NADI — Fiji, Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark announced donations totaling approximately $15 million to the Pacific Resilience Facility on Wednesday, bringing the fund's total to slightly under $200 million.
The PRF, owned by Pacific island governments, finances climate resilience and adaptation projects across the region. It aims to secure $500 million by the end of the United Nations climate conference scheduled for November, with an ultimate goal of $1.5 billion.
Pacific island nations face acute risks from rising sea levels and volatile weather but struggle to access capital from global climate funds. Delegates at a pre-COP climate conference in Fiji are pushing for increased donations.
Mark Brown, prime minister of the Cook Islands, told attendees: "This is the moment to invest. Your investment buys us time."
PRF CEO Finau Soqo confirmed the latest pledges. The Pacific Islands Forum reported that roughly half of the facility's current funding has come from Pacific island governments, New Zealand and Australia.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "More is needed now. Every investment now will make a difference and mean less cost of remediation tomorrow and in the future."
Albanese was among representatives from 30 countries who visited Tuvalu on Tuesday. They observed efforts to dredge white sand from the atoll lagoon to create new land designed to withstand higher tides.
The PRF uses a "small grants at scale" model, investing capital and using earnings to finance projects. Its initial two projects, funded in recent months, included restoration of a mangrove-fringed taro patch farmed by women in Palau and repair of a World War Two-era aquifer in the Federated States of Micronesia. The facility has since funded 12 additional projects.
Soqo, a former senior banker at ANZ, said the facility plans to attract private investors alongside government donors. It eventually aims to secure funding on international markets by issuing bonds.
Fiji's climate minister, Lynda Tabuya, said: "This will be our take to COP31, and we hope our global leaders will come on board to support us."
