Check against delivery! 

Dear colleagues, thank you very much to the ones that could come to this meeting. 

For us, the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and Timor Leste are key partners for the European Union. We thank [you for] your support in the United Nations General Assembly resolutions related to the [Russia’s aggression against] Ukraine, but not only that. 

I think that we are working together to support a world based on rules with the United Nations at its core. 

Here, I am accompanied by our Ambassador to the United Nations [Olof Skoog], the recently appointed Special Envoy for Small Islands Development States (SIDS) [Ignacio Ybáñez]. 

How many members of the United Nations are part of this group of Small Islands? 38 [States], can you imagine? Almost one third of the United Nations is composed of countries which are Small Islands. 

It shows the importance that this group has, that each one of you has for us. The purpose of this meeting is to keep in touch with you, to share with you – all of us - our concerns at the multilateral level, and to start discussing and presenting our Special Envoy who we will be travelling around the region, reaching out to you and trying to engage.  

I would like travel to this part of the world, and I hope that I will be able to do that before the end of my mandate. I know that in Samoa, there is going to be the signature of the Post-Cotonou agreement, and this will be a good occasion to visit you.  

For the time being, what do we have in our relationship toolbox? 

Firstly, for sure, we have the big issue of climate change. Then our development cooperation, [and] then the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Let’s start with climate change. I am fully aware that climate change is a vital issue for the Pacific region. For us, climate is becoming a security issue because climate is creating movement of people in our neighbourhood, especially in Africa. Also, for your countries, climate [change] is becoming a security problem because you are on the frontline of the consequences of the climate change.  

You have been strong allies in bringing forward an ambitious climate change agenda, including in the run up to the COP28, which will be a decisive moment to see if humankind is able to deal with these challenges.  

I know – we know - that climate finance is a key priority. And rightly so - because, certainly, the responsibilities of climate change have been very distributed [in an unbalanced way] among the ones who have been emitters since the beginning of industrial revolutions, and others who have not [been] and on the contrary, they suffer more than anyone else [from] the consequences of a problem that they have not created. Certainly, you have not created climate change, but you suffer [from] the consequences [of it].

That is why finance, and compensation, and loss and damages, this important discussion is understandably a key priority for all of us.  

Allow me to point out that the European Union is the main contributor bilaterally and through global finance instruments to fight against climate change, and we will continue to be so. 

Let’s discuss about which are the key priorities in the fight against climate change and how can we help you more and how can we work together in the run up to COP28.  

Then, [on] our cooperation. The cooperation between the European Union and the Pacific [area]. I think we are reliable partners for the Pacific, supporting the Pacific development agenda [of] your 2050 Strategy of the Blue Pacific Continent.    

We have been committed to development and to development assistance. From 2014 to 2027, the amount of our engagement will be about €1.5 billion. €1.5 billion in 13 years is not so much but overall, it is quite an important effort. 

Which are the key development challenges and areas in which you would like us to work with you? 

On our engagement, I am extremely pleased that we will soon open a new chapter of our relations with the signing of the “Samoa Agreement” in Samoa in November. I hope I will be able to go. With this Post-Cotonou agreement, our relations will be much stronger. 

Finally, as you know better than me, the Pacific has become a theatre of increasing geopolitical tensions, and I would like - from you - to know how these tensions are developing and how we could help to defuse them. 

Thank you very much for being here, thank you for sharing this room and this meeting. 

Today, I just want to have a first encounter in a mirror of the Pacific Chapter of our partnership agreement with the African, Carribean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. 

I do not want to go deeper and longer because otherwise I will exhaust the available time, but I remain at your disposal for this meeting.  

Maybe, you want to say something as Special Envoy. He is just starting the work, so be generous with him, and support him.  

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-245857