ÌÇÐÄ̽»¨

As many of you know, I began my tenure as Secretary-General just last week.

This gathering – among my first public engagements as Secretary-General - could not be more fitting.  

It is a chance to celebrate of Pacific leadership, convened at the conclusion of a critical session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee. 

To have so many distinguished leaders of our Pacific family here in London is a rare and valued occasion.  

I want especially to thank the Honourable Ro Filipe Tuisawau of Fiji for his initiative in bringing us together, and to extend a warm welcome to our friends from the wider Pacific region. 

As I take up this role, amid the rising tides of economic turbulence, global conflict and fracturing multilateralism, I do so acutely aware that climate change remains the defining challenge of our generation.  

No region feels this more viscerally than the Pacific.  

Rising sea levels, warming oceans, intensifying storms – these are not distant projections for you.  

They are daily realities, already threatening lives, livelihoods, and sovereignty itself. 

Let me be clear: I see you. I hear you. And I stand with you. 

The Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration, adopted just months ago by our Heads of Government, is a powerful call to action.  

It recognises our shared ocean as essential to life on this planet – for food, energy, trade, biodiversity and identity.  

And it rightly places small island states, including your own, at the heart of our Commonwealth’s vision for a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive future. 

Our Heads have committed to bold action: to protect marine ecosystems, reduce marine pollution, safeguard maritime zones in the face of sea-level rise, and accelerate the transition to clean and sustainable shipping.  

And they have tasked the ÌÇÐÄ̽»¨ with helping to deliver on this promise – through technical support, advocacy, and partnerships. 

This is a responsibility I take seriously. 

As Secretary-General, I will champion reforms to ensure that our international financial systems truly serve the needs of vulnerable and climate-affected states.  

I will elevate the voices of Small Island Developing States in every global forum where decisions are made about their futures.  

And I will ensure that the ÌÇÐÄ̽»¨ walks alongside you with purpose, expertise and resolve. 

Our Secretariat already supports your efforts through the Commonwealth Blue Charter, the Sustainable Energy Transition Agenda, the Ocean and Climate Policy Programme, and I want to work with you to capitalise on our relationship with the IMO and others to make progress on shipping emissions and port resilience.  

But I want us to go further.  

Pacific leadership must not only be visible in the margins – it must shape the centre. 

That is why I am actively exploring the establishment of a Commonwealth regional office in the Pacific.  

It is not acceptable that the region most impacted by climate change must also be the most remote from global decision-making.  

A regional presence would allow us to serve you better, and ensure that your priorities are felt, heard and responded to every day – not just when global summits roll around. 

Our Pacific members are rich in wisdom, experience and innovation.  

You are showing the world what courageous, principled leadership looks like – whether in the negotiations on plastic pollution, on maritime boundaries, or in advancing a just transition for shipping. 

The Apia Declaration calls for an urgent and just transition in maritime transport – one that includes Pacific workers and communities, respects national circumstances, and delivers clean, safe, and resilient shipping.  

It highlights the potential for blue economies that are regenerative, not extractive.  

And it reminds us that protecting our ocean is not a luxury – it is a necessity. 

This is the kind of leadership the world needs. 

And while I pursue an agenda which seeks to increase trade, improve resilience, strengthen democracy and unleash the extraordinary potential of the Commonwealth’s 2.7 billion people, it is the kind of leadership that the Commonwealth will never shrink from.  

Together, we are 56 countries – 33 of them small states.  

49 are coastal – and even land-locked countries rely on the ocean.  

Commonwealth countries are stewards of more than a third of the global ocean under national jurisdiction.  

That gives us more than a stake – it gives us a responsibility to lead: in climate action, ocean stewardship, and sustainable development. 

We are one Commonwealