Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr has defended the Albanese Government’s pre-COP climate summit, arguing that its success should be judged by the outcomes it delivers rather than the number of world leaders who attended.
The event, co-hosted by Australia and Pacific neighbours in Fiji and Tuvalu earlier this month, attracted criticism over its reported $20 million cost and the limited presence of national leaders.
More than 50 countries were represented, but only 14 foreign heads of state attended. Just two of those leaders, from Timor-Leste and Mauritius, came from outside the Pacific.
Speaking at The Australian National University in Canberra on Wednesday, Mr Whipps said he had followed the media coverage of the gathering and believed the criticism lacked perspective.
“Media scrutiny is important but so is perspective. And while cost matters, so does value,” he said.
He said leaders and ministers had travelled to the Pacific to help shape negotiations that would affect the future, but that some commentators had focused on those who were absent rather than the countries that took part.
“There is nothing small about the Pacific,” Mr Whipps said, pointing to the vast ocean areas governed by its island nations and their importance to food supplies and connectivity.
“The true measure of a nation’s significance is not how much land it occupies but the role it plays in sustaining our shared planet. And by that measure, the Pacific is anything but small,” he said.
Mr Whipps acknowledged that many major industrialised nations and large emitters were not represented at the pre-COP meeting. But he said the Pacific nations involved had arrived prepared and with practical proposals.
“Australia helped bring those Big Solution States together at Pre-Cop to prepare for this defining moment. That was leadership,” he said.
He said the event’s value should ultimately be assessed against progress made at COP the following month, including projects prepared, finance committed, new systems commissioned and reductions in diesel use.
“Here is how I would ask you to answer it: not by who was in the room but by the result we collectively achieve at COP next month,” he said. “Hold us to that measure. We intend to meet it.”
Mr Whipps, who chairs the Pacific Islands Forum, is also due to officially open Palau’s embassy in Australia during his visit to Canberra and renew a development co-operation arrangement.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia and Palau were deepening co-operation on transnational crime, including policing, customs and border management.
Palau is among the Pacific nations most exposed to the effects of climate change. In his speech, Mr Whipps said the region had not produced enough emissions to change the world but had the determination to change the rules governing international action.
“For us, the ocean is not an abstract global asset. It is our food, identity and security,” he said, criticising the reliance on loans for communities seeking to protect natural systems on which larger economies depend.
“We are holding that line. And we are doing so for everyone who calls this planet home,” Mr Whipps said.
