The budget allocation for the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment in the new fiscal year has left Minister Lynda Tabuya disappointed.

The Minister says the funding does not include additional staffing she had requested for the Ministry.

Tabuya had sought extra resources to strengthen environmental compliance and accelerate the preparation of climate finance project proposals, particularly ahead of the anticipated Pre‑COP meeting to be hosted in Fiji.

The Minister says a faster turnaround on project proposals is critical to securing international climate funding through the help of additional staffing, but her request was not approved.

Despite the setback, Tabuya praised her small team for its dedication and commitment to delivering the ministry’s work.

“We are a small team but I’m proud of them even though we didn’t get approval for more funding for more staff, I know and I trust in our current staff that they will be able to handle the workload.”  

Tabuya stressed that while the ministry remains under‑resourced, she is confident her staff will continue to deliver on their responsibilities.

“As well as the need to be able to handle all the project proposals that we are being asked to do by those climate finance organisations.”  

Similarly, Opposition Leader Inia Seruiratu spotlighted the importance of investing in renewable energy to enhance Fiji’s efforts around sustaining the environment.

“The transition has to happen, it has to happen definitely and for us being heavily dependent on fossil fuel we really need to seriously look at how we expediate this.” 

With no dedicated allocation for Climate and Environment support, the Ministry will now need to look beyond donor funding to sustain its operations, particularly given its ongoing need for additional manpower.