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Mahesh

29/08/24 08:13 AM IST

The Pacific Islands Forum

In News
  • The annual meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) began on recently in Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga.
  • The event is being attended by more than 1,500 delegates from around 40 countries.
About Forum
  • Formed in 1971, PIF is an intergovernmental organisation which consists of 18 member states located in the Pacific region.
  • Australia and New Zealand are among the wealthiest and largest countries which are part of the organisation — other member states are Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands etc.
  • The PIF aims to push for economic growth, enhance political governance and security for the region, and strengthen regional cooperation.
  • “Our vision is for a resilient Pacific region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion and prosperity, that ensures all Pacific peoples can lead free, healthy and productive lives,” according to the website of PIF.
  • The organisation discusses priority issues at its annual meeting, where decisions made by the member states are reached by consensus.
  • The decisions are implemented by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
Agenda of the meeting
  • In this year’s annual meeting, climate change is high on the agenda — several PIF members are among the world’s worst-affected countries, especially due to rising sea levels.
  • A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report revealed that faster-than-average sea level rise, ocean warming, and acidification are threatening the Pacific Islands.
  • The South West Pacific was worst hit by sea level rises, in some places by more than double the global average in the past 30 years, according to the analysis.
  • To tackle these challenges, PIF members have been pushing to raise funds for climate action.
  • Notably, the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) — a regional financing facility established by PIF — is currently $380 million short of its $500 million target, according to a report by Nikkei Asia.
  • This year’s PIF meeting features the forum’s largest-ever delegation from China and a sizable deputation from the US, led by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
Source- Indian Express

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