45th Pacific Islands Forum

Last updated

45th Pacific Islands Forum
Host country Palau
Date29 July 2014 (2014-07-29) –
1 August 2014 (2014-08-01)
Cities Ngerulmud
Koror
Participants
Follows 44th Pacific Islands Forum
Precedes 46th Pacific Islands Forum
Website www.forumsec.org

The 45th Pacific Islands Forum was held from 29 July to 1 August 2014 in Palau. [1] The forum's official opening was held in the capital Ngerulmud, in Melekeok State, but the majority of events were held in Koror, Palau's largest city and former capital. [2] The official theme of the meeting was "The Ocean: Life & Future". Topics under discussion include climate change, commercial fishing, non-communicable diseases and the possibility of readmitting Fiji to the forum.

Contents

Overview

The Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum. In 1999, the name was changed; Pacific Islands Forum is more inclusive of the Forum's Oceania-spanning membership of both north and south Pacific island countries and Australia. It is an official observer at the United Nations.

The mission of Pacific Islands Forum is “to work in support of Forum member governments, to enhance the economic and social well-being of the people of the South Pacific by fostering cooperation between governments and between international agencies, and by representing the interests of Forum members in ways agreed by the Forum”. Its decisions are implemented by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), which grew out of the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC). As well as its role in harmonising regional positions on various political and policy issues, the Forum Secretariat has technical programmes in economic development, transport and trade. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General is the permanent Chairman of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP). [3]

Issues

President of Palau Tommy Remengesau declared the official theme of the Forum would be "The Ocean: Life & Future", with the major focus on the issue of climate change amidst concern over rising sea levels and sinking islands in the Pacific Ocean. [4] He stated that the solution to the problem of rising seas as well as ocean warming and acidification is the reduction of CO
2 emissions. [5] Pacific islands leaders plan to produce a follow-up to the Majuro Declaration, which was passed at the 44th Pacific Islands Forum with the support of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. [1] Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Tuiloma Neroni Slade commended Remengesau for the choice of theme, noting "it is a theme that is most timely with considerable strategic significance in the lead up to the 3rd UN conference on Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) to be held in Samoa, in September."[ citation needed ]

Other topics on the agenda for the Forum include commercial fishing and non-communicable diseases. [1] Earlier this year, President Remengesau proposed a ban on commercial fishing in Palau. Bans and other ways to promote marine conservation will be discussed at the Forum. [1] Leaders are upset that despite the lucrative nature of the Pacific tuna fishing industry, worth approximately four billion US dollars per year, it is poorly managed and little of the money trickles back to Pacific countries. [5] Prevalence of smoking and obesity are widespread in the Pacific, and leaders in Palau want to discuss ways to reduce these problems at the Forum. To model good practices, smoking has been banned during the course of the event, and dietary guidelines have been put in place for food served at all meetings during the event. [1]

The readmission of Fiji to the Pacific Islands Forum was also discussed at the Forum. Fiji was banned in 2009 after the military government that took power in the 2006 Fijian coup d'état promised elections in 2009 but failed to hold them. [6] However, readmission is unlikely to occur before the Fijian election in September. [4] Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key said he would discuss allowing Fiji to return to the Forum, but Foreign Minister of Fiji Ratu Inoke Kubuabola previously stated that Fiji would not consider reapplying unless Australia and New Zealand were banned from the forum. [1]

Representatives

In addition to representatives from each of the 15 participating countries, representatives of major powers such as the United States, China, India, and the European Union also attended the forum. [4] [7] Former White House Chief of Staff and now former Counselor to the President John Podesta led the US delegation at the forum, a group including senior officials from the National Security Council, United States Pacific Command, United States Coast Guard, United States Department of State, United States Department of the Interior, Peace Corps, United States Agency for International Development, and Hawaii. [8] The delegation of the European Union was led by High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the EU and Vice-President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton. [7] Ashton will speak at a plenary session on 30 July and host a dinner that same evening. Her goals are to discuss issues of mutual interest such as climate change and increase strategic relations between the EU and Pacific islands. The EU has already agreed to provide over 750 million Euros for bilateral and regional cooperation. [7]

Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott and Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key, heads of government of the two largest participating countries in the Forum, were both unable to attend. [8] Tony Abbott was occupied with matters concerning the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The Australian delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Warren Truss and Parliamentary Secretary Brett Mason. [6] The New Zealand delegation was led by Foreign Minister Murray McCully, who promised a $5 million programme to update navigation maps for the region, and to help protect Pacific fisheries. [9] [10] The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand condemned Key for not attending the forum, and accused both leaders of not caring deeply enough about the effects of climate change. [8]

Results

Dr Jimmie Rodgers congratulates Meg Taylor who was appointed as the first female Secretary General of the PIF Dr Jimmie Rodgers congratulates the new Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum 2014.jpg
Dr Jimmie Rodgers congratulates Meg Taylor who was appointed as the first female Secretary General of the PIF

The forum concluded with Dame Meg Taylor of Papua New Guinea being appointed as the first female Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum. [11]

Related Research Articles

Foreign relations of Fiji

Fiji has experienced many coups recently, in 1987, 2000, and 2006. Fiji has been suspended various times from the Commonwealth of Nations, a grouping of mostly former British colonies. It was readmitted to the Commonwealth in December 2001, following the parliamentary election held to restore democracy in September that year, and has been suspended again because of the 2006 coup, but has been readmitted a second time after the 2014 election. Other Pacific Island governments have generally been sympathetic to Fiji's internal political problems and have declined to take public positions.

Pacific Islands Forum Intergovernmental organization of island nations in the Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between countries and territories of the Pacific Ocean, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum (SPF), and changed its name in 1999 to "Pacific Islands Forum", so as to be more inclusive of the Forum's Oceania-spanning membership of both north and south Pacific island countries, including Australia. It is a United Nations General Assembly observer.

Thomas Remengesau Jr. 7th and 9th President of Palau

Thomas Esang "Tommy" Remengesau Jr. is a Palauan politician; in 2013 he was elected the ninth president of Palau and was re-elected to that office in 2016. Previously he served as the seventh president of the island nation from 2001 to 2009. He served as a Senator in the Palau National Congress between his two administrations. In sum, Remengesau was elected Vice-President of Palau in 1992 and 1996, then president in 2000, 2004, 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Seve Paeniu is a Tuvaluan politician. Paeniu was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu in the 2019 Tuvaluan general election to represent the Nukulaelae electorate. He was appointed as the Minister of Finance in the Natano Ministry.

Foreign relations of the Cook Islands

The Cook Islands maintains diplomatic relations with various countries and is a member of multilateral organisations. While the country is in free association with New Zealand, which can act on the Cook Islands' "delegated authority [...] to assist the Cooks Islands" in foreign affairs, the Cook Islands nevertheless enters into treaty obligations and otherwise "interacts with the international community as a sovereign and independent state."

Melanesian Spearhead Group

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is an intergovernmental organization, composed of the four Melanesian states of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia. In June 2015, Indonesia was recognized as an associate member.

Tuiloma Neroni Slade

Tuiloma Neroni Slade held the post of secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat from 2008 to 4 December 2014. He was elected to the position for three years on 20 August 2008. Slade was reappointed to a second term by the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum on 8 September 2011.

Gregory Lawrence Urwin PSM CSI was an Australian career diplomat and top Pacific specialist. Urwin held the post of Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, an important inter-governmental regional organisation from 2004 until 2 May 2008. Urwin had been the longest serving Australian diplomat in the Pacific at the time of his death in 2008. Urwin was also the first non-Pacific Islander to become Secretary General of the Pacific Island Forum.

Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is the chief executive officer of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS). The Secretariat is based in Suva, Fiji.

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is a treaty-based organisation established to conserve and manage tuna and other highly migratory fish stocks across the western and central areas of the Pacific Ocean. Its full name is Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. It commenced operations in late 2005, and its secretariat is based in Pohnpei, in the northern Pacific state of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Henry Puna Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum

Henry Tuakeu Puna is a Cook Islands politician, and the current Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum. He was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from November 2010 to October 2020. Since 2006 he has been leader of the Cook Islands Party.

