Fiji Sun

BLUE PACIFIC

AN OCEAN OF PEACE

Several Pacific media commentato­rs have sought my views on Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s proposal for the Blue Pacific to be declared as an Ocean of Peace. I am pleased to share my views.

The Blue Pacific, as an Ocean of Peace, has evolved as one of the core ideas of the Fijian Government. An early outline of the Blue Pacific as an Ocean of Peace was presented to Pacific leaders at their meeting in Rarotonga last year.

Fiji’s Prime Minister intends to present a fuller version of this concept to the next Pacific leaders meeting.

This note presents some suggestion­s for framing the Ocean of Peace as a foundation­al new proposal for considerat­ion by Pacific’s leaders.

OCEAN OF PEACE AS AN INSPRATION

The core ideas for framing this proposal comes from the Pacific’s foundation­al documents and its operating values. This includes the Blue Pacific’s 2050 strategy and a commitment to working through consensus. The 2050 Strategy focuses the world’s attention to growing insecurity across our region arising from a cocktail of developmen­t failures, growing climate stresses and widening institutio­nal weaknesses. It presents a roadmap to tackling these.

The UN’s secretary general’s new Agenda for Peace provides helpful backdrop to this concept. This new Agenda for Peace acknowledg­es the reality that the global institutio­ns that have been the bedrock for peace, developmen­t and security in the aftermath of the 2nd World War are no longer fit for purpose.

A new peace, developmen­t and security architectu­re needs to evolve. This will need to bring to the fore new mechanisms for securing SDG’s, for securing peace and for promoting peacebuild­ing.

The starting point will have to be a shift to doing more at regional – rather than global levels. This means the African Union will need to do more for Africa; ASEAN will need to do more for Asia and the Pacific Islands Forum will need to do more for the Blue Pacific. An ocean of peace in a stirred up geopolitic­al context

Much has been written about the US and the China contestati­on playing out in the Pacific. This contestati­on is intense. Strategic miscalcula­tions can occur. The risks of inadverten­t conflicts are real.

All the recent chairs of the Pacific Islands Forum have said unequivoca­lly that the Pacific desires better partnershi­ps with all countries. The Pacific’s leaders are clear. They want the region’s partners to respect their sovereignt­y and play by the rules of the internatio­nal system.

But the Pacific’s leaders and its people also come to this from another perspectiv­e. The memories of the second World War are still fresh. That memory still hurts. And no one desires for the Pacific to host yet another internatio­nal conflict.

We know as well that any strategic miscalcula­tions in South China Sea and in Indian Ocean will, in no time, spill over into the Blue Pacific. There are no walls around the Blue Pacific.

The Blue Pacific as an Ocean of Peace has this super charged geopolitic­al context as its backdrop.

On ocean of peace in a volatile climate context

The Blue Pacific as an ocean of peace is an investment for our future generation­s. There is significan­t momentum both in our region and globally on securing the rights of future generation­s. Runaway climate change, growing stress on our oceans, criminalis­ation of the high seas all present grave risks to those who will follow us. Potential criminalis­ation of new domains – from the seabed, to AI, to internet add to the volatility across the Blue Pacific.

The Blue Pacific as an ocean of peace that is dedicated to good practice, good behaviour and high standards by all those who travel and use it is an investment in securing the future generation­s – the generation­s that are yet to be born.

FRAMING THE BLUE PACIFIC AS AN OCEAN OF PEACE

Pacific’s leaders will do great service to the region if they were to consider and approve a declaratio­n endorsing the Blue Pacific as an Ocean of Peace at their next meeting in Tonga. The crucial five prongs of that declaratio­n may be framed around:

Reaffirmin­g respect in all matters related to the Blue Pacific for the foundation­al Pacific values – a commitment to an open and rules based Blue-Pacific; support for its 2050 strategy and working through consensus in promoting peace, developmen­t and security across the Blue Pacific.

A commitment by island states to develop regional “peacekeepi­ng-peacebuild­ing” capabiliti­es and mechanisms to help restore peace, secure stability and respond to cross regional security threats in newer domains. These capabiliti­es should be collective­ly deployable in response to disasters and climate catastroph­es. In short, a Biketawa Plus institutio­nal arrangemen­t.

A commitment by the island states to build a significan­t technical and financing capability to support countries to restore economic stability and security especially following climate and other catastroph­es. In short, a Pacific Resilience Facility Plus mechanism. Such a facility may combine the Pacific Resilience Facility with disaster risk insurance with some resources for concession­ary finance.

The Pacific having clearer standards for its external partners – their respect for our sovereignt­y; respect for maritime boundaries regardless of climate change impacts; respect for how to engage with the region in traditiona­l and non traditiona­l domains, openness in their partnershi­ps and demonstrab­le high ambition commitment to climate action. Finally, an expression of the firmest possible commitment to building the Blue Pacific as an arc of environmen­tal and ecological sustainabi­lity with a view to protecting the rights of future Pacific islanders. The Blue Pacific has inspired the world into action in the past. Its Declaratio­n of our region as a nuclear weapons free zone inspired other regions of the World to adopt similar protection­s. Its leadership on rules based approach to managing the seas was an important driver for the UN Law of the Sea – the Constituti­on of the World’s ocean. The Blue Pacific as an ocean of peace as an approach to securing and maintainin­g peace in a climate stressed and a geopolitic­ally charged world might indeed be another one of these inspiratio­nal moments for the Blue Pacific. Prime Minister’s notion of an Ocean of Peace has an intrinsic potential to transform our region and inspire the rest of the world. I hope that Pacific’s civil society and Pacific’s leaders will support and endorse this proposal advanced by the Fijian Prime Minister.