NEW ZEALAND:
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
signed the Niue Treaty Subsidiary Agreement on regional fisheries. This valuable tool enhances cooperation in the areas of fisheries surveillance, enforcement, and information sharing in the Pacific. Pacific nations cannot succeed alone. Sustainable fisheries in the region will be achieved only with the support of the nations whose fleets harvest these seas. The New Zealand view is that parliaments in those nations must confront the entrenched interests, weak policy-making and vast bureaucracy that allows fishing subsidies to continue. Subsidies have been promoting overcapacity and overfishing. This, in turn, encourages illegal and unreported fishing, which can contribute to the destruction of healthy fisheries that has occurred all too often in other parts of the world.
Growing tourism and safer sea lanes
As well as a great economic resource, the ocean is the avenue of international trade for Pacific nations and a source of significant tourism income. Tourism contributes to over half of the GDP of the Cook Islands and around a quarter in Fiji. New Zealand is investing over $38 million directly into the Pacific tourism sector, with an extra $82 million in tourism-related infrastructure, particularly in the area of safety in navigation and aviation services.
Shipping services are the primary means of shifting goods and passengers between islands. The Pacific is one of the fastest growing markets for the cruise ship industry. In 2012, the cruise ship industry generated earnings of US$640 million in direct passenger expenditure for the region.
Ensuring that ships can continue to ply Pacific waters safely is vital for the future prosperity of the region. New
More than 70 Pacific parliamentarians and political leaders gathered at the New Zealand Parliament between 18 and 22 April 2013 for the Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders Forum – the first of its kind
Zealand is leading a new regional programme to improve navigational charts for the region, by investing $5 million in a five-year programme to be executed by our Land Information NZ and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to carry out hydrographic survey and charting work. This builds on a successful pilot project in Vanuatu, and its initial focus will be on Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, and Tokelau, with a view to extending it to cover the rest of the Pacific. This work is critical for the economic future of the Pacific. From July 2016 all vessels operating in the region will need to use electronic navigation charts which meet international standards. Our support ensures that cargo and cruise ships will continue to be able to operate in the Pacific, by bringing charts up to this standard. We are glad to be able to share our expertise in hydrographic survey work and technical know-how with our closest neighbours, thus improving the safety and reliability of shipping routes in the region.
Renewable energy Diesel generators currently
20 | The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue One
provide about 80% of the Pacific’s energy and Pacific nations spend 10% of their GDP on imported fossil fuels. So, moving to renewable energy will lower generation costs and reduce import dependency.
This is an area where the Pacific has been let down by a lack of practical action for many years. There has been much talk about climate change and the importance of renewable energy, but this has not been matched by funding and assistance for projects that will deliver this clean energy. New Zealand is committed to changing this. In 2013, we hosted the Pacific Energy Summit in Auckland. Pacific Governments came to the summit with clear roadmaps and ambition for developing their energy sectors. Donors and partner Governments rose to the challenge, and the summit exceeded all our expectations. Donors committed $635 million to renewable energy initiatives. This funding is drastically accelerating the Pacific’s shift to renewable energy – over
50 projects are now underway across the region. The Pacific is close to achieving 50% renewable electricity.
For our part, New Zealand has committed at least $80 million to 25 renewable energy projects around the Pacific in countries including the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu. We are already seeing results: for instance, the atolls of Tokelau have gone from 100% reliance on diesel to generating all of their electricity renewably as a result of our project. We are working with the European Union on photovoltaic systems for the outer islands of Tuvalu and the Cook Islands. These systems will provide around 90% of the islands’ power needs this year. By adopting a broker role, New Zealand is able to bring together Pacific states and some of the world largest donors to achieve far more than we could by working alone. We want to use this approach beyond energy to get donors working on all Pacific issues – sharing our expertise, but also open our ‘contact book’ to
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