Pacific Leaders Urge Australia to Center Indigenous Voices at COP31

Pacific and Indigenous community leaders are urging the Government of Australia to lead by example as it takes a primary role in the COP31 United Nations climate change convention in Turkey. Federal Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen will serve as the president of negotiations for the November summit, for which the Australian government has pledged more than $150 million.

Members of the Oceania First Voices workshop, including Takesa Frank, Anahera Nin, and Lavenia Naivalu, are presenting lived experiences and priorities to the government. They aim to ensure First Nations and Pacific island perspectives remain central to global discussions. These leaders highlight a critical regional crisis, noting that Pacific sea surface temperatures have risen three times the global average since 1980 and disaster costs have exceeded $7 billion over the last decade.

To amplify these concerns, Pacific leaders will host a Pre-COP gathering to demonstrate the direct impacts of climate change on island nations. The group is calling for a shift from rhetoric to concrete action, arguing that those on the front lines of the climate crisis possess the necessary answers to progress the movement.