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With a cup of kava in hand, King Charles introduces the traditional Pacific drink to the Samoan people, cheering in both English and Samoan.
“God bless this ava, Manuia.”
Having completed his three-day visit to Australia, King Charles and Queen Camilla are now in Samoa to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where they will meet the leaders of 56 Commonwealth countries, including Australia.
It is also the first time the Commonwealth meeting has been held in a Pacific developing state, and climate change is expected to be high on the agenda.
Feleti Teo is the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, a South Pacific country with a population of just over 11,000.
During a forum session, he speaks about the challenges Tuvalu faces due to rising sea levels.
“Our current forecast, made by credible climate change scientists, predicts that in just 26 years, by 2050, just two decades, Tuvalu’s capital island, Funafuti, will have 50 percent of its territory regularly inundated by regular tides and surges. In another fifty years, the forecast is that more than 90 percent of the territory of our capital would suffer the same fate.
In March, Tuvalu signed a security and climate pact with Australia, as rising sea levels threaten the country’s existence.
Australia also announced $110 million in funding for development initiatives in Tuvalu and promised to strengthen Tuvalu’s coastal defenses, as well as open a resettlement pathway for 280 Tuvalu citizens each year.
But Mr Teo believes Australia could have done more, particularly in respecting its commitment to climate change.
“My view on this commitment is that Australia not only provides or has made this legal commitment, but is highly morally obligated to ensure that whatever action it takes will not compromise its commitment it has made in terms of climate impacts on Tuvalu.
It particularly highlights Australia’s failure to meet its emissions reduction target.
“As you know, the current Australian Government is committed to achieving Net Zero by 2050. Clearly, the activities and actions reported in the report being released are obviously not in line with the broader spirit aimed at achieving this objective.”
In response to the concerns of Pacific countries, Foreign Minister Penny Wong says she is aware of Australia’s responsibilities.
“It is true that we have to transition our economy, and we will do it, we are doing it, it is an important task when we came to government, I think about 30 percent of the electricity came from renewable sources and obviously our target is 82% by 2030, that’s a very big turnaround, we’re on track to get there. But I want to emphasize that the whole world needs to work to reduce our emissions.”
But some experts fear the Commonwealth meeting will deliver little on climate change because big emitters are not part of the debate.
Dr. Meg Keen is a senior fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program.
She says neither China nor the United States is attending the Commonwealth meeting, meaning discussions on climate change will be limited.
“When it comes to the issue of climate change, the downside is that the two biggest emitters aren’t there, so they really need to build that momentum at a global forum to get the kind of impact that they’re going to need if we want to have climate action.
In addition to climate change, gender equality, economic growth and health are topics the Commonwealth meeting will focus on.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in Samoa and is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leaders of other developed Commonwealth states and leaders of Pacific countries.
According to Dr Keen, one of the problems of the Commonwealth as an international association is that although some of its members benefit from economic opportunities for growth, these opportunities do not extend to other Commonwealth countries.
“You’ll see some talking about the opportunity, as a community, to open those economic doors wider, because that’s what young people need, and that’s what women need, for economic opportunity, which are two key themes.”
