The Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, Shaheen Ali, in his capacity as the Chief Trade Negotiator for Fiji, virtually met with his counterparts from New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway, Costa Rica and Iceland for the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) Chief Negotiators Meeting.
In his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary stated that Fiji is very much a part of the ACCTS process and re-affirmed Fiji commitment to this initiative.
“Being a services driven economy, with tourism making up 40 percent of the Fijian GDP, climate change and issues that threaten sustainable development are of paramount interest to us”, said Mr Ali.
Similarly, this pandemic has exposed our vulnerability. “Our size, location, and geography, increases our exposure and places us in the frontline of climate related threats. Addressing climate change is and will continue to be Fiji’s utmost priority”, added Mr Ali
Mr Ali noted that in climate policy discussions, relatively little or no attention is paid to global trade architecture. As such, if the world is to restrict global warming to 1.5°C, trade must be a central part of the solution. Therefore, the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) provides the much needed transformative approach, as it mutually enforces trade, climate and environmental policy with sustainability at its core.
“Fiji hopes to bring to the negotiations the perspective of Small Island Developing States and the Pacific Island Countries. We are committed to championing this agreement in the Region and to gain support of our fellow Pacific Island Countries for ACCTS”, stated the Permanent Secretary.
Fiji has emphasised that ACCTS should be a global initiative. The current parties are neither the major contributors to climate change nor are the major trading parties in the global context, combined the trade of New Zealand, Fiji, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway make up 2.5 percent of global trade. In this regard, it is important for the parties to build momentum and garner greater global support and participation.
The Chief Negotiators Meeting sets the momentum for the upcoming Technical working group negotiations of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability.
ENDS