NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon

The New Zealand government has contributed $3.6 million to Fiji’s Village Relocation Trust.

NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon while speaking to FBCNews says this is aimed at assisting communities threatened by rising sea levels.

Luxon also discussed the broader implications of climate change for both nations and emphasized that there are valuable lessons New Zealand can learn from Fiji’s experiences to enhance its own climate adaptation strategies.

“We can support, I think, there’s 20 villages that will ultimately make that call around relocation with respect to sea level rise. Again there is a lot for us to take away from Fiji to bring back to New Zealand, to think about how we built our own climate adaptation from it because we have some of the same issues that you have.”

The New Zealand Prime Minister has praised Fiji’s leadership in addressing climate change and reaffirmed New Zealand’s commitment to supporting these efforts.

“I think Fiji has done some outstanding work actually. It’s one of the few countries that I’m aware of that has built what we call a climate adaptation framework.”

He highlighted that New Zealand’s climate minister has studied Fiji’s approach, which is seen as world-leading due to its proactive measures to address sea level rise and other climate impacts.