PM Matthew Wale calls for Pacific natural capital to drive investment, jobs, resilience and long-term wealth.
Prime Minister Matthew Wale has called for the Pacific’s oceans, forests, reefs and fisheries to be recognised as a major investment frontier.
He said it must be capable of generating jobs, strengthening resilience and building long-term wealth for Pacific peoples.
The Prime Minister highlighted when addressing a high-level political session at the Pacific Action for Climate Transitions (PACT) Pre-COP31 event in Nadi today.
Prime Minister Wale said the Pacific’s natural capital must be valued not only for its environmental importance but for the economic opportunities it can generate when sustainably managed.
“The question posed before us is how we turn the Pacific’s blue and green wealth into investment that our people can feel in jobs, in food, in safer coasts and homes and in revenue that enhances livelihoods,” he said.
Prime Minister Wale pointed to the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) and its Vessel Day Scheme as evidence that Pacific-led stewardship can transform natural resources into managed, revenue-generating assets.
He said this experience provides a model for unlocking greater value from the region’s wider natural capital while ensuring resources remain sustainable in the face of climate change.
For Solomon Islands, Prime Minister Wale highlighted opportunities in the blue economy, sustainable fisheries, marine conservation, forest restoration and carbon initiatives, including the existing tuna processing industry at Noro and the proposed Bina Harbour development.
He also outlined the proposed Solomon Islands Sovereign Wealth Fund as a flagship Government policy to convert natural-resource wealth, including mineral resources into intergenerational wealth.
“A proposed Climate Resilience Investment Fund would complement this by mobilising and blending public, private and international finance for locally owned resilience investments,” he said.
Prime Minister Wale also called for development partners and financial institutions to better recognise the unique circumstances of Small Island Developing States, including through the Multi-Dimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI), and to simplify access to grants and concessional finance.
He said Pacific countries must not simply wait for external investment appetite but work with partners to create investment opportunities suited to Pacific realities, including customary land and marine tenure and traditional knowledge.
“Investment in natural capital is investment in secure and predictable assets that have served communities for generations,” Prime Minister Wale said.
SOURCE// OPMC PRESS RELEASE
