Pre-COP 31: From the Pacific Frontlines
2026 has been a mixed year with respect to climate change. Extreme heat, floods, and the growing Super El-Nino have created adverse impacts across the globe. On the other hand, governments and organisations are waking up to the urgent need for climate action. It’s no longer just talks.
Building up to the COP31 happening at Antalya, Türkiye the focus in many of the conferences and meetings this year has been on implementation and making actionable progress in climate mitigation and adaptation. These include the first ever conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels, the annual Bonn Summit, London Climate Action Week, the New York Climate Week, and the pre-COP 31 held in Fiji and Tuvalu earlier this month.
This year, after heavy discussions at COP30 in Belem, it was decided that the COP would be hosted by Türkiye, which will also be involved in the creation of the agenda as well as Australia who will be responsible for negotiations. One of the key objectives of Australia at the upcoming COP31 is elevating the priorities of its Pacific neighbours through its diplomatic leverage.
The Pre-COP is a preparatory meeting held before the annual Conference of Parties (COP). It is usually when countries decide the provisional agenda for the COP and when countries understand each other’s priorities and identify areas of agreement and disagreement before the formal COP negotiations.
Pre-COP31 was special because it was taking place in the Pacific Islands, bringing the world to the front lines of climate change impacts. While the overall turnout was more than 4000, very few world leaders attended, and the rest were represented by their respective ministers.
The key outcomes of the meeting were:
Adoption of the Taku Pakasoa Declaration:
The Taku Pakasoa Declaration is a Pacific-led call for collective action and unity to keep the 1.5C target within reach and to deliver real outcomes for the communities on the frontlines of climate change.
Commitments to the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF):
The PRF was first endorsed in 2023 by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders and finally ratified in early 2026 by Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands. The PRF is a Pacific-led initiative that prepares communities for climate and disaster risks before the disaster occurs. At the pre-COP, six more countries announced their contributions to increase resilience totalling more than $30 million.
Australia’s commitments:
Australia supported energy security and resilience across the Pacific. The importance of financial commitments translating to actionable outcomes on the ground was also part of the pre-COP talks.
Electrification as a solution towards energy security and just transition will be prioritised at the upcoming COP31.
There was also heavy momentum towards ocean climate action, with Fiji announcing its National Action Plan towards Coral Reef Conservation and Türkiye confirming that it would work towards the Antalya Ocean Declaration at COP31, recognising the importance of the ocean-climate nexus.
The overall outcomes of the pre-COP in Fiji were more on the positive side with an emphasis on implementation and highlighting the urgent need for phasing out fossil-fuels to salvage the 1.5C target. However, the political participation remained minimal with only 13 national leaders and the proverbial elephant in the room - finance continued to be a point of contention.
As we move from the picturesque Pacific, battered by climate risks, to Türkiye for the COP31, Australia’s role as the leader for negotiations remains to be seen. The world is waiting to see if the needle actually starts moving from just talks to more action, if the vulnerable voices are heard loud and clear, and if finance and implementation are no longer just buzzwords but concrete solutions.
