Pacific energy experts, meeting in Suva, Fiji, have warned that the region must accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels while learning from past failures, arguing the current fuel crisis highlights the urgent need for renewable energy solutions.

Speaking at the Pacific Peace and Security Dialogue, panellists said rising fuel costs had exposed the vulnerability of Pacific nations to global oil shocks and underscored the need for long-term investment in locally led renewable energy initiatives.

Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa Environment and Renewable Energy Division manager Toleafoa Annie Tuisuga said the impacts of high fuel prices were being felt unevenly across communities.

“The fuel crisis doesn’t hit everyone the same. It’s obviously felt hardest in low socio-economic households and in rural and outer areas,” she said.

Ms Tuisuga said governments needed to look beyond emergency fuel supply measures and focus on renewable alternatives that reduce dependence on imported fuels.

Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport scientific and technical adviser, Dr Peter Nuttall, said the Pacific had experienced similar fuel shocks in the 1980s and again in 2008, yet remained unprepared for recurring disruptions.

“Here we are in another oil crisis, and everyone is surprised,” he said.

Dr Nuttall argued that decarbonising shipping was critical to the region’s economic future, describing it as “the most important economic decision this region makes going into the future”.

He said Pacific countries remained the most import-dependent in the world and would continue to face vulnerabilities unless they transformed their transport systems and reduced reliance on fossil fuels.

“The era of cheap fuel is over,” he said.

Pacific Community (SPC) Deputy Director of the Georesources and Energy Programme Ngedikes Olai Uludong said the region needed coordinated short, medium and long-term responses to the crisis.

She said immediate priorities included ensuring fuel access for critical services, while medium-term efforts should focus on improving regional information sharing and data collection.

Long-term strategies would require reducing dependence on imported oil through renewable energy, electrification and other alternative energy sources, she said.

Ms Uludong also highlighted opportunities to reduce emissions and import costs through initiatives such as the Blue Concrete Initiative, which aims to replace imported cement with lower-carbon alternatives.

However, Ms Tuisuga cautioned that renewable energy solutions were not always straightforward.

While electric vehicles were increasingly viewed as a greener transport option, she noted many Pacific electricity grids still relied heavily on diesel generation.

“If you’re charging them to a grid that is mostly diesel, then there are still challenges,” she said.

Pacific Community Office of the Pacific Energy Regulator Alliance coordinator Antony Garae pointed to the success of Vanuatu’s National Green Energy Fund, which has delivered more than 300 small-scale energy access projects.

The projects have supported schools, health centres and households in remote communities through solar-powered systems and targeted subsidies.

Mr Garae said improving energy efficiency remained one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce fuel consumption.

“Promoting energy efficiency and conservation at home, even in offices, can reduce the demand for utilities to ramp up generators,” he said.

The Pacific Peace and Security Dialogue is the region’s largest gathering of security stakeholders and is held under the framework of the Boe Declaration on Regional Security, the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration.