Updated
Tuvalu has warned Australia that redirecting aid
money to climate resilience projects in the Pacific should not be used
as an "excuse" to avoid reducing emissions and phasing out coal-fired
power generation.
Key points:
- Tuvalu wants Australia to cut domestic emissions and stop opening coal mines
- Countries like Australia have been urged to continue to fund the UN's Green Climate Fund
- Australia's aid budget will stay the same, just redirected to fund climate change initiatives
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday morning announced a $500 million package of funding, redirected from aid spending, to help Pacific countries invest in renewable energy and become more resilient to climate and weather events.
Mr Morrison will arrive in Tuvalu tomorrow for a leaders' meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) where Pacific leaders have been urging Australia to take stronger action to limit global warming.
Tuvalu's Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga said he respects Australia's financial support, but pressed the case for stronger action to reduce emissions.
"No matter how much money you put on the table, it doesn't give you the excuse to not to do the right thing," he said."Cutting down your emissions, including not opening your coal mines, that is the thing we want to see."
Speaking after a meeting of Smaller Island States (SIS), Mr Sopoaga also called on countries like Australia to continue to fund the UN's Green Climate Fund, which helps developing nations cope with climate change.
"We certainly respect what Australia decides to do with its assistance in terms of how big, but we want … global actions," he said.
The money Australia will spend on climate in the Pacific
The Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Alex Hawke, who is already in Funafuti, has been promoting the five-year $500 million climate package.
"This is the most amount of money Australia has ever spent on climate in the Pacific," he said."Australia is listening on climate, we will be doing more and spending more through our package.
"The aid budget is staying the same, but spending more on what the Pacific is telling us is their needs."
Mr Sopoaga, Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and other Pacific leaders have become increasingly vocal in the lead-up to this year's PIF leaders' meeting in appealing to Australia to take a stronger stance on climate change.
But Mr Hawke said his reception in Funafuti thus far had been very positive.
"The Pacific is family, it's our home and we've very much been received as family," he said.
Pacific divided on diplomatic allegiance to Taiwan
Pacific leaders are also grappling with China's growing presence in the region, particularly the Pacific states that have diplomatic relations with Taipei and not Beijing.
The Solomon Islands is reconsidering its position of recognising Taiwan as a country, but Nauru is standing firm.
"Taiwan is a very, very strong partner with those of us in the Pacific," Nauru's President Baron Waqa said.
"We are very proud of being Taiwan's friend and recognising Taiwan being a democratic country.
"We are concerned that the rest of the world, especially at the UN, are not living up to their principles and policies where people are not to be left behind."[The] people of Taiwan are obviously segregated."
China, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and the UK have all been focusing more attention on the Pacific because of the region's geo-strategic importance.
Mr Hawke described the strategic competition as "healthy" for the Pacific.
"I think there's going to be more investment into the Pacific than we've seen for a long time," he said.
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