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As the Pacific Islands Forum closed, leaders emerged smiling, cut a giant cake with a sword and then, in an impromptu moment of diplomatic bonhomie, posed for a group photo after the meeting. Anthony Albanese Like Ellen DeGeneres, he pulled out his phone.
Indeed, it is a harmonious picture.
“The Pacific Islands Forum meeting was very successful,” Albanese said at a press conference after the leaders’ retreat. “We are one family when it comes to Pacific issues and both sides showed a good spirit of cooperation and dialogue when talking about common interests.”
If the last in-person summit in Tuvalu was about bringing the climate fight to Australia, this year’s is about Pacific solidarity. Kiribati is a notable exception.
Leaders of Tonga, Palau, Papua New Guinea and French Polynesia Watched the interstate origin game with Albanese, and Jacinda Ardern teased him about the results of the next day’s game.
Even Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare solomon islandsObama, who has spoken somewhat less positively about Australia in recent months after it signed a security agreement with China, embraced Albanese at the start of the bilateral talks.
Albanese attributes good diplomatic climate to relief from Pacific leaders Australia’s climate ambitions Under his government, change is happening and while there is certainly a lot of optimism among the leaders, one can’t help but think that the big smiles are also because some of the thorny issues facing the region have been put on hold.
Take coal, for example. This was bound to be a sticking point between Pacific nations and Australia, but it was conspicuously absent from the discussion.
Albanese and Wong Ying Yin Both were asked if Pacific Island leaders had mentioned new coal and gas projects in Australia’s pipeline, and both said no. Albanese declined to answer how he would explain to Pacific Island leaders the fact his government had not ruled out new coal and gas projects, calling it a “hypothetical question”.
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“No one asked me that question,” he said. “No one in this meeting today has asked that question, and no one in any meeting I’ve chaired has asked that question.”
But for a long time this was just a hypothesis.
Pacific leaders have been telling countries, including Australia, that they must quickly move away from coal and commit to no new fossil fuel projects if the world is to meet its goal of keeping temperature rises below 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is necessary for the survival of all Pacific island nations.
This year’s forum was very different from the 2019 forum, with Scott Morrison The conference was hosted by Tuvalu, a low-lying atoll nation considered one of the countries most affected by rising sea levels.
coal Directly and repeatedly raised this with Scott MorrisonPacific island leaders try to make commitment to abandon coal power in joint communique But Australia has removed thesewhich nearly derailed the negotiations.
There was no such attempt this year. So why the shift?
That’s not to say they have changed their stance on coal’s role in a warming world. Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama told reporters after the leaders’ meeting that Fiji “demands” all countries, including Australia, to end “their reliance on fossil fuels, including coal.”
First, the Australian government’s shift in attitude and policy on climate change has given Pacific leaders a sense of relief.
Australia is now adopting climate policies that are more similar to those of Pacific island leaders.
Secondly, there is a recognition that the Australian government is new in office and needs some time to adjust before real pressure can be put on it in the Pacific to do more.
“Obviously they’ve only been in office for two months but the message they’ve sent out has been very positive. So hopefully we can work on the issues that are being pushed in the Pacific,” Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Koffi said on the sidelines of the forum.
But he agreed that if Australia approved new coal projects This will put them at odds with other countries in the region.“I mean, this was one of the issues where we had disagreements with the previous administration,” he said.
Another conversation that was postponed was China.
In recent months, Pacific Island leaders have demonstrated the importance of the Pacific Islands Forum grouping in negotiations with superpowers. Comprehensive Regional Economic and Security Agreement It was raised by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in May, largely so they could say the issue needed to be discussed at the Pacific Islands Forum.
Pacific nations must walk a tricky line when it comes to China, and this answer gives them both safety in numbers and demonstrates to China the need to respect established regional structures.
The annual Pacific Islands Forum typically holds a meeting on the second day of the leaders’ retreat, at which partner countries such as China, the United States and Japan can make presentations.
China was widely expected to use the meeting to reintroduce its regional pact, but the partnership meeting was postponed to later this year, with a date yet to be determined.
By the way, the fact that the partnership dialogue was canceled but US Vice President Kamala Harris was given the opportunity to have a virtual dialogue with Chinese leaders is significant.
Federal President MicronesiaDavid Panuelo told the Guardian that the delay of the partners’ meeting was intended to allow the leaders some breathing space amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
But this is a discussion that is deferred, not a resolved one.
Pacific leaders will still meet with China at a post-forum event later this year and they still have to decide how to respond to China’s revised regional agreement.
So while leaders may have basked in the joy of a friendly and successful forum, some difficult conversations were postponed.
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