Pacific warns of debt pressure as Commonwealth looks to strengthen climate finance

Commonwealth leaders have committed to strengthening climate finance, as Pacific Island countries in Commonwealth called for urgent action to address growing economic pressures they face due to climate change.

Pac News reports that the commitments were outlined in the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) communiqué, adopted at the conclusion of the four-day summit in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda.

The communiqué, agreed by leaders of the 56-member Commonwealth, recognises the growing challenges facing small island developing states (SIDS), including climate change, limited access to finance, economic uncertainty and vulnerability to external shocks.

Earlier, Samoa's top representative at the summit, the country's deputy prime minister Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molio'o called for urgent reforms to international climate finance.

Pac News reports her warning that Pacific countries should not be forced into debt to recover from climate disasters they did little to cause.

Mulipola also urged Commonwealth leaders to heed the calls from recent Pacific Pre-COP discussions in Fiji and Tuvalu for accessible, predictable, and grant-based climate finance.

Debt pressure

Fiji's special envoy Ratu Inoke Kubuabola warned delegates that reliance on loans is adding to their debt pressure for climate-vulnerable nations like those in the Pacific.

Addressing CHOGM, under the theme 'Scaling Up Partnerships and Investment for Resilient Small States', Kubuabola highlighted the growing financial challenges facing SIDS.

According to him, nearly 40 percent of SIDS are either experiencing debt distress or at high risk of debt distress, while 44 per cent of adaptation financing continues to be delivered through loans.

Kubuabola said small states needed practical financing solutions that would improve access to affordable development and climate finance without increasing their debt burdens.

He highlighted Fiji's experience in this area, including becoming the first developing country to issue a sovereign green bond and the first Pacific country to issue a sovereign blue bond.

Fiji has reaffirmed its US$10 million commitment to the Pacific Resilience Facility, a Pacific-led financing mechanism designed to provide grants directly to communities.

Kubuabola called on Commonwealth members to increase their support for the facility, which aims to strengthen community resilience without adding to national debt.