The Minister for Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation – Lynda Tabuya was a guest speaker and panelist at “The Australia Circular Economy Forum” in Sydney yesterday (26/06/2023), joining the Minister for Climate Change in Vanuatu, Ralph Regenvanu.

On another panel was the Director for Climate Change in the Prime Minister’s office, Kushaal Raj with his counterpart in PNG Gwen Sissiou, and the president of Samoa Recycling Marina Keil.

The Australia Circular Economy Forum brought in leaders from across various stakeholders including Government, academia, business, NGOs, and investors to discuss the circular economy for 2030 opportunity. The participants shared evidence-based progress, innovations, and commitments with focused groups producing recommendations for a national 2030 circular economy roadmap.

The dialogue will discuss the impacts of climate change in the Pacific and explore how circular economy approaches in society, industry, and infrastructure can reduce these impacts, create jobs, improve livelihoods, and build a more climate-resilient Pacific. The circular economy is an economic system based on recycling, reusing, and regenerating products or materials to infinite production in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

In her address, Tabuya shared how climate change is impacting women and children in Fiji and what measures are being taken by Government and other partners in addressing these issues.

“As a Government, we feel it is important to address the underlying issues with a holistic approach. This can be done through highlighting gender-specific impacts of climate change whilst promote gender and social inclusion in climate change policies, programs, and decision-making processes to ensure a more just and sustainable future for all.” said Tabuya.

She went on to suggest that ‘the main human resource of a circular economy can be our women, and we need the technology and capacity to be able to realise this goal in a big way in the Pacific. Circular economy was already in place in our traditional systems before colonisation and westernisation arrived. We need to consult and engage our traditional economy and learn lessons from it.”

Minister Tabuya also joined in on discussions in adopting and finding collaborative solutions to address these issues.

Tabuya was hosted by Australia’s Ambassador for Climate Change Kristin Tilley. Ambassador Tilley plays a leading role in Australia’s international climate diplomacy, with a focus on engaging with the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The duo exchanged ideas and discussed areas of opportunities for addressing the issues of climate change in Fiji and the Pacific.

The Minister’s trip is funded by Circular Australia, and hosted by the University of New South Wales jointly with Arup Australia.