Pacific countries spend up to 13 per cent of their GDP on imported fuels. At COP31, negotiations are expected to press governments to mobilize climate finance and advance a phase-out of fossil fuels. Australia is due to preside over the talks, which Türkiye will host in Antalya in November, as the region weighs energy security against new international climate rules.
Who Sets the Agenda
Up to 3,000 participants are expected in Fiji in the coming days for a Pre-COP31 meeting supported by Australia and Pacific partners. A leaders’ summit is also planned in Tuvalu. The meetings aim to amplify small island states’ voices and consider how quickly countries must act to protect places exposed to climate impacts, even though they contribute relatively little to global emissions.
Australia and Türkiye are expected to take up unresolved COP31 agenda items, including climate finance set out in the COP29 New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance, and language on phasing out fossil fuels in negotiation texts. The decisions will involve 198 countries, and reaching absolute consensus on phasing out fossil fuels is difficult. The United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement adds another obstacle.
The New Delhi Declaration, endorsed at a BRICS leaders’ meeting last month, mentioned climate 34 times. It said “fossil fuels will still play an important role in the world’s energy mix, particularly for emerging markets and developing economies.” BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has expanded to 11 countries and accounts for 50 percent of the global population.
Energy Costs and Regional Trade
Replacing diesel generation with solar, batteries and other renewable systems could improve energy security for Pacific countries, but it requires upfront investment. In remote and island communities, solar-powered cold storage could cut post-harvest losses and electricity costs for farmers and fishermen in countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia, while supporting food security and incomes.
Electrification is growing in China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. Pairing it with renewable electricity could reduce import bills and improve environmental outcomes, according to Trang Nguyen’s article in The Diplomat. The article points to climate finance and resilience, electrification and energy security, and clean-trade rules and infrastructure as areas where Australia could make a lasting regional contribution.
Businesses could invest in renewable-powered electrification in industrial export-led economies. Concessional finance and development assistance could help communities replace aging, expensive equipment and build long-term resilience. Clean commodity corridors include an Australia-to-Singapore green and digital shipping corridor and potential Australia-to-East Asia iron ore green corridors. Developing them requires shared approaches to measuring emissions, recognizing standards, certifying products and moving goods from producers to customers.
The International Maritime Organization is working on a Net-Zero Framework for marine fuels. If it advances further in December, the framework would be fundamental to global progress beyond shipping, Nguyen wrote. COP31 could also support coordination on measuring, reporting and verifying carbon-reduction standards.
Ocean Protection and Private Funding
The Bezos Earth Fund announced more than $25 million in ocean-conservation grants across the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu. The projects aim to support protection and sustainable management across more than 625,000 square miles of ocean. They make up the second round of the fund’s $100 million Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity pledge, bringing awards under that commitment to $63.3 million. The initiative aims to help protect at least 30% of the region’s waters by 2030.
Papua New Guinea is expected to use funding to create its first large offshore marine protected area, while Tonga is expanding protected areas. Other grants support the Cook Islands’ Marae Moana ocean park and habitat-protection planning in Kiribati and Vanuatu. The most protected zones can prohibit fishing, mining and other extraction. A grant to conservation organization Rare aims to help governments develop proposals to protect biodiversity in international waters under the UN High Seas Treaty, which took effect in January.
The fund said 17 of the Pacific’s 22 countries are now working to protect or sustainably manage their waters. The article reports that the South-West Pacific faces ocean warming and acidification, and that marine heatwaves disrupted ecosystems and fisheries in 2025. The World Meteorological Organization said the region had its second-warmest year on record that year. A July report said ocean changes were affecting marine ecosystems and local economies.
Bloomberg reported that Bezos pledged $10 billion through the Earth Fund in 2020, with the money intended for distribution by the end of 2030. The fund has awarded about $2.4 billion, leaving approximately $7.6 billion to distribute. Its latest Pacific grants add private philanthropy to a regional agenda also shaped by COP negotiations, the UN High Seas Treaty and proposed international standards.