Pacific Islands Forum Summit

Distinguished Heads of Government of the Pacific, your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I warmly thank you for the honour of addressing you at this 39th Summit of the Pacific Islands Forum.

I have already had the privilege of meeting many of you. I look forward to continuing our discussions here in Niue this week, and to visiting you and meeting you elsewhere in the Pacific in the years ahead.

The bonds between the Pacific Forum and the Commonwealth are founded on shared values and shared responses to collective challenges. They have stood the test of time.

My task - as a new Secretary-General on his first visit to the Pacific since taking office in April - is to chart the next chapter in this relationship.

The principles of that relationship will remain the same: collegiality, flexibility, trust.

The practice of the relationship - delivering on our commitments in journeys towards Democracy and Development - is a work in progress.

Today, let me share three areas which I would like to see us develop. They are not exclusive - but they are of huge significance.

The first is the way in which we will work with you in facing up to the ongoing challenges faced by small states - the area in which the Commonwealth has done so much pioneering work, in determining persistent vulnerabilities; in diagnosing creative and effective responses; and in building coalitions of collective small state strength on the world stage.

I was disappointed by the breakdown of the Doha Round in Geneva last month. At a time of global concerns, especially over food, fuel and financial turbulence, member states of the WTO could not produce a collective outcome. The stalling of the negotiations has implications for the prospects of poorer countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. We will continue to provide you with technical assistance to improve your capacity to negotiate and to trade, as we have already done through a regional trade policy adviser and national trade advisers and other means.

Meanwhile, a new Commonwealth initiative is looking at setting up a Small States office in Geneva, with access to the UN agencies there and the WTO. I am aware that the Forum is also thinking of setting up a trade office in Geneva, and I am hopeful that we can collaborate so that duplication is avoided and costs kept down for all.

Second, the environment, and climate change. The cause of the severity of the weather which is increasingly visited upon these islands is identifiable. It is why the Pacific and the Caribbean called loud and clear for a Commonwealth response to climate change when we met in Kampala last year. And it is why you will benefit as much as any from what will be done.

Like supporting developing country negotiations on climate change. Some of your negotiators were brought together in Windsor recently, to strengthen their knowledge of the issues and their capacity to promote their national interests, as they ready themselves for the Rome meeting which follows Bali and which will precede Copenhagen.

We are launching new programmes on land management and forestation.

We are studying the environmental impact of exporting agricultural produce: the battles over exports are not now just about preferential tariffs and prices, but also about carbon footprints. We are ready to discuss with you national studies of options in environmental policies, should you find this useful.

We are also supporting natural disaster management. We are training in preparedness and coordination through the Secretariat, while the Commonwealth Disaster Management Agency (CDMA) is working to develop a portal to provide information to governments and individuals alike when disaster strikes. The CDMA should also be knocking at your doors with an insurance proposal of compensation in the event of predefined disaster. The proposal has attracted backing from a major global bank and the insurance industry.

We are also lobbying for stronger and more coherent global environmental governance - the reason for which Prime Minister Sevele came to London several months ago. He and Commonwealth leaders from other regions played an instrumental part in an 11-country summit of Heads of Government which called for reformed global institutions for this 21st century - reform in particular of the World Bank, the IMF and UNEP and the other frameworks currently in place to govern the environment and development.

My third areas of focus is our networks. The Commonwealth operates at every level - government, civil society, business, and individuals.

Our shared challenge is to maximise the quality of what we share, and mutual respect and understanding.

An example is the Commonwealth's 2007 report, 'Civil Paths to Peace'. This looks at the causes of tension in our societies, be it religious, ethnic, linguistic, ageist, sexist, geographic. A highly respected academic visiting my office recently called it the most significant 'healing document' of recent times.

The report points us to the multiple identities which bind us, repairing the fissures which lead to fracture.

We are currently going through an exercise where Commonwealth Governments bring together the best of their practical responses to the challenge of reducing tension and promoting harmony in society. I hope the Pacific will give to that process, and receive from it.

Mr Chairman, I have mentioned our pioneering initiative work on reforming global institutions. We are a global organization, with the globalist mindset which works for convergence, not divergence, in meeting our collective challenges. Which is why I would like to feel that some of our Commonwealth expertise could also be made available to non-Commonwealth, countries in the Pacific. Be it debt management software - or disaster insurance - or developing tourism strategies or new national export strategies - our wisdom is yours, and yours is ours.

Let me conclude by mentioning two of our activities here in the Pacific.

The first one is our engagement in Fiji through the work of my Special Representative Sir Paul Reeves. The wider Commonwealth membership is following developments here closely. I look forward to discussing this with you.

The second is our Commonwealth Pacific Governance Programme aimed to support the governance pillar of the Pacific Plan, to complement the activities of the Forum Secretariat and other regional actors. We are finalising the appointment of a Project Manager who will be based in Suva. I am grateful for the support already indicated by some of the Pacific Forum leaders to this important Commonwealth project.

Mr Chairman, distinguished leaders, you will see therefore that the Commonwealth will continue to remain interested, concerned, supportive and active. I look forward to working with the new Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General. We will remain engaged in the spirit of collegiality, flexibility and trust.

ENDS