Biman Prasad, minister of finance for Fiji, has called on the partners of the Pacific Island nations, including the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral organisations, to recognise the region has been “punished already” and ensure it is able to access funds needed to protect itself from rising sea levels and other devastating effects of global warming.
While the region’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is negligible, it is experiencing the worst impacts of climate change. For this reason, Prasad believes region should not be “punished twice” when it comes to accessing financing to support their adaptation and mitigation goals. He called for the MDBs to ensure these should not be prohibitively difficult or expensive to access.
