustainability that is required.
“We are one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to cyclones, flooding and coastal erosion. The challenge is not only the scale of resources we need, but our ability to design proposals that meet international standards while responding to the realities of our islands.” Vanuatu Director-General of the Ministry of Climate Change, Mr David Gibson, said investing in human capacity is one of the most effective forms of adaptation.
Read the testimonies from Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, and Vanuatu
ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE BUILDING
Pacific assessment reveals how climate change is recasting fisheries and aquaculture
New scientific analysis released by the Pacific Community (SPC) shows that climate change is transforming Pacific fisheries and aquaculture at every scale, from coastal communities to oceanic tuna stocks. The findings were published through SPC’s Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems new regional assessment, Climate Change Implications for Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Pacific Islands Region, launched at COP30 in Belém. Find out more here.
Palau’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment, Hon. Steven Victor, delivered a powerful video message during the launch of SPC’s new regional assessment on climate change impacts on fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific Islands. He highlighted the real-world implications for Palau’s coastal fisheries, aquaculture and food security, and affirmed the country’s commitment to climate-resilient blue food systems. Watch here
The Climate Change Implications for Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Pacific Islands Region is now available for download here.
Centrality of the Ocean
At COP30, Pacific leaders emphasised the centrality of the ocean in addressing climate change and the need to strengthen its embedding into the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement arrangements going forward.
“There is no climate change without the ocean”, said Ambassador Peter Thomsen, Special Envoy on Oceans for the United Nations Secretary General. The Ocean absorbs over 90% of the planet's heat, 25% of its carbon dioxide, produces over 50% of the planet's oxygen and contains up to 80% of life on earth. It buffers climate impacts, holds solutions to climate action, but also manifests significant climate risks in sea-level rise, ocean acidification, increased wave action, and many more that directly impact Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS). These are the subject of much discussion in an Ocean Dialogue process set to deliver recommendations to COP31 on how to take ‘Ocean’ forward within the remit of the climate change architecture in a more embedded way into the future. Fortunately for our region and the rest of the world, Fiji is co-facilitating this dialogue through 2026 towards COP31. Offering a great opportunity to inject as much ocean intelligence from the region into the process as possible. As technical lead on the ocean-climate nexus in OneCROP, SPC is well-positioned to leverage its scientific and technical expertise and coordination function to support this important effort from the region.
At COP 30, PSIDS stressed the urgent need to strengthen and sustain national and regional ocean-acidification monitoring systems, supported by continuous capacity building, additional observation stations, and secure multi-year investment in equipment, data management, and technical expertise. They also called for integrated chemical and biological monitoring linking laboratories, regional experts, and high-value species research to generate harmonised, policy-relevant insights that can guide climate-resilient adaptation across our Blue Pacific.
Pacific countries are also strengthening ocean-centred adaptation in their NDC 3.0 commitments, expanding marine protected areas, advancing blue carbon initiatives, restoring coastal ecosystems, and embedding ocean stewardship across national climate plans. These initiatives link adaptation, mitigation, and food security, underscoring the critical role of healthy oceans in the Pacific’s climate-resilient future.
LOSS AND DAMAGE
The Pacific’s call for justice and recognition ahead of COP30
"We will never leave this land": Counting what cannot be counted.
As the world gathered in Belém, Brazil, the Pacific sent a message rooted not in rhetoric, but in reality. Loss and Damage, the irreversible impacts of climate change, are not a distant threat in this region. It is the tide rising beneath village homes, the lost ancestral graves, the silence of once-familiar winds, the fading of Indigenous Knowledge that once anchored entire societies. SPC brought forward new research and lived testimonies that reveal what the world must finally confront: that not all losses can be rebuilt, and not all knowledge can be replaced.
Read more
CRITICAL ENABLERS
Social inclusion in action
Pacific youths bring the call for climate justice from the Hague to Belém — At COP 30, young Pacific climate leaders have stepped forward, youth negotiators whose journey began not in global conference halls, but in classrooms, communities, and one historic courtroom. “We travel for days to reach COP30 because our communities need their stories heard. The ICJ advisory opinion gives us a moral compass a legal and ethical tool to hold the world accountable,” shared Ms Belyndar Mounia Rikimani, a lawyer from Solomon Islands and one of the region’s emerging negotiators. Read more
Women across the Pacific continue to shape climate action at every level — From national policy and finance to community resilience and social protection. Their leadership was especially evident at COP30, where Pacific women brought clarity, courage and lived experience to negotiations and regional advocacy. In this edition, we feature Hon. Ruth Cross Kwansing, Kiribati’s Minister for Women and Pacific GESI Climate Champion, whose contributions reflect the vital role of women in driving an inclusive and resilient Blue Pacific. Watch here
Importance of science and accountability
Pacific Leadership has lifted Climate Justice into International Law.
"The International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed what Pacific communities have always known — climate action is a duty, not a choice.” Hon. Ralph Regenvanu, Minister for Climate Change, Vanuatu. Watch more
The ICJ AO also underpinned the centrality of the best available science, of the IPCC, in underpinning accountability and action. Pacific Island Countries (PICs), through their lead negotiators in the Research and Systematic Observation (RSO), which included Directors of Climate Change and Meteorology from PICs (many of whom were women), defended the science strongly and ultimately prevailed. The Pacific continues to strengthen its regional advocacy on climate ambition. Senivasa Waqairamasi, Director of Climate Change at the Fiji Ministry of Environment & Climate Change, highlights why negotiations matter, why 1.5°C must remain the global benchmark, and the importance of defending the IPCC science that underpins this goal. Watch the video here.
The Pacific is turning the tide on climate and health - Dr Berlin Kafoa, Director of SPC's Public Health division, said the region is seeing the health effects of a changing climate every day. “The increased incidence of Climate-sensitive diseases, frequency and intensity of natural disasters, and heat episodes amplify the effects of climate change on the health and well-being of a population that is already struggling with a non-communicable disease crisis.” When climate shifts, health follows. Read how the Pacific is adapting to protect lives.
Investing in soils, seeds and science: The Pacific’s response to a climate crisis it did not create - The Pacific did not create this crisis, yet its people are among the first to live its consequences. Within every taro pit, seed bank, and forest canopy lies the power to adapt. By strengthening the foundations of our soils, protecting the diversity of our crops, and honouring traditional knowledge alongside modern science, our Pacific communities are not only enduring climate change but are charting a path of adaptation and resilience. Read more.