PIDF

Marshall Islands Foreign Affairs Minister Tony de Brum said the Pacific needed the PIDF because the former South Pacific Commission set up to look after the Pacific couldn't do so because of influence from donors such as US and UK.

He said donors gave funds with strings attached and it prevented regional organisations from doing what they were initially set up for. This, he said, had happened again to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and there was a need to have the PIDF.

He says he had hoped Australia would have done better in its target of reducing emissions by between 26 and 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

"I have a simple message today for the Australian Prime Minister: Mr Abbott, it is time to put the welfare and survival of your Pacific Island neighbours before the expansion of your existing coal industry and your continuing reliance on this dirtiest of energy sources. The other day, the President of Kiribati, His Excellency Anote Tong, described Australia's loyalty to coalmines as selfish and I couldn't agree more."

The forum is being held next week in Suva, Fiji and has been established to discuss critical issues in sustainable development for the people of the Pacific, with the theme this year of “Building Climate Resilient Green Blue Pacific Economies”.