Pacific-led talks delivered a declaration and new resilience pledges, while exposing the political and financial challenges facing next month’s summit in Türkiye.
The Pacific Pre-COP concluded in Fiji on Oct. 8 with new resilience funding pledges and a shared call to accelerate emissions reductions, improve access to climate finance, and protect ocean-dependent communities. The gathering established priorities for COP31, which opens in Antalya, Türkiye, on Nov. 9.
For Pacific governments, those priorities are inseparable. Preparing for rising seas and extreme weather requires funding that reaches communities, while limiting future damage depends on faster emissions reductions worldwide.
COP31 will run through Nov. 20, with Türkiye hosting the conference and Australia’s Chris Bowen serving as President of Negotiations. The challenge now is to carry the Pacific’s demands into agreements and investment decisions supported by governments beyond the region.
A declaration connecting climate action with sovereignty
The central political outcome of the Pacific Pre-COP was the Taku Pakasoa Declaration, adopted at the leaders’ event on Oct. 6. Its Tuvaluan name expresses strength through unity, reflecting a call for collective action that extends to vulnerable island states and least-developed countries worldwide.
The declaration urges deep emissions reductions to limit the magnitude and duration of warming above 1.5°C and calls on countries still to submit their 2035 national climate plans to do so promptly. It also reaffirms the COP28 call for countries to contribute, through nationally determined action, to transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems.
A visit to Tuvalu brought those objectives into direct contact with the conditions facing vulnerable communities. Delegates from around 30 countries travelled to the low-lying nation, where flooding, saltwater intrusion, and volatile weather threaten homes and livelihoods, Reuters reported. COP31 President Murat Kurum described the 1.5°C goal as “a matter of survival.”
The declaration places sovereignty alongside emissions and finance. It reaffirms the importance of continuing statehood and maintaining maritime zones established in accordance with international law despite sea-level rise. For island governments, climate diplomacy concerns the security of their territories, economies, and cultures as well as environmental protection.
UNEP regional director Dechen Tsering warned during the talks that Pacific risks would persist beyond a temperature peak. Her warning underscores why emissions reductions and adaptation must advance together: bringing temperatures down in the future would not immediately reverse accumulated damage.
New funding highlights a larger delivery challenge
Support for the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) provided one of the concrete outcomes of the Pacific Pre-COP. Fiji pledged US$10 million, while other partners announced contributions or intentions to increase their support.
As of Oct. 7, pledges stood slightly below US$200 million, PRF CEO Finau Soqo told Reuters. PRF aims to reach US$500 million following COP31, with a longer-term ambition of US$1.5 billion. The Oct. 7 figure represents a pledge snapshot, rather than a final Pre-COP total or money disbursed.
The Pacific-owned facility invests capital and uses earnings to support small community grants, including projects addressing water security and food production. Its approach responds to a recurring concern among island governments: international funding can be difficult to access even when commitments have been announced.
According to the official outcome summary, more than US$16 billion in climate finance has been committed to Pacific countries since the Paris Agreement, but over US$5 billion remains undisbursed. Australia launched an Access to Finance Statement and Action Plan aimed at reducing barriers that delay funding.
An Oct. 8 analysis by ABC News highlighted the gap between the diplomatic reach of the Pacific Pre-COP and its financial outcomes. Senior officials and institutions controlling substantial climate funding engaged directly with Pacific communities, but new contributions remained modest relative to expectations. Pacific officials were looking to Antalya for stronger commitments.
For governments preparing for COP31, the message is practical: additional pledges will matter, but so will faster approvals, disbursement, and implementation.
Political support remains a test
The gathering also demonstrated the difficulty of mobilising national leaders from outside the region. Only two leaders from beyond the Pacific, representing Mauritius and Timor-Leste, joined the Tuvalu visit, ABC News reported. Ministers and senior multilateral officials nevertheless attended, giving the discussions a broader international reach than the leaders’ turnout alone suggests.
That participation created opportunities to clarify priorities and build negotiating relationships. Securing substantial outcomes in Antalya will require those discussions to translate into political and financial backing from a wider group of governments.
The hosts also face scrutiny over their own energy policies. Campaign group 350.org criticised Australia’s and Türkiye’s fossil-fuel policies and called for coal phase-out dates, The Guardian reported.
This points to a central negotiating tension: governments can support expanding clean energy while differing over the pace of reducing fossil-fuel production and consumption. The Pacific declaration’s reaffirmation of the COP28 transition language keeps that issue connected to COP31’s emphasis on implementation.
Electrification and oceans gain prominence
Alongside those political questions, the talks identified areas for practical cooperation. The declaration welcomed momentum towards electricity accounting for 35 percent of global final energy use by 2035, supported by investment in storage and grids. That remains an ambition being advanced ahead of COP31, rather than an adopted global negotiating outcome.
Australia announced an A$7.29 million Pacific energy package supporting grid modelling, workforce development, and regulatory capacity, alongside a renewable-energy agreement with Vanuatu. These measures address some of the technical and institutional requirements for deploying clean energy.
Türkiye also confirmed plans to work towards an Antalya Ocean Declaration. Its content remains to be developed, but the proposal creates an opportunity to connect ocean protection more closely with climate mitigation and resilience.
From the Pacific Pre-COP to Antalya’s decisions
Bowen and Kurum intend to advance a focused presidency-led decision at COP31. Bowen outlined possible elements including electrification, methane reduction, early warning systems, nature-based solutions, and finance delivery, while emphasising respect for nationally determined approaches. These remain proposals requiring consultation and agreement.
The approach fits Türkiye’s broader implementation agenda, including a proposed Climate Implementation Bridge intended to connect national commitments with investment-ready projects, Reuters reported.
Fiji has given the coming negotiations a clearer set of priorities. In Antalya, progress will depend on whether governments can secure finance that reaches vulnerable communities, move projects into implementation, and accelerate emissions reductions. For Pacific countries, the next month will test how far the international attention generated by the Pacific Pre-COP can translate into decisions that strengthen their future.
