Prime Minister. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa called for a quantum leap in public and private finance investment to meet the scale of Ocean challenges threatening livelihoods and communities in the Pacific and around the world.

She said this while addressing the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) gets underway in Nice, France.

Fiame, who delivered a statement on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) on Monday, was amongst Pacific Leaders who amplified national and regional priorities during the first Ocean Action Panel (OAP) on Conserving, sustainably managing, and restoring marine and coastal ecosystems, including deep sea ecosystems.

“For Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the Ocean is our heritage, our home, and our future,” Fiame said.

She reminded that SIDS are stewards of more than 30 per cent of the Ocean under national jurisdiction, including vast coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass meadows.  More than 97 per cent of the SIDS Exclusive Economic Zones are also considered deep Ocean, she added. 

“Yet we face unique vulnerabilities: fragile ecosystems, limited land resources, geographic isolation, and heightened exposure to exogenous shocks and climate disasters,” she said. 

“The special circumstances of SIDS cannot be overstated.”

The special circumstances of SIDS concerning the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution refer to their small size and small economies, which make them inherently susceptible to external economic and financial shocks.  Their geographical location also means that the triple planetary crisis threatens their very survival. 

“Coral reefs supporting 25 per cent of all marine life could be lost entirely if global average temperature remains beyond 1.5°C,” Fiame said. 

“Deep-sea ecosystems now face mounting threats from climate change, pollution, and resource extraction. The next five years represent our last window of opportunity to implement transformative action if we are to preserve marine biodiversity for future generations.”

Despite the challenges, Fiame said SIDS continue to demonstrate remarkable leadership. She used the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) to illustrate her point. 

“Of 32 countries that have ratified the BBNJ Agreement, 14 are SIDS, and today we should be expecting more,” she said. “Across the Caribbean and Pacific, we've mobilised collective action to protect critical marine habitats.”

At UNOC3, Prime Minister Fiame said SIDS demand that developed countries meet existing commitments and provide new, additional, adequate, and predictable finance with simplified access for SIDS and LDCs.

She called on the international community to scale up finance for marine conservation, accelerate capacity building and technology transfer and swiftly ratify and implement the BBNJ Agreement with a robust finance mechanism to ensure its effective implementation.