‘Shemozzle’: Just five non-Pacific leaders to attend Australia’s global climate event

Koror City, Palau: Just five leaders from outside the Pacific are expected to attend an Australia-organised United Nations climate event in Fiji and Tuvalu next month, despite energetic efforts by the Albanese government to secure attendees.

The pre-COP event was organised as part of a compromise deal between Australia and Turkey that will see the main event held in Antalya, Turkey, rather than Adelaide.

The lead-up event was designed to highlight the impact of climate change on low-lying Pacific nations and the need to take dramatic action to rein in carbon emissions.

Fiji Foreign Minister Sakiasi Ditoka announced on Tuesday afternoon that leaders from Antigua and Barbuda, Cabo Verde, Thailand, Maldives and Timor-Leste had confirmed their attendance at the pre-COP event.

Pacific leaders and ministers from nations such as Germany, Mexico and South Korea will also attend the four-day event in October.

Climate Minister Chris Bowen, who is serving as the COP’s head of negotiations, has said the event was about “bringing the world to the Pacific to see climate impacts and solutions through the COP process”.

“Hosting pre-COP in Fiji, with a leaders’ component in Tuvalu, will bring a global focus to the most pressing challenges facing our region and support investment in solutions which are fit for purpose for our region,” Bowen said when the events were announced in February.

The government is expected to spend $150 million on Bowen’s role, including helping cover the costs for Fiji and Tuvalu to host the pre-COP events.

Opposition climate spokesman Dan Tehan branded the lack of world leaders attending the event an “embarrassment”.

Tuvalu prime minister Feleti Teo, speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Palau, said his nation was “very grateful” for the chance to host part of the event.

“We’ve been advocating and trying to describe through our limited English vocabulary what the situation on the ground is like,” he said.

“This is the opportunity for leaders who can make it to see for themselves the extent of our vulnerability to climate change.”

Tuvalu’s 10,000 residents are some of the world’s most vulnerable people to the effects of climate change. Australia signed a historic treaty with the tiny island nation in 2023 that included a special visa pathway for the Pacific nation’s residents to escape the threat of climate change.