The Tarawa Climate Change Conference (TCCC), was held in the Republic of Kiribati from 9 to 10 November 2010. The purpose of the conference was to support the initiative of the President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, to hold a consultative forum between vulnerable states and their partners with a view of creating an enabling environment for multi-party negotiations under the auspices of the UNFCCC. The conference was the successor event to the Climate Vulnerable Forum held in November 2009 in the Maldives, when eleven climate vulnerable countries signed the Bandos Island declaration pledging to show moral leadership and commence greening their economies by voluntarily committing to achieving carbon neutrality. Based on the lessons learned in the COP process, the TCCC proposed a more inclusive format of consultations, involving key partners among major developed and developing nations.

Polynesian Leaders Group

The Polynesian Leaders Group (PLG) is an international governmental cooperation group bringing together eight independent or self-governing countries or territories in Polynesia.

The Majuro Declaration is an initiative of the Pacific Islands Forum, which was signed on 5 September 2013 at Majuro in the Marshall Islands during the 44th Pacific Islands Forum summit. At the summit the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum nations recognised the need for strengthened national systems to plan for, access, deliver, absorb and monitor climate change and for donor countries to continue to simplify and harmonise their assessment, implementation and reporting processes for financing projects directed to climate change adaptation, mitigation and risk reduction.

Women in Tuvalu

Women in Tuvalu continue to maintain a traditional Polynesian culture within a predominantly Christian society. Tuvaluan cultural identity is sustained through an individual's connection to their home island. In the traditional community system in Tuvalu, each family has its own task, or salanga, to perform for the community. The skills of a family are passed on from parents to children. The women of Tuvalu participate in the traditional music of Tuvalu and in the creation of the art of Tuvalu including using cowrie and other shells in traditional handicrafts. There are opportunities of further education and paid employment with non-government organisations (NGOs) and government enterprises, education and health agencies being the primary opportunities for Tuvaluan women.

Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation

Forum for India-Pacific Islands cooperation (FIPIC) is a multinational grouping developed in 2014 for cooperation between India and 14 Pacific Islands nations which include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. All heads of state or heads of government of the above countries met in Suva, Fiji in November 2014 for the first time where the annual summit was conceptualised.

India–Palau relations Bilateral relations

India–Palau relations refers to the international relations that exist between India and Palau. The Embassy of India in Manila, Philippines is concurrently accredited to Palau.

India–Tuvalu relations Bilateral relations

India–Tuvalu relations refers to the international relations that exist between India and Tuvalu. The High Commission of India in Suva, Fiji is concurrently accredited to Tuvalu. Tuvalu maintains an Honorary Consulate General in New Delhi.

Minute Alapati Taupo Tuvaluan politician

Minute Alapati Taupo OBE is a Tuvaluan politician, diplomat, economist and accountant. Taupo was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu in the 2019 Tuvaluan general election to represent the Nanumanga electorate. He was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Fisheries and Trade in the Natano Ministry.

List of events that happened during 2021 in Oceania.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Pacific leaders to discuss climate change, sustainable fishing during Pacific Islands Forum in Palau". Radio Australia. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Calendar of Events Archived 21 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine – Palau PIF. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Unattributed. "About Us". Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Pacific summit to urge action on climate change". AFP. MSN. 28 July 2014. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Climate concerns aired as Pacific summit opens". AFP. Yahoo!. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  6. 1 2 Schwartz, Dominque (29 July 2014). "Leaders gather in Palau for Pacific Islands Forum". Australia Network News. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 "EU High Representative to Attend Pacific Islands Forum in Palau". The Jet. 29 July 2014. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 Yeo, Sophie (29 July 2014). "Podesta heads to Pacific climate meet, NZ and Aus PMs decline". Responding to Climate Change. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "McCullys 5m safety boost for Pacific". Stuff/Fairfax. 30 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "NZ to help protect Pacific fisheries". Stuff/Fairfax. 30 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "PNG's Dame Meg Taylor will be PIFS First Female Secretary General". Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.