Leaders of the Pacific Islands should want Washington to pay attention to climate change

Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Before a meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this month, the leaders of the Pacific islands said i...

Image: Reuters

Berita 24 English - Before a meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this month, the leaders of the Pacific islands said in Hawaii that Washington should accept their priorities for the area. They said that climate change, not competition between superpowers, should be the most important security issue for the area.

Pacific island leaders are hopeful that they will be able to work with the Biden administration on our strategy and plan, instead of the White House and the U.S. making a plan for the region, Hawaii's governor, David Ige, said at a news conference after the closed-door meeting.

Ige said that all of the island nations and territories in the Pacific had agreed to support a plan called "2050 Blue Pacific Continent."

At the meeting in Honolulu on Wednesday, leaders and government officials from 16 Pacific island nations and territories were there.

This year, the competition between China and the US for power in the Pacific islands has gotten worse. This is because China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, which led to fears that the area would become more militarised.

On Sept. 28 and 29, Biden will host the first meeting of leaders from Pacific islands at the White House.

David Panuelo, president of the Federated States of Micronesia and chairman of the conference, said that he was "very happy" with the idea of getting more involved with Washington.

In June, the US and its allies Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Britain got together to talk about how they could work together in the Pacific islands region. This was seen as a way to counter China's growing power.

Panuelo said that the Pacific islands want the US and China to "compete in a healthy way" to keep peace in the area.

Climate change will be a bigger problem than the Second World War, he said, and getting help from international climate funds is "like pulling teeth" for low-lying island states.

Only 12 countries were invited to Washington, and some French territories were left out because of protocol. The decision was criticised at the meeting.

"When the US invites our region, we want to include all the members of the Pacific Island Forum as a family," Panuelo said, referring to the main regional group.