Pacific Islands leaders meeting opens in Tonga

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA)- The 53rd Pacific Islands Forum meeting opened in Tonga on Monday amid a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that rattled the country’s capital Nuku'alofa, local media reported.

The delegates, during the proceedings, felt a long, rumbling tremor as well as aftershocks with no immediate reports of casualties, damage or tsunami warning, local broadcaster FBC News reported.

The epicenter of the earthquake was 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Nuku’alofa.

“I thought I was just hungry, but no, it was an earthquake!” French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson was quoted as saying.

Tremors are nothing new for the region, which regularly encounters natural disasters.

The summit began with three days of talks in Nuku’alofa before leaders head to the offshore island of Vava’u for a private retreat.

Aside from leaders of 18 Pacific nations, over 1,500 delegates are expected to attend the five-day summit.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon are scheduled to land on Tuesday.


- 'Fossil-free Pacific'

The theme of this year's summit, chaired by Tonga’s Prime Minister Hu’akavemeiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, is A Transformative and Resilient Pasifiki: Build Better Now.

Climate change tops the agenda, whereas the leaders are also expected to discuss a string of regional issues, including violent unrest in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, and the Pacific Policing initiative.

Addressing the opening ceremony, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the region’s ambitions for a “fossil fuel-free Pacific is a blueprint for the G20 and the world”.

“The biggest emitters must step up and lead, by phasing out the production and consumption of fossil fuels and stopping their expansion immediately,” he said.

"When governments sign new oil and gas licenses, they are signing away our future,” Guterres added.

His remarks are seen as a rejection of plans by Australia and New Zealand to expand fossil fuel production.

The forum meets annually to develop collective responses to regional issues.

The Pacific Islands Forum comprises 18 members – Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.