Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna will head to Sydney, Australia this week and will be the keynote speaker in the opening plenary of the annual Australasian Emissions Reduction Summit held from 24 to 25 June. The Summit, is led by the Australia’s Carbon Market Institute (CMI), an independent industry association for business leading the transition to net-zero emissions.
Partnerships and advocacy for urgent climate change action, partnerships for a new regional resilience financing facility, and a reinvigorated vision for regionalism towards 2050 are key aspects of a mission for Mr. Puna. The Secretary General will attend bilateral meetings with a range of Forum partners and stakeholders towards the upcoming pledging event to raise US$1.5 billion in funding for the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Another key focus will be to raise advocacy on and align partnerships towards Pacific priorities, including climate change negotiations which have begun virtually and will culminate at COP26 in Glasgow later this year.
Mr Puna says, “the disruptions caused by COVID-19 restrictions mean I am unable to take up the established precedent of in-country visits across the Forum membership. Despite this, I am cognisant that the integral work of advocacy and strategic positioning of our Pacific priorities must continue. Despite the delays in reaching Suva, the NZ-Australia bubble provides some key opportunities to progress our work program in the interest of the collective membership,” says Secretary General Puna.
Image credit: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Facebook