Pacific leaders have issued a unified call for urgent global action to protect the world’s largest tuna production region from the accelerating impacts of climate change.
This message was reinforced at the 3rd UN Oceans Conference in Nice, France during a high-level side event themed “On the Road to Climate-Resilient Fisheries”, co-hosted by the Government of Niue and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), on Tuesday, 10 June.
Keynote speaker, the Tuvalu Prime Minister Hon. Feleti Teo said climate change is an existential threat to Pacific Island Countries and Territories.
“Pacific Island countries, including Tuvalu, rely deeply on our tuna resources. For us, tuna is not just food or revenue - it is sovereignty, it is development, and it is dignity.
“As tuna moves further from our Exclusive Economic Zones to the high seas under the weight of climate change, so too do our hopes of a stable, secure future. This is not just an environmental issue. It is an issue of justice.”
He highlighted the Pacific’s global leadership in sustainable fisheries management, noting that while global discussions continue around achieving sustainability, the Pacific has quietly led by example for decades. Through regional institutions like the FFA and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), Pacific nations have collaborated to sustainably manage tuna stocks – which remain among the healthiest in the world today.
H.E. Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, commended Pacific nations for their stewardship and leadership in sustainable fisheries, and called for strengthened international commitment to climate-responsive governance.
Niue’s Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Mona Ainu’u, reiterated the key role of regional cooperation. “Our greatest strength lies not in scale, but in solidarity,” and acknowledged FFA’s role in uniting small island nations under a shared vision for sustainable, science-based management of tuna resources.
The event featured key interventions from Papua New Guinea Minister for Fisheries Hon. Jelta Wong, Fiji Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Hon. Alitia Bainivalu, Kiribati Minister for Fisheries and Ocean Resources Hon. Ribanataake Awira, Palau Minister for Fisheries and Environment Hon. Stephen Victor, Marshall Islands Minister for Natural Resources Hon. Anthony Muller, Federated States of Micronesia Minister for Resources and Development Hon. Elina P. Akinaga, and Permanent Secretary for the Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs H.E. Colin Beck.
Two voluntary commitments were pledged during the side event: Niue’s pioneering Niue Ocean Wide (Niue NOW) initiative and ocean literacy efforts, and the launch of the Pacific Tuna Transparency Pledge that is jointly championed by Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Papua New Guinea.
The event concluded with a call to action: to recognize and support the Pacific’s decades-long leadership in ocean sustainability and to ensure justice for those bearing the heaviest costs of a crisis they did not create.
FFA assists its 17-member countries to sustainably manage fishery resources that fall within their 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). FFA provides expertise, technical assistance and other support to its members who make decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional decision making on tuna management.
