Minister for Environment and Climate Change Mosese Bulitavu has told global leaders at COP30 that the Pacific Resilience Facility is not an appeal for sympathy but a declaration of self-determination.

Speaking during a roundtable talanoa on the PRF at the Pacific Moana Pavilion in Belém, Brazil, Bulitavu said the initiative embodies the Pacific’s determination to take charge of its own future in the face of the climate crisis.

He said the PRF is the Pacific’s way of telling the world that “while the tides rise, the region will rise with them.”

First endorsed by Pacific leaders during their meeting in the Solomon Islands, the PRF has now taken centre stage globally, aiming to raise vital funds to support vulnerable communities across the region.

Bulitavu said the facility was born from the conviction that the Pacific deserves a financing system that truly sees, hears, and reaches its people.

“For decades, our communities have waited at the end of long and complicated funding chains—watching promises rise and fall with every COP. But this time is different.”

The Minister announced that the PRF will soon become a fully recognized financial institution “built by the Pacific, for the Pacific” to deliver small grants directly to villages, farmers, women’s groups, and youth who live resilience every day.

He confirmed that US$167 million has already been secured, with more support needed to reach the first capitalization goal of US$500 million by next year.

Bulitavu said every dollar invested will not only build infrastructure but also rebuild hope, restoring homes, protecting coastlines, keeping children in school, restoring mangroves, and upholding the dignity of those least responsible for the climate crisis but most affected by it.

He added that the Pacific has done its part by building the vessel, and now calls on the world to help fill its sails.

Bulitavu urged Pacific leaders at COP30 to leave Belém with a united message “that the PRF is not a dream for tomorrow, but the Pacific’s gift to the world.”

“This story was produced as part of the 2025 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.”

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