The 18 countries of the Pacific Islands Forum have declared climate change the single greatest security threat to the Pacific, urging all nations to meet their Paris Agreement commitments. The Boe Declaration, signed on Wednesday, reaffirms the region's commitment to urgent climate action and calls on large emitters to implement mitigation targets, including through renewable energy transfer.
The declaration also calls for the United States to rejoin the Paris Agreement, which it exited under President Donald Trump. Pacific leaders emphasised that security challenges are broader and more complex than in previous generations, encompassing humanitarian assistance, environmental and resource security, transnational crime, and cybersecurity.
Australia, a Forum member, will work with regional agencies to establish a Pacific Fusion Centre for intelligence sharing on threats like illegal fishing and drug trafficking. However, the strong climate stance creates political awkwardness for Australia, whose new Prime Minister Scott Morrison appears at odds with his own Energy Security Board over meeting Paris targets of a 26% emissions reduction from 2005 levels.
Morrison claimed business-as-usual would meet the targets, but the Energy Security Board warned that without the now-discarded national energy guarantee, the electricity sector would fall short. This ambivalence has disquieted Pacific neighbours, who produce the least carbon yet suffer the most from rising seas, salinity, and natural disasters.
Low-lying nations like Kiribati risk disappearing underwater. Xavier Matsutaro, Palau's climate coordinator, described Australia's regional relationship as 'dysfunctional', noting Australia's contradictory stance of supporting the region while aligning with climate denial views. Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele recently called climate change an 'existential threat' and labelled denial as 'utterly stupid'.
