Tuvalu climate minister says Pacific aid means little as Australia backs fossil fuels expansion

Tuvalu's Climate Minister says Australian aid to the Pacific means little if Canberra continues to support the expansion of coal and gas.

Maina Vakafua Talia made the comments in Sydney last week as a new report compared Australia's spending on fossil fuels with the aid it has provided to Pacific neighbours.

“It doesn’t really matter how much money we subsidise, if we don’t put a stop to the real problem,” Talia told a Climate Integrity Summit run by The Australia Institute.

The institute's report, Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: A Roadmap for Australia, says Canberra provided A$62 billion (NZ$77.21 billion) in fossil fuel subsidies between 2020 and 2025, almost six times the A$11b (NZ$13.70 billion) in aid provided to Pacific countries over the same period.

Only A$1.3b (NZ$1.62b) of the aid was climate-specific, according to the report.

Canadian Senator Rosa Galvez, another speaker at the summit, said the scale of government support for fossil fuels showed why greater scrutiny was needed.

Pacific delegates at the Australia Institute’s Climate Integrity Summit in Sydney, where Pacific climate concerns and Australia’s fossil fuel policies were discussed. Photo/Instagram/Parliament of NSW

“We are told markets are free,” Galvez said. “Markets are not free, because we are giving huge subsidies and we are favouring this industry.”

Talia and Galvez's comments come as Pacific leaders gather in New York for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly where they are taking a united regional voice to the world on climate change, rising seas and the need for greater support for Pacific resilience.

For Talia, the issue goes beyond funding and into the future of countries such as Tuvalu where communities are already facing the impacts of a warming climate.

“The logic is very simple,” Talia said. “We should put a stop to the expansion of coal mines and gas to ensure the survival of those who continue to live in the small island states.”

Tuvalu is preparing to host a special leaders' segment as part of the pre-COP summit in Fiji from 5 to 8 October, putting Pacific climate concerns back in the spotlight ahead of the UN climate talks later this year.

Australia has helped fund the pre-COP events after losing its bid to host the full COP meeting to Türkiye.

Tuvalu and Australian leaders are preparing for the Pacific’s pre-COP climate talks, with Tuvalu and Fiji due to co-host a special leaders’ event in October. Photo/PMN News/file

Talia's warning comes as the Pacific faces growing concern over rising temperatures and the future of low-lying island communities.

He pointed to a recent United Nations Environment Programme report on the likely overshoot of the 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit.

“The UNEP report on the overshoot didn’t just bring data, it brought sleepless nights filled with the faces of my people and the uncertain future of my children,” Talia said in a statement accompanying the Australia Institute report.

“As climate minister, I carry the heavy burden of full responsibility. This is not about politics; this is about our very survival – it is a matter of life and death,” he said. “That is why transitioning away from fossil fuels is not just necessary, but non-negotiable.”

The Australia Institute's Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: A Roadmap for Australia calls for Australia to move away from fossil fuels in line with the 1.5-degree goal.

Listen to Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo's full interview below during his first official visit to Aotearoa since taking office.

The report says Australia's gas exports have more than doubled since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, while the Albanese Government has approved 37 new coal and gas projects.

Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said in Parliament he would be spending time with Talia in the coming weeks, alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, to raise Pacific issues on the global stage.

Albanese has previously acknowledged the particular threat climate change poses to Pacific island countries.

“Climate change is an existential threat to the very existence of some of the countries who are represented here,” he told Pacific leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum gathering in Palau last month.

Tuvalu will also co-host the Second Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels with Ireland in April 2027.

The Conference of the Parties (COP31) will be held from 9 to 20 November 2026 at the Expo Center in Antalya, Türkiye.