28th September 2018 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders are in New York this week for the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), providing an opportunity for collective advocacy and engagement as the Blue Pacific.
Falling just two weeks after the 49th Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting which was held in Nauru, UNGA provides a key opportunity to promote the priorities and commitments of the Pacific region on the global stage.
On the margins of UNGA, Forum Leaders met with the the Right Honourable Mark Field – the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific and the Deputy Secretary of State, John J Sullivan of the United States of America. Both countries are key Dialogue Partners of the Pacific Islands Forum.
Discussions at these meetings focused on promoting the recently Leaders endorsed Boe Declaration to strengthen Pacific region security cooperation; calling for greater action on climate change, particularly through the upcoming COP 24 meeting; securing the Pacific region’s maritime boundaries by settling the 13 outstanding shared maritime boundary claims; combating ocean pollution and the impact of the nuclear legacy in the Pacific; and ensuring the long-term sustainable and viability of the Pacific region’s fisheries resources.
On Friday 29 September, Forum Leaders will meet with the UN Secretary General, and intend to present the Secretary General with copyies of the new Boe Declaration, as well as the first Quadrennial Pacific Sustainable Development Report which highlights progress, and ongoing challenges, of the Blue Pacific region towards achieving the UN’s universal Development 2030 and SDGs agenda.
Forum Leaders will welcome the UN Secretary General’s leadership on international climate change action and will take the opportunity to call for the appointment of a Special Adviser on Climate Change and Security, to strengthen the global focus on climate change as a security risk.
Forum Leaders will also provide the UN Secretary General with an update on the Pacific region’s concerted action on climate change and resilience including through their recent endorsement to establish the Pacific Resilience Facility, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands Chairing of the upcoming Climate Vulnerable Forum to be convened virtually, across the globe. [caption id="attachment_11245" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Pacific Delegation meet U.S Deputy Secretary Of State John Sullivan[/caption]
