Tongan Prime Minister Hon. Hu'akavameiliku met the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in the Azerbaijan capital, Baku, yesterday, 13 May.

The joint meeting included the Governor-General of Tuvalu, Tofiga Falani, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Frederick Audley Mitchell, as Azerbaijan prepares to host the 2024 Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP29).

President Ilham Aliyev acknowledged the importance of their discussion with island nations, based on issues related to climate. 

"I’d like to invite you to the conference, and hope you will be present at the opening of the conference. And it’s a good opportunity to talk about our bilateral agenda, how we can work together, and how we can support you with respect to this serious challenge of climate," he said.

PM Hu’akavameiliku noted that COP29 should be a turning point in addressing important issues not only globally, but specifically for small island nations.

"Mr. President, you are probably aware that climate change knows no borders. It doesn't matter if it is a small or a big country. It just affects us all," Hu'akavameiliku said.

Loss and damage fund

The PM said that working together, even small island nations can make COP29 a success.

For example, he said the issue of loss and damage has been raised by Tuvalu for more than 10 years, and it was only last year that COP was able to reach some agreement.

Meanwhile, the PM proposed the topic of coastal protection for discussion during Azerbaijan presidency at COP29.

PIF leaders meeting in Tonga

The Prime Minister extended an invitation to the President to attend the upcoming Pacific Island Forum leaders meeting to be held in Tonga in late August.

"I think this would be an appropriate venue for you or a representative of the COP presidency to present an overview of COP29 and gain the support of the small island states of the Pacific."

Presidemt Ilham Aliyev said the most important topic at COP29, will be finance.

"We are actively working on allocation of financing in order to deal with this issue. But also we understand that for some countries climate change is a problem, but for some countries it’s a matter of their existence. We clearly understand it. Helping small island states for us is something, which we consider as our moral duty."

He promised that the issue of small island states and their support, their protection will be in the center of discussions.

"We as the president of COP29 will bring it to the spotlight," he said.