We came together from around the world to Tuvalu and Fiji on 6 October 2026, to witness the grave threat posed by climate change to the Blue Pacific, its people, culture, and livelihoods.

Taku Pakasoa in Tuvaluan represents strength found in unity and collective action. This declaration represents an unwavering commitment to continue to act on climate change, calling on the world to unite behind those on the front lines of the climate crisis.

Across the Pacific, people have lived in rhythm with the ocean, their culture and identity woven through its tides. Today, the same ocean threatens this way of life. Standing only metres above the sea, Tuvalu faces the realities of climate change every day, yet communities are meeting uncertainty with courage, resilience and deep ancestral knowledge. What threatens the Pacific today also threatens Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) including in the Indian and Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean – and foreshadows the future we will face unless we act together now.

As global temperature increases approach 1.5°C and we face strong El Niño conditions, we reiterate that every fraction of a degree of warming accelerates the impacts of climate change and increases the risk of irreversible loss and damage for climate vulnerable communities, particularly for SIDS and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). In this context, echoing the calls from the frontline of the climate crisis, we:

1. Commend the leadership of Pacific island countries, whose advocacy has helped elevate the global commitment to addressing the climate emergency and solidified momentum behind efforts to limit the duration and magnitude of overshoot and keep the 1.5°C temperature goal alive, in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

2. Celebrate the leadership and advocacy of global youth, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities as essential to decision making and recognise the importance of their contributions to climate action for future generations.

3. Recognise the leadership role of Pacific island countries in pursuing the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion and the UN General Assembly resolution on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, and the Advisory Opinion of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on climate change and international law.

4. Reaffirm the importance of continuing statehood and sovereignty and the associated rights and duties, and of States being able to maintain maritime zones established in accordance with international law as reflected in UNCLOS¹, notwithstanding the physical changes and other impacts of climate change-related sea-level rise.

Keeping 1.5°C Within Reach

5. Call on all Parties to the Paris Agreement to accelerate collective action in this critical decade to keep 1.5°C within reach. The science is unequivocal. Deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions are required to minimise the magnitude and duration of overshoot.

6. Urge Parties who have yet to submit their 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to do so as soon as possible.

7. Reiterate the vital importance of ensuring that the best available climate science, as provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), informs decision-making and countries’ action on mitigation and adaptation. The IPCC is critical to informing UNFCCC decision making and the Second Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement.

8. Reaffirm commitment to accelerate the global clean energy transition and reaffirm that the Global Stocktake adopted as part of the COP28 UAE Consensus, called on Parties to contribute, in a nationally determined manner, to global efforts to triple renewable energy capacity and double the average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030, and to transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.

9. Welcome the global momentum building around decarbonisation and accelerating electrification toward 35% of global final energy use by 2035, supported by investments in energy storage and grid transformation. Electrification, particularly when combined with renewable energy and energy efficiency, can improve energy security and access, lower costs, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Enhancing Access to Climate Finance

10. Recognise the impacts of climate change are unevenly distributed and that delivering on our collective commitments requires a substantial increase in climate finance to achieve the New Collective Quantified Goal, particularly to support adaptation in capacity constrained countries. International finance architecture needs reform to ensure it delivers finance, including grant-based and concessional finance at the speed and scale required, particularly for SIDs and LDCs.

11. Welcome efforts towards the Statement and Action Plan on Access to Climate Finance for SIDS and LDCs to translate shared commitments into equitable, tangible outcomes.

12. Commend the establishment of the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) to enhance regional resilience, disaster preparedness and adaptation, and to respond to loss and damage. We recognise existing contributions and call upon those with the capacity to contribute to the PRF to strengthen community resilience and drive local climate action.

Elevating the Ocean-Climate Nexus

13. Reflect on the importance of the ocean to Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Ocean nations, including for Indigenous Peoples, and local communities who have

managed land, coast and sea for generations and the importance of maintaining the integrity of our ocean and natural forest ecosystems.

14. Recognise the accelerating crises of ocean warming, acidification, sea-level rise, including from the loss of glaciers and ice sheets, and marine biodiversity loss require collective action to effectively safeguard the resilience of our ocean as the planet’s primary climate regulator, largest active carbon sink, and engine of global food security and weather stability.

15. Recognise the need for collective effort to limit global average temperature rise to below 1.5°C as the means to minimise the impacts of climate change on ocean currents and circulation systems and reduce the risk of dramatic disruption to climate systems throughout the world and recognise the need to strengthen ocean science.

16. Welcome efforts by the UNFCCC to address the impacts of climate change on the ocean and to strengthen the role of ocean solutions across climate action, including through the ocean and climate change dialogue and the Second GST.

In the spirit of Taku Pakasoa, this Declaration brings our voices together, in unity, resilience and power, as a call to action to address our shared challenges, protect our cultures and build our shared future. Ahead of COP31, we call on all parties to join with us to advance global climate action and implementation to secure a better future for generations to come.

¹References to UNCLOS are without prejudice to the legal positions of States non-parties to UNCLOS in respect of that Convention.

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