Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad says the level of finance that Fiji and the Pacific need should be more than 10 times what is available today.
Speaking to members of the COP29 delegation last week, he emphasised the challenges Fiji faced as a direct result of climate change.
“We have over 200 sea walls to build, over 40 villages requiring relocation, over 100,000 hectares of farm lands that need to be protected from salt water intrusion, 100’s of village-health-centres -schools that are outside our national grid that need off-grid renewable energy solutions, some 80,000 Fijian children still unable to do their school homework or just read without access to electricity and who urgently need to be connected to sustainable energy,” he said.
“We have long term residual damage to infrastructure ranging from island airports to jetties, schools and health centres in urgent need of repair and reconstruction in some cases as a result of successive extreme weather events.
“We need to build resilience across our health centres and medical facilities; we have to deliver food and water security that can withstand the both current and future climate change impacts.”
Prof Prasad said that was part of what was required to achieve long-term climate security in Fiji.
He said the situation was complicated by the intensifying debate on the contributor base.
“The traditional demarcations between who provides and who receives is fiercely contested.
“Careful navigation of these issues continues to be required at the diplomatic level, but my firm view is that wherever politics prevent or distort progress, we must ensure we are oriented by the science and always be the first to call for pragmatism and appropriate comprise.
“It is important for us to be clear that the ambition set through the NCQG (new collective quantified goal) is a direct proxy for the ambition to keep global average temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“That the ambition set through the NCQG is a proxy for understanding the degree to which developed countries are truly committed to tackling the loss and damage that we experience and will continue to experience into the future. “And it is a proxy for understanding the viability of our pathway to future-ready climate resilient development outcomes.”
Prof Prasad will lead the Fiji delegation to COP29 which will be held in less than 3 weeks time in Baku, Azerbaijan.