The third edition of the so-called “France-Oceania” meeting was this year Chaired by French Foreign Affairs minister .
Speaking at a press conference Kouchner said the main issues discussed during meeting were sustainable development, food security, the management of fish resources in the Pacific Ocean, climate change and its adverse effects on Pacific islands, regional security and stability and regional cooperation.
One particular issue of concern was climate change that has already started to affect directly several Pacific islands, such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, or the tiny islands of the Carteret group, near Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
“To me, there are no big or small countries, there are countries that are confronting common problems”, he said, adding “something must come to a balance in Oceania.
Kouchner said the final communiqué was a “dense” one touching on the need to further reduce the volume of emissions of greenhouse gases and to tackle the effects of the rise in sea levels, which is likely to prompt the appearance of environmental refugees.
Heads and members of governments from the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum were in Nouméa last week to attend the meeting.
However, Fiji was not invited, in line with the current stance taken by the PIF in response to the absence of democratic elections this year, two and a half years after the 05 December, 2006 takeover by the Fiji military in the Pacific nation
Referring to the situation in Fiji, Kouchner stressed “there have been four coups (since 1987) this is certainly not democratic custom”. He however underlined the need to distinguish the government of the day from the “Fijian people”.
New Caledonia’s President of the local government, Philippe Gomès, said he was in agreement with the PIF stance, adding Fiji had promised elections for 2009, but had “acted to the opposite.”
