Pacific Voices Ignored At Forum

For immediate release: Thursday, 6 August 2009

OXFAM: Pacific Voices Ignored At Forum

The Pacific Forum in Australia this week took place at a crucial time when the Pacific has been reeling from multiple crises – the local impacts of the global economic crisis, the aftermath of the food crisis, the impact of swine flu and the growing impact of climate change, but the Pacific islands' voices were largely ignored by New Zealand and Australia, international development agency Oxfam says.

On climate change, the call from the Pacific island nations for a developed country target of 45 per cent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 (including Australia and New Zealand) was swept aside by reversion to the lowest common denominator – New Zealand’s target of 50 per cent reductions by 2050. By contrast, the G-8 recently agreed to 80 per cent by 2050.

“The Pacific’s increasingly desperate calls for Australia and New Zealand to play their part in avoiding devastating consequences for the Pacific islands has been ignored. It is as if the lives of the Pacific’s people are expendable,” said Barry Coates, Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand from the summit in Cairns.

“The voices of the Pacific are being ignored. It is the voices of the heavy polluters that seem to be winning in New Zealand’s climate change policies.”

“A target of 50 per cent emissions reductions by 2050 is too little, too late. By then the people of Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau and numerous atoll communities across the Pacific may well be inundated.”

“The decision for global emissions to peak by 2020 is too late. Science demands that they peak by 2015 to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change.”

ON TRADE

Coming into this summit, Australia and New Zealand had been pressing for an early start to negotiations on the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER Plus). An aggressive timetable was agreed in Apia in June, in a process that has been heavily criticised for being unfair.

Perhaps as a reaction, Pacific island leaders earlier this week clearly signalled that they are not ready to start negotiations. They explained that they need to consult with their businesses, their civil society groups and their Parliaments before starting negotiations.

The Pacific concerns were not reflected in the Forum communiqué. This confirmed the recommendation of Forum Trade Ministers to meet in November. They will subsequently agree to the timetable and issues for negotiations.

Barry Coates commented: “This is deeply disappointing. Rushing into an agreement before the Pacific has had a chance to consult properly and undertake the necessary research will risk a bad deal.

“The Pacific doesn’t even yet have a regional office to coordinate their positions. The time pressure coupled with a huge imbalance in negotiating capacity means the Pacific is severely disadvantaged.

“Enough time for the Pacific to undertake research and to consult is essential if any agreement is to benefit the Pacific. There is no off-the-shelf model for an agreement on economic cooperation that could help the Pacific’s economic development. This decision risks taking the wrong route by rushing into a free trade agreement that would undermine the Pacific economies."

There was one issue on which the Pacific gained a concession. They had signalled clearly that Fiji must be involved, especially since it is the region’s trade hub and its second largest economy. The Forum leaders decided to engage with Fiji government officials, but not with its Ministers.

In a further announcement on the global economic recession, Australia and New Zealand undertook to work more closely with other donors, coordinate their aid programmes and align their aid to the Pacific’s development plans.

Oxfam New Zealand welcomes this commitment. “More coordination from the aid donors will avoid the duplication and fragmentation that ends up wasting much needed aid funding. The aid donors can align to the Pacific’s priorities and avoid unnecessary bureaucracy, especially for small Pacific states.

ENDS