12 Aug 2016

Climate change key focus of Forum ministers meeting

6:07 pm on 12 August 2016

The foreign ministers of the Pacific Islands Forum countries met in Fiji this afternoon, where climate change was a key focus.

Left to right: PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, President of French Polynesia Édouard Fritch and Vanuatu Foreign Minister Lenkon Tao Bruno

Left to right: PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, President of French Polynesia Édouard Fritch and Vanuatu Foreign Minister Lenkon Tao Bruno Photo: Presidency of French Polynesia

Fiji's foreign minister, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, said the importance of regional cooperation and disaster-risk management would be the main focus of discussions today.

Ratu Inoke said the meeting hoped to lay the groundwork for aligning the region's implementation of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Kava ceremony for the opening of the Foreign Ministers meeting in Fiji.

Kava ceremony for the opening of the Foreign Ministers meeting in Fiji. Photo: Presidency of French Polynesia

He said the region also needed to work together when it came to accessing the finances to ratify the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The meeting comes ahead of the Forum leaders' meeting in Federated States of Micronesia next month.