PM Matthew Wale calls for urgent climate action as Pacific leaders push to keep the 1.5°C target within reach.

Prime Minister Matthew Cooper Wale says 31 years of international climate negotiations have failed to deliver the level of action needed to keep global warming within the 1.5 degrees Celsius target.

Speaking during a Pacific Pre-COP31 plenary session in Fiji, Wale said COP31 will be the 10th climate conference since the Paris Agreement, yet the latest science indicates the world remains on track to overshoot 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“We have been negotiating for 31 years. COP31 will be the 10th COP since Paris, yet the latest science confirms we are on track to overshoot 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he said.

Wale said current efforts lacked the urgency and ambition needed to respond to the climate crisis.

“Our actions have lacked the decisiveness and ambition the moment in crisis demand,” he said.

He said the lack of progress was a major concern for Pacific island countries, which are already experiencing the impacts of climate change.

Wale called for urgent and inclusive climate action to keep 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach, limit any overshoot and bring global temperatures down as quickly as possible.

He also called on major emitting countries to make deeper economy-wide cuts to emissions and accelerate climate action.

Wale said climate commitments must now move beyond negotiations and translate into measurable action.

“COP31 cannot be another talk fest,” he said.

Pacific leaders attending the Pre-COP31 meeting are concluding their plenary discussions at the Sheraton Fiji Resort in Denarau, Fiji.

The leaders are also expected to endorse and sign the Taku Pakasoa Declaration, outlining Pacific priorities ahead of COP31 in Türkiye.