This year's stop for the Pre-COP meetings held ahead of the United Nations climate summits was Fiji and Tuvalu. Ministers and negotiators from more than 50 countries attended the talks, co-hosted by Fiji, Tuvalu and Australia on Oct. 5-8.
The main agenda of the meetings was shaping draft decisions and diplomatic priorities ahead of COP31, to be held in Antalya. The electrification target, the just transition mechanism, adaptation finance and the Pacific countries' demand for access to finance stood out in the talks.
The talks in Fiji did not produce a binding text predetermining the agreements in Antalya. Nevertheless, the meeting made visible the issues expected to come up at COP31 and the Pacific countries' expectations from the summit.
Agreement on a cover decision
Chris Bowen, Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Energy and COP31 President of Negotiations, announced on Oct. 7 that Australia and Türkiye had agreed on a cover decision to be prepared under the leadership of the presidency. The cover decision text will carry the summit's political message and will be submitted to the parties for approval.
Although the way the text will be prepared has become clear, its content remains largely open. While positioning the summit as an "implementation COP," the COP31 Presidency listed among its targets raising the share of electricity in final energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035.
Mobilizing countries that have not yet submitted their 2035 nationally determined contributions, as well as the just transition mechanism and increased adaptation finance mentioned in the letter the co-presidencies sent to the parties, are also among the priorities.
Which sources the electrification target will be met from will be one of the key issues in the negotiations. While the draft pledge announced in September does not require electricity to be generated from clean sources, some countries are demanding that the target be defined in terms of clean electricity.
On financing, about $15 million in new pledges to the Pacific Resilience Facility were announced at the meeting in Fiji. However, the fund's total resources did not reach half of the $500 million target set for COP31.
Pacific countries set out their expectations in a declaration
Holding the meetings in Fiji and Tuvalu brought the effects of the climate crisis in the Pacific to the center of the negotiating agenda. Tuvalu's average elevation is said to be about two meters above sea level, and the country faces coastal flooding and climate-related risks.
A coastal adaptation project visited by the leaders and supported by the Green Climate Fund took eight years to implement. This example showed that the Pacific countries' expectations regarding finance concern not only the amount but also the speed at which projects are implemented.
Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka asked that the success of climate policies be judged by Tuvalu's future. Rabuka said one should look at whether support expanding Tuvalu's coastal protection arrives within five years, and whether roads are built and the land stays dry within 10-20 years.
The Taku Pakasoa Declaration, backed by 26 countries and territories including Türkiye and Australia, calls for accelerating action to keep the 1.5-degree goal alive, for countries that have not submitted their 2035 nationally determined contributions to do so, and for a just, orderly and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.
The non-binding declaration is a call to action rather than a negotiating text. Pacific countries define their expectations from COP31 not so much in terms of abstract targets as in terms of concrete results such as coastal protection, transportation and the usability of land.
Türkiye's financing initiative
The Climate Implementation Bridge initiative, announced by the COP31 Presidency on Sept. 24, aims to help countries turn their climate and development goals into projects that can attract financing. The first five pilot countries of the initiative, for which the United Nations Development Programme is the implementing partner, were announced as Ethiopia, Fiji, Indonesia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Fiji's inclusion among the pilot countries is significant in terms of the Pacific countries' demands concerning access to finance and slow bureaucratic processes. Palau's President Surangel Whipps likened the slowness of the bureaucratic process required for aid to the hole in a leaking canoe growing while one waits.
The success of the initiative will be judged by whether it can shorten the process between climate plans and finance-ready projects. If the cover decision at COP31 carries language consistent with the Taku Pakasoa Declaration on electrification and financing, the support given to Pacific countries could turn into a concrete result.
It was noted that although more than 50 world leaders were invited to the Pre-COP meeting, only two leaders from outside the Pacific attended. Nevertheless, the Pacific countries' demands were put on record, and Türkiye supported them.
At COP31 in Antalya, the discussions will center on how far the gap between climate targets and implementation can be closed. For Pacific countries, the ultimate yardstick will be whether the decisions taken translate over the years into the protection of coasts, roads and farmland in countries such as Tuvalu.
