For his persistence and commitment to action against climate change for Pacific Island Nations, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama of Fiji as a 2020 Champion of the Earth for Policy Leadership. 

Under the Prime Minister’s leadership, Fiji has taken bold and decisive actions to draw global attention to the consequences of climate change and rising sea levels. The country was the first to ratify the Paris Agreement – which marks its fifth anniversary tomorrow – and is pursuing a national strategy to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 across its entire economy.

“Prime Minister Bainimarama has demonstrated the leadership and ambition demanded by the escalating global climate emergency,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “Evacuated Pacific Island communities show us the consequence of moving too slowly. Whether it is protecting coral reefs or strengthening energy policy, the transformative policies Fiji is taking under Bainimarama’s leadership illuminates the path we must take together in the battle to heal our planet.”

As an advocate not only for Fiji but for other island nations, Prime Minister Bainimarama has used his global platform to draw the links between climate change and the health of the world’s waterways. In presiding over the COP23 Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, in 2017 – the same year Fiji co-hosted the first UN Oceans Conference – he urged Member States to consider the importance of a healthy and functioning ocean, what he called, “the single most important factor influencing climate.”

“The science is very clear about the consequences of a global temperature rise of 3 degrees Celsius, and we cannot let that happen,” noted Prime Minister Bainimarama. “If nothing is done soon, human survival will be threatened. We cannot afford to take that gamble.”

Protection of waterways, reefs and related ecosystems is only part of Fiji’s climate conscious national strategy. The country has doubled down on an ambitious renewable energy policy, and is also turning to the forests that cover about 55 per cent of its landmass to increase carbon sinks and lower the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. The country’s national development and growth strategies incorporate both climate and finance considerations, while a rural electrification scheme has helped to reduce diesel emissions across the country for its nearly one million people. 

Fiji raised some US$50 million in 2017 through the first-ever sovereign ‘green bond’ issued by an emerging market, supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Fiji’s commitment to the region does not end with its advocacy against climate change; in addition to developing relocation plans for its own people who are displaced by climatological events, the country has offered permanent refuge to the displaced people of its Pacific neighbours Kiribati and Tuvalu.

“Beyond being a leader, my wife and I have a far more important role as grandparents,” Prime Minister Bainimarama said on receiving the Champions of the Earth award. “As grandparents, we have to create a better future for our grandchildren. Today their future looks bleak. We, as Leaders, have the opportunity to make this right. This worry is the only thing that keeps me awake at night. This is my commitment, and I will continue to request all Leaders’ absolute support in winning this fight for our grandchildren.”

UNEP’s Champions of the Earth awards are the UN’s highest environmental honour. It recognizes outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector. Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is one of six laureates announced 11 December 2020.

The United Nations Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth and the Young Champions of the Earth honour individuals, groups and organizations whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment. 

The annual Champions of the Earth award is the UN’s highest environmental honour. It recognizes outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector. Frank Bainimarama is one of six laureates announced in December 2020, on the cusp of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030

By showcasing news of the significant work being done on the environmental frontlines, the Champions of the Earth awards aim to inspire and motivate more people to act for nature. The awards are part of UNEP’s #ForNature campaign to rally momentum for the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Kunming in May 2021, and catalyze climate action all the way to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021.