Pre-COP31 climate talks open in Nadi, Fiji, with Pacific states pressing 1.5C and finance

Ministers, climate negotiators and a handful of leaders are due to meet in the Fijian city of Nadi in early October for preliminary talks ahead of the UN climate summit COP31. 1 2 COP31 is to be held in November in Turkey's Antalya province. The two AFP-based reports give different dates for the Nadi talks: 5-6 October in the RFI copy and 5-8 October in the Arab News copy. 1 2 Pacific leaders are pushing for the world to stick to a target of limiting global warming to 1.5C, to enhance access to climate finance and to give more attention to the impact on oceans. 1 2

A UN report released in August said sea level is rising at a record pace and that up to 1.2 billion people could be displaced by 2050, with Pacific island countries seeing sea level rise at twice the global average. It also pointed to a financing gap: developing countries need US$310-US$365 billion to adapt, but only US$26 billion in adaptation finance was available in 2023. 1 2 Top delegates will hold a one-day retreat on low-lying Tuvalu, where they will be shown land reclamation efforts. The capital Funafuti's highest point is two metres above sea level, and two of the nine coral atolls are already largely swamped. Tuvalu is planning to relocate its population if the ocean consumes it. 1 2 Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo told the UN General Assembly that "Sea-level rise is not a future threat, it is a present reality" and that the world must act now. 2

Australia bowed out of a contest with Turkey to host COP31 last year in a deal that lets it preside over the negotiations and bring the preparatory talks to the Pacific. As a major coal exporter, it has faced criticism over the scale of its fossil fuel extraction. Climate minister Chris Bowen, president of the COP31 negotiations, says Australia is rapidly expanding renewable energy, which he calls essential for a transition away from fossil fuels. 1 2 Bowen rejected media criticism that the talks had failed to draw enough world leaders, saying "It's not normally a leaders meeting". Fewer than a dozen leaders have publicly confirmed, mostly from the Pacific. Fiji said last month it expected the heads of state of Antigua and Barbuda, Cape Verde, Thailand, the Maldives and Timor-Leste. 1 2 Organisers have not released detailed attendance figures. Bowen said last month that 4,000 people from 60 nations would attend, without a full breakdown. 1 2

Marine scientist Rajneel Singh, part of a team that reported large-scale coral death around Tuvalu after a 2024 marine heatwave, said he was disheartened by a perceived lack of attention: "There's no awareness of what's happening." Nepal's foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, has confirmed he will attend, after the 26 August Himalayan flood disaster that killed nearly 1,500 and left 5,800 missing in Nepal and China. 2 1