Climate Trumps Security as Key Issue for Pacific Leaders: Lowy Institute

Despite increasing geopolitical uncertainty and thre pressing need for economic development, it is climate change that most concerns Pacific leaders.

This picture taken on Sept. 5, 2018 shows flags from the Pacific Islands countries being displayed in Yaren on the last day of the Pacific Islands Forum. MIKE LEYRAL/AFP via Getty Images

As 18 Pacific nations—including Australia and New Zealand—gather in Tonga’s capital Nuku'alofa this week, numerous concerns will occupy their talks, but none more pressing than the effect of climate change on some of the world’s smallest nations, according to a report from the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.

“Climate resilience will increasingly be at the centre of geopolitical partnerships,” the report, titled “The Great Game in the Pacific Islands,” predicts.