Transcript
STEFANO MANSERVISI: The European Union is here and will remain committed in the South Pacific. And contrary to what others did, probably, we increased our financial envelope for supporting our Pacific partners. We have now an envelope of 800 million Euros that we are investing in the Pacific, but this could be increased - it will certainly be increased - to support in particular investments in clean energy, in ocean governance, and in climate change-related measures so my presence here is to underline out interest in what we are doing here and our interest in stepping up our presence and our work, in particular with our Australian and New Zealand friends.
JOHNNY BLADES: As the EU has made clear, one of its big priorities in the region is climate change - how do you respond to the criticism of these developed countries like those in the EU have really done too little, too late to help with climate change. Not just the resilience factors, but the funding too, for adaptation?
SM: Well I think that, first to recall that the alliance between the European Union and ACPs (African, Caribbean and Pacific Group countries) in particular has been extremely strong over the last years. Since the very first COP in Copenhagen and particularly in Paris, COP 21, on the contrary, we were exactly on the same position, and our alliance has allowed us to contribute to reaching, in any case, the important result of a binding agreement and all that would follow after Paris. So the starting point I would say is of a strong alliance. Second, concerning the financing, of course the commitment is extremely ambitious. But I would say the European Union, meaning Commission and new member states, have now reached the 18 billion (Euros) in financing in support of developing countries around the world of course in order to fulfil its commitment. Therefore, the path is difficult, the commitment is ambitious, but (that is) to say that the European Union and its member states are on a good track. And this is recognised world-wide. In any case, here during my trip, in particular in Suva, when I will call all our heads of co-operation and delegation in the Pacific, and we will discuss precisely how to further our financial efforts, in order to support our Pacific ACP friends, in particular small islands which are obviously the most vulnerable. But important to discuss it also with Australia and New Zealand, we have already a very positive and intense co-operation in delivering in this assistance.
JB: Papua New Guinea obviously is by far the biggest in land mass and population of all the Pacific Island countries, and of course it's got some very concerning human and social development outcomes. So why isn't the EU focussing more on what's happening in PNG?
SM: Well we are focussing on PNG because actually it is the biggest beneficiary of our assistance, which is over 180 million Euros in all. This is small obviously compared to Australia, also New Zealand, but it is the biggest envelope that we have here. And in that country we are supporting in particular the social development. There is a concern all across the Pacific which is about violence against women. We are committed and I have discussed with Australia and again today (with New Zealand) how we can join forces to address this, which is not only a social problem, a cultural problem, but also a problem which is affecting all our societies. So we are working already in order to improve the governance in particular on the exploitation of natural resources in PNG. And we are also supporting their capacity in order to deal with the challenges of the region, and also of the region which they are which is closer to Southeast Asia. Therefore, indeed, it's probably the most difficult country in which we are working, but we are there since decades, and we are building on our experience in order to get better. But again, what I would like to underline is, the key message that I am passing in all my meetings, is that we want to strengthen our co-operation in doing this in PNG and elsewhere in the Pacific with Australia and New Zealand. This in particular because, as you know, our agreement with the ACPs, including those of the Pacific, will end in 2020. So therefore we are now working in order to think about what we will do after that. And we propose to have another agreement with the ACPs with ACPs in the Pacific Islands, but also to have embedded into this new agreement a specific Pacific pillar. Therefore during my talks I am raising how we can build together this Pacific pillar which is based largely on the Pacific Islands Forum, but which is based also on some common objectives that we have to set up together. So we are at the beginning of a new era in which we as the European Union, we want to consolidate and further develop our presence. By the way also through the territories, some European territories which are here: French Polynesia, New Caledonia etc.
