STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF FIJI,
COMMODORE VOREQE BAINIMARAMA, AT THE PLENARY
SESSION OF THE THIRD WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT (RIO+20)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
20 JUNE 2012
Your Excellency Madam President,
First may I congratulate you as Chair of this World Summit, for the warm hospitality
extended to my delegation since our arrival in Rio and for the kind invitation to attend this
Third World Summit on Sustainable Development.
It is with sincere appreciation that I recall Fiji attended the World Summit on Environment
and Development convened 20 years ago here in Rio. It was at that meeting the Special Case
for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) was agreed to by the international community.
That decision resulted in the international meeting in Barbados in 1994 which in turn resulted
in the Barbados Programme of Action for Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States.
Twenty years on, I can today reaffirm that for Fiji and its people that in our continued efforts
to strive towards sustainable development, the "special case" still applies. Recent global
events such as the financial, fuel and food crises have served to underscore this reality,
together with the adverse impacts of climate change, climate variability and sealevel rise.
In 2010, the Fiji national assessment for the 5-year review of the Mauritius Strategy for the
Further Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for SIDS, along with similar
national assessments for our island neighbours found that since 1992/1994 our vulnerability
has increased whilst capacity to cope has not.
Madam President,
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Fiji continues to face significant and mounting challenges in a number of key areas, including:
developing and maintaining effective and adequate human capacity for development;
developing and maintaining cost effective infrastructure to engage with the global community
and its markets and to support socio-economic priorities; establishing and maintaining viable
and diversified economic development bases and value added industry; securing foreign
investment; securing affordable, adequate and safe energy supplies; protecting biodiversity
and shared resources; and, in accessing adequate resources to effectively reduce risk to
disasters including climate change.
Fiji, I know is little different from its island neighbours in regard to these significant and
mounting challenges. It is in this context I want now to turn to a concept that I believe if reinvigorated
today would help us in the Pacific islands region further develop and strengthen
our ability to work better together in an integrated manner towards the goals of sustainable
development. I refer to it as the “Pacific Way”.
The Pacific Way is a concept in the Pacific islands region that has been around for several
decades. Indeed Fiji's first Prime Minister, the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara is often attributed
as being the source of the concept which in due course gave name to the title of his
autobiography, 'The Pacific Way".
The Pacific Way concept whilst never well-defined, today I believe points Fiji and its island
neighbours to the path down which we need to venture together for the Future We Want.
For Pacific islanders, the Pacific Way invokes dialogue and working together to share
attributes such as: our island heritage, independence, right to self governance. Furthermore,
the Pacific Way invokes working together in an integrated holistic manner, establishing
effective communications, retaining social networks, and working together towards achieving
economic development, and sustainable resource use of our environment. To achieve the
Future We Want, Fiji seeks the support of our partners. Fiji understands it cannot achieve its
sustainable development goals in a timely manner alone. But I must stress that Fiji needs
support from its partners and not interference or attempted control.
Madam President,
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Before moving to some specific references to Fiji and its pathway to sustainable development,
let me share a few thoughts on the uniqueness of the Pacific SIDS region. I refer of course to
the vast Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean singularly gives rise to much of our vulnerability
through generally being groups of small, if not tiny, islands scattered in isolation. Yet its
shared resource use is the opportunity it presents to us to contribute towards sustainable
development.
Fiji and its island neighbours, are and will continue forever to exist in the Blue World, of the
Pacific Ocean. It comprises over 95% of our sovereign territory and over which we have
stewardship in the interest of the Global Commons. Socially, the context of widespread small
communities on generally small often tiny islands provided, and still largely does provide, the
basis for our traditional and cultural social fabric. The ocean feeds us (and a large part of the
global community), it endangers us (cyclones, storm surges, and tsunamis), and underpins the
challenges we face (isolation from markets, high cost of imports and exports, cost of internal
transport) and opportunities we have for economic development (tourism, fisheries, seabed
minerals).
Beyond our Exclusive Economic Zones over which we have sovereignty there are vast High
Seas areas of our planet Earth over which international organisations hold significant
responsibility. I wish to make specific reference to one, the International Seabed Authority
with responsibility for the seabed areas of the High Seas. Fiji is the current President of the
Assembly of the ISA and we recognise particular interest being shown at this time in the
seabed mineral resource potential of the High Seas.
