COP23 negotiations hailed as a great success by the British Govt

The COP23 negotiations, under the leadership of the Fijian Presidency, have been hailed as a great success by the British Government at a meeting between Prime Minister and COP23 President Voreqe Bainimarama, and the United Kingdom Minister of State for Climate Change and Industry MP Claire Perry.

During the meeting, Perry also expressed the keen interest of the British Government to welcome Fijian Green Bonds onto the UK stock market.

Fijian Green Bonds are the first sovereign green bonds to be offered by a developing country anywhere in the world, and among an elite club globally, joined only by Poland and France.

Bainimarama took the opportunity to commend the UK Government, alongside the Canadian Government, on the launch of the “Powering Past Coal Alliance”, an alliance of governments and businesses launched during COP23 that aims to rapidly phase our traditional coal power.

Fiji joined the alliance during the COP23 negotiations, and the Prime Minister reiterated Fiji's commitment to the global shift away from the burning of coal, a major source of carbon emissions, in favour of cleaner renewable power sources.

The talks also covered next year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, where the Prime Minister expressed Fiji’s excitement that climate resilience and adaptation would be part of the meeting agenda.