Lydia
Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin
Editor
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) member
countries must work together and identify “other
alternatives for cooperation” amid the United States’ freeze
on development assistance around the world.
This was
the message from PIF secretary general Baron Waqa during a
press briefing this week, where he told reporters that
President Donald Trump’s decision to halt American aid is
set to affect the work of the Council of Regional
Organisations of the Pacific (CROP).
Waqa revealed
that the heads of CROP agencies are already discussing how
they will deal with the impacts of the
withdrawal.
“There is aid through multilateral and
CROP agencies that has been affected to a certain degree,”
he said.
He said it was clear that the Joe Biden-era
pledges for the region – including US$200 million in new
funding promised back in 2023 – were all on hold.
“But
we need to keep working together.”
In a post on his
social media platform, Truth Social, on Tuesday, Trump wrote
that he was authorising his administration to “immediately
begin producing Energy with BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL”, calling
environmentalists “Extremist, Lunatics, Radicals, and
Thugs…”
Pacific leaders have declared the climate
crisis “the single greatest threat facing” the region and
called for “immediate and
appropriate action to combat
the threat and impacts of climate change”.
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
They have
also committed “to ensuring net-zero carbon emissions by
2050”.
Waqa said the US’s policy on climate change is
obvious.
“We are well aware of their policy, and we
try and work together to make sure that some of our
priorities are discussed and maintained.
“But at the
end of the day, it is totally up to the US to [be] working
well with the region and individual nations on a bilateral
level.”
Waqa said that the new US administration has
made it clear that it wants to review everything.
“We
are trying our utmost best to sit down with the current
administration. We would like to have a really good rapport
between [the PIF] and the US’s new administration,” he
said.
His deputy Desna Solofa said the US is a valued
dialogue partner of the Forum since 1989.
However, she
said there was an expectation that PIF partners align with
regional priorities.
“The secretariat will continue
its work in terms of furthering our discussions to ensure
that our collaboration with the United States
government…with respect to advancing the regional
priorities that have been identified under the 2050 Strategy
with the new administration,” Solofa said.
Playing it
cool
While Washington is asserting its power, small
countries may keep a low profile and hope for eventual
easing from the US, according to Auckland University of
Technology’s senior law lecturer Sione
Tekiteki.
“There is obviously a lot of frustration
that is held privately,” Tekiteki, a former PIF director,
told RNZ Pacific.
“But I do not think you are going to
see too much of that being shared publicly.
“The US
has made pledges, for example, to the Pacific resilience
facility, and I understand that whilst that was on hold,
they have now authorised that to go ahead.
“In the
context of everything else that is going on that seems to be
a positive indication from the US.”
He said “the big
factor” was making sure that “if someone is really
aggressive, much bigger than the tendency, just stay
away.”
“Stay away from it, and I think that is what
they are doing the Pacific.”
US recognises NZ as ‘key
player’
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters
met
with his US counterpart Secretary of State Marco Rubio
in Washington on Wednesday.
When asked by a reporter
whether the climate crisis was discussed, he responded:
“Only from the point of view on things such as resilience
measures which is part of our aid programme.”
The
opportunity for China to fill the void left in aid funding
for the Pacific, along with Trump administration moves to
pull out of the Paris climate agreement, would be of
particular concern for Pacific nations, he said.
“He
is very much aware of the fact that we have a long-standing
relationship with China, that we value our relationship with
China when it comes to trade.
“But at the end of the
day we are talking about not just China but the Blue
Continent, the Pacific, in which we are a key player, and he
recognises that,” Peters
said.
New Zealand’s public broadcaster, providing comprehensive NZ news and current affairs, specialist audio features and documentaries.
Radio New Zealand is a Crown entity established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. Radio New Zealand News are vital elements in our programming, providing impartial news and information to New Zealanders every day. Radio New Zealand (RNZ) provides listeners with exciting and independent radio programmes in accordance with the Radio New Zealand Charter.