For sure Fiji has keen interest in exploring the economic opportunity seabed mineral resources
have to offer, I know Fiji shares this interest with other island neighbours and the application
of Rio Principle 15 calling for a precautionary approach must underscore all our efforts to
investigate and if possible utilise in an acceptable way the resources on the seabed of not only
our EEZs but also the High Seas.
Madam President,
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Let me now turn to a few particular comments on Fiji. In 2008, we launched a new strategic
way forward for Fiji entitled; "The Peoples' Charter for Change, Peace and Progress". Its
eleven pillars and contained principles embed and cross-cut all the three pillars and principles
of sustainable development with a focus of reducing poverty. Fiji is I believe working
towards, albeit slowly as circumstances may dictate, the achievement of the Charter.
For many in Fiji, and I believe the region, in the context of social well being, the definition of
poverty has been problematic. This is closely linked to the problem of capturing the essential
caring and sharing and traditional social-safety net structure of the extended family with the
high dependence on subsistence fishing and farming as a basis for food security. Over recent
years I am aware that dialogue at all levels has produced a working definition of poverty in
the Pacific islands region which reflects these essentials and focuses on “hardship”.
Poverty in Fiji as it results in an inadequate level of sustainable human development, is
manifested by: a lack of access to basic services such as health care, education and clean
water; a lack of opportunities to participate fully in the socio-economic life of the community.
a lack of access to productive resources and income generation, and support systems (rural
credit capital, markets, skills) to meet the basic needs of the household, and/or customary
obligations to the extended family, village community and/or the church.
These very real issues linked to the need to develop and strengthen social well being, often
linked to poverty in Fiji, including hardship and lack of opportunity, seem to me to be lost in
the current outcomes document which has a poverty focus more related to abject poverty and
hunger.
Madam President,
I have to acknowledge that we cannot control the vagaries of Mother Nature. In January and
March of this year once again for Fiji, the weather set back many years of effort towards
achieving sustainable economic and social development by government, the private sector,
communities and individuals alike in our Western Division. The livelihood secured over a
working lifetime of effort by many cane farmers and their families was destroyed.
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On two occasions only two months apart, and within a matter of hours on each occasion,
torrential rain and associated flash flooding and landslides occurred. A lesson to be learnt is
we simply must develop and strengthen our early warning capability at all levels.
Beyond response and recovery to these disasters Fiji must continue to strive to put in place
more effective early warning systems that is underpinned by better ongoing scientific and
technical data gathering, better information products, leading to more knowledge to better
inform policy and decision-making.
As a final sectoral issue I must highlight the energy sector. Whilst Fiji is blessed with
hydropower as an abundant source of renewable energy with which to generate electricity, we
are still very heavily dependant on imported fuels to service our transportation needs and in
particular the tyranny of distance and current global fuel costs that seriously and negatively
impact on the viability of inter island transport whether it be by punt and outboard motor or
interisland ferries, or the development of our national fishing capability.
Madam President,
I have dwelt upon three aspects: (i) social well being and poverty, (ii) the need for better use
of scientific and technical data to support sustainable development and (iii) transportation
costs and dependency on imported fuels, that appear as far as Fiji is concerned to get less than
adequate attention or indeed are missing from the current Rio+20 outcome document.
Let me now highlight that many elements of the current text appear very relevant to Fiji and
reinforce the issues we have to be contend with in Fiji. I refer in particular to the elements on
agriculture, fisheries, forestry, water, health, tourism, biodiversity, human settlements to name
but a few.
Madam President,
Fiji has a relatively small population of around 900,000. Together with addressing the
challenges to develop and strengthen our education system and minimise the "brain drain"
that migration brings we are still left with a limited national capacity (both human and
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institutional). In many instances there is a flow-on effect that manifests itself in less than
optimal absorptive capacity for us to maximise the timely use of support offered by our
partners.
Madam President,
In closing, let me thank you for the opportunity on behalf of Fiji and its people to address this
plenary gathering of the Third World Conference on Sustainable Development. There is no
doubt for Fiji that the special case of SIDS, agreed to in Rio 20 years ago, has evolved and
should remain a key reflection in the Rio+20 outcome document "The Future We Want". I
note in the Rio+20 Outcomes the proposal for a Third International Meeting on SIDS in 2014.
I would like to put on the table the offer from Fiji to host this important meeting. In making
this offer I would like to give all delegates the assurance that we will do our utmost to
welcome you all to our shores around the middle of 2014.
Madam President I thank you.
Vinaka vakalevu.
