Pacific Leaders Launch the PRF Treaty – A Step Forward for Our Communities
The signing of the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) Treaty in Honiara marks a truly historic step for the region. After more than a decade of advocacy, including leadership from former Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor and other Pacific leaders, the world now has its first Pacific-owned climate finance institution. This is a milestone to celebrate!
As Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa said,
“The PRF is about giving power back to ‘very small voices that are somewhere in the village or in some of the small islands.”
For our team in the Solomon Islands, those voices are neighbours, partners, and the communities we work with every day.
Solomon Islands Waste to Wealth Women Photo: Edges of the Earth
Why It Matters
The PRF is designed to make access to climate finance easier for Pacific nations, cutting through red tape that has long kept funds locked at the top. With more than US$160 million pledged already, and a target of US$500 million by the end of 2026, the returns will fund small-scale, community projects – the kind that build true resilience.
This recognition comes at a critical moment. As Tonga’s Prime Minister reminded leaders in Honiara,
“The Pacific does not have the luxury of time.”
Communities in the Western Province are already being forced into impossible choices. Some families are building on top of coral reefs to escape rising seas – a decision they never wanted to make.
Others, like on Nusa Baruku Island, are without a waste service after Aid-related funding cuts forced us to scale back our Waste to Wealth program. With no room left on their island, people are piling rubbish into the mangroves. They know this damages the ecosystem, but they have no alternative.
These are not abstract risks. They are lived realities.
A Healthy Pacific is a Healthy Planet
The Pacific is often described as small because of its landmass, but that framing misses the mark. Pacific Island nations are large ocean states, stewarding vast marine areas, coral reefs, fisheries, and coastal ecosystems that are critical to planetary health.
Investing in Pacific resilience is therefore not only about responding to climate impacts. It’s about protecting the ocean systems that support food security, biodiversity, culture, and climate stability far beyond the region.
For communities in the Western Province, this connection is immediate. Healthy reefs, mangroves, fisheries, and waste systems are not separate issues. They are part of the same resilience challenge, and they need finance that reaches the people managing these systems every day.
The Opportunity in the PRF
For grassroots programs like Waste to Wealth Solomon Islands, the PRF represents hope: that pledges will translate into steady, reliable support for the work already happening on the ground. We’ve shown what’s possible – diverting tonnes of waste from the ocean, transforming local markets, and creating jobs. With sustained investment, we can do even more, reaching islands that are currently without any service at all.
The challenge now is to ensure that government, philanthropy, and business blend their finance and act with urgency.
If the PRF secures the funds it needs to succeed, it can become the lifeline that communities need – and a model for the world of how local action and global commitments come together.
Looking Ahead
This treaty is a victory for Pacific leadership and vision. It shows that our region refuses to wait for others to act, and instead builds its own pathways to resilience. But celebration must be matched with delivery.
Communities are ready. We are ready. Now the world must be ready too – to put the lives of Pacific peoples first, and to understand that protecting the Pacific is protecting the planet.
References:
- Pacific Islands Forum — PRF Treaty signing and pledges
- Solomon Islands 24 million hectares ocean protection, WCS announcement (Agnetha Vave-Karamui quote)