Photograph: © Reuters. Retrieved from asia.nikkei.com

Excerpt from asia.nikkei.com

Leaders of Indonesia and several smaller island nations convened for a “historic” gathering to unify and amplify their voices ahead of the upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Dubai.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his counterparts from East Timor, Tuvalu, Niue, Sao Tome and Principe and the Federated States of Micronesia joined “the first high-level meeting” of the Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum on the Indonesian island of Bali. The deputy prime ministers of Fiji and Tonga also attended.

“I’ve said this many times: The world is not well,” Widodo told a news conference after the meeting. “Threats from climate change are very real. Impacts from rising sea levels and marine pollution due to garbage and waste will be felt more.”

“These are threatening not just the sea … but also the sovereignty and the unity” of nations’ territories.

A total of 32 countries sent delegates to the AIS-related meetings in Bali this week, including big and small island nations across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, such as Britain, Japan and New Zealand. Older, similar groups such as the Pacific Islands Forum also sent representatives.

The talks came ahead of the U.N.’s COP28 meetings set to take place in Dubai from Nov. 30 through Dec. 12.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called Wednesday’s discussions “both timely and historical.” She said the AIS Forum, initiated by Indonesia in 2018, is the first to convene big and small island states from around the world rather than from a specific region.