Food & Climate
Fiji and Tuvalu will host key meetings in the lead-up to the COP31 climate summit in 2026, the Pacific Islands Forum said on Thursday.
The bloc said Fiji will host the pre-COP31 meeting and Tuvalu will host a special leaders’ component, under an agreement negotiated between Australia and Turkey.
The low-lying Pacific islands are on the front line of global climate change, facing rising sea levels and related crises that have forced some residents to move to higher ground.
Australia and Turkey had been locked in a long-running tussle to host the U.N. conference, the world’s main forum for driving climate action, before reaching a split-hosting deal in November.
The agreement gave Turkey the hosting rights of the main COP31 event with Australia leading talks and the Pacific hosting pre-summit meetings.
The pre-COP31 meeting in October
“I am pleased to announce that following a political consultative process, the COP31 pre-COP meeting will be convened in Fiji in October 2026, with a special Leaders component to be held in Tuvalu,” Jeremiah Manele, PIF chair and Solomon Islands prime minister, said in a statement on social media.
“Pre-COP is a chance to show that when it comes to climate change, the most vulnerable nations can lead, and the world’s most powerful nations can listen.”
The statement added Palau would also host a “special climate event” as part of the 55th PIF leaders meeting in the country in September.
Australia said the pre-COP meetings would be an “unprecedented opportunity to bring the world to the Pacific, to experience climate impacts and solutions firsthand”, according to Reuters.
Special leaders’ component
This pre-COP, expected to be held in early October, will include a “special leaders’ component” hosted in neighbouring Tuvalu – a 2.5-hour flight north – according to a statement issued by the Australian COP31 President of Negotiations Chris Bowen on LinkedIn on Thursday.
Bowen said this “will bring a global focus to the most pressing challenges facing our region and support investment in solutions which are fit for purpose for our region.” Australia will provide operational and logistical support for the event, he said.
Dozens of heads of state and government usually attend COP summits, but only a handful take part in pre-COP meetings. COP31 will be held in the Turkish city of Antalya in November.
In addition, Pacific country Palau will host a climate event as part of the annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) – which convenes 18 Pacific nations – in August.
Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that this meeting would be a “launching board” to build momentum for COP31 and would draw new commitments from other countries to help Pacific nations cut emissions and adapt to climate change.
“At the PIF our priorities are going to be 100 per cent renewables, the ocean-climate nexus and … accelerating investments that build resilience from climate change,” he told ABC.
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