Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday a top climate meeting being held in Fiji and Tuvalu next month will "elevate" the global challenge, despite only a handful of leaders so far confirming they will attend.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Pacific Island Forum in Koror, Palau, Albanese denied he had been "unrealistic" in expecting world leaders to fly in for the gathering, just one month before the annual UN climate summit, known as COP31, in Turkey.
"We always anticipated when it comes to pre-COP events, there normally aren't lots of leaders at it," Albanese said.
"There isn't one leader here who has criticized Australia for our support for bringing the pre-COP to the Pacific. In fact, it is the opposite."
Turkey and Australia agreed last year that the Pacific would host pre-COP preparatory meetings as part of a compromise to resolve their battle over where the 2026 climate conference should be held.
Under the deal, Turkey will host COP31 in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya while Australia will chair the negotiations.
Australia had described the Fiji and Tuvalu meeting as an "unprecedented opportunity to bring the world to the Pacific" and urged global leaders to attend.
But speaking on Tuesday, Fijian Foreign Minister Sakiasi Ditoka revealed that only a handful of countries -- including Antigua and Barbuda, Cape Verde, Thailand, Maldives and East Timor -- had so far confirmed their attendance.
Albanese confirmed he would attend.
Australia's climate minister and president of the COP31 negotiations, Chris Bowen, said the guest list was "not yet finalised".
"There are people who are saying they'd like to come, but they're finding it difficult. There's others who say they are likely to come, but can't, yes, completely confirm," he told journalists.
"When you get to Fiji, you'll see who's there," he said.
"As I said, pre-COP is not normally a leader level event. We are having a small leader level component to help lift the focus, particularly small islands, developing states, and atolls," he added.
Australia wanted to take people to Tuvalu "to show the impacts of climate change", the minister said.
Tuvalu has welcomed the list of attendees, with Minister for Climate Change Maina Talia saying the six leaders "exceeded what we expected".
The string of low-lying isles roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia is one of the South Pacific nations most immediately threatened by climate change.
Australia is a major producer of fossil fuels and is one of the world's largest exporters of coal.
AFP
