Government announces new partnership to boost climate action across the Pacific

Aotearoa New Zealand has partnered with the Pacific Community (SPC) to support a Climate Change Flagship program expected to boost and accelerate climate action across the Pacific.

The $30m partnership was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs (Pacific Region) Carmel Sepuloni. She stressed the urgency of the climate crisis, a global threat requiring collective action. She said that the escalating impacts of climate change, both in New Zealand and abroad, make it vital to team up to accelerate action and build resilience.

“Climate change knows no borders, it’s a global threat that requires global and collective action. We see, very clearly, the escalating impacts of climate change here and abroad, and it’s vital that we team up to accelerate action and build resilience, including in one of the world’s most vulnerable areas,” Sepuloni said.

Sepuloni also claimed that the government is resolutely focused on acting urgently and helping pave the way for evidence-based climate action. The partnership with SPC will support the government’s Climate Change Flagship to expand and intensify its climate work, scale up its technical and scientific support to Pacific countries and territories, and speed up climate action across multiple sectors. This will make it easier for Pacific partners to access urgently needed climate finance. The partnership will also help increase the region’s overall resilience by bolstering the Pacific agencies delivering local and indigenous-led solutions to unlocking effective climate action in a changing environment.

Sepuloni commented, “The partnership with SPC will go some way to helping ensure we’re protecting people’s health, food security, biodiversity and livelihoods, which are under threat in the Pacific.” The new partnership will focus on reducing emissions, scaling up specialist support, and enhancing the evidence base for policy, advocacy, and leadership informed by climate science.

Sepuloni emphasised that Aotearoa New Zealand supports the development priorities of its Pacific partners at all levels, from the ground level to directly with Pacific governments, in the region, and in the world.

The new partnership was announced at a coastal replanting project in an area struck by the tsunami following the Hunga Tonga-Hinga Ha’apai eruption in January 2022.