The Pacific Islands Forum: Tensions Run High over Zoom

Tensions ran high at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), which took place over Zoom in August. Presidents and prime ministers, including Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison, logged into the meeting. President Biden sent a prerecorded message.

The event was due to take place in Fiji; however, the Pacific country is facing a deadly Covid-19 outbreak, which saw it have the highest per capita infection rate in the world over the past week. Frank Bainimarama, Fiji’s prime minister said in his address: “I initially hoped that when we convened here in Fiji for the 51st Pacific Islands Forum, the worst of the Covid pandemic would be behind us.”

Pacific Islands Forum

The prime minister of Tuvalu and outgoing chair of the PIF, Kausea Natano discussed Japan’s plans to release more than 1m tonnes of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. He pressed other leaders to raise the issue with Japan, commenting: “Our timeline to ensure that no harm will befall our blue continent is just over 18 months.”

Later there were discussions about climate. Natano implored leaders to take action on the climate crisis, saying, “there is no doubt that sea-level rise continues to threaten the very core of our existence, of our statehood, our sovereignty, our people and our identity.

He made reference to the “raucous and frank discussions” between leaders at the last in-person meeting in Tuvalu in 2019, as Australia resisted committing to net-zero by 2050. Despite international pressure, Australia continues to lag behind in emissions targets.

In a prerecorded message, President Biden reiterated the United States’ commitment to “dramatically reducing our emissions by 2030”.

Soon another issue of contention came up.

Last year, Henry Puna from Polynesia was appointed as secretary-general. However, as per convention, it was Micronesia’s candidate’s turn. This caused the near-collapse of the PIF last year.

In protest, Micronesian countries announced they would leave the PIF.

Bainimarama apologised to Micronesian countries, but an improvement in relations might take some time.

The Nauruan president, Lionel Aingimea was the only Micronesian leader to attend. He disappeared from the Zoom call when Puna gave his speech. It was speculated that he left in protest and when his office was contacted for comment about the reason why he left the call, there was no response.

This is a  summary based on an article by the Guardian features in the Island Innovation newsletter