The year 2026 has been marked as a year of action to advance environmental stewardship, as the Pacific region, including Fiji, continues to face growing environmental challenges threatening lives and livelihoods.

The call for stronger action was highlighted at the Pacific Regional Dialogue on Cooperatives as drivers of the blue-green economy in the Pacific, currently underway at the Tokatoka Resort in Nadi.

With cooperatives playing an increasingly important role in Pacific economies, the dialogue is focusing on how cooperatives can help achieve environmental goals across the region.

In Fiji, the number of cooperatives has increased by 94 percent over the past 40 years, reinforcing the need for cooperatives to be placed at the forefront of efforts to promote environmental sustainability.

Minister for Finance, Commerce and Business Development, Esrom Immanuel, while delivering the keynote address, says cooperatives provide a practical pathway to advance the blue-green economy by turning policy into action at the community level.

He says this is driven by cooperatives’ strong traditions of collective effort and community ownership.

“Across key sectors, cooperative models demonstrate that economic development and environmental sustainability can be mutually reinforcing. I firmly believe cooperatives are in a unique position to help institutionalise the blue-green economy in the Pacific.”

Cooperatives in Fiji operate across a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, financial services, real estate, administrative support and service-based industries.

With this broad presence, the dialogue aims to encourage cooperatives to adopt sustainable practices that support the Pacific’s blue-green economy.

The blue-green economy focuses on the sustainable use of ocean and land resources to create jobs, strengthen food security and protect the environment from the impacts of climate change.

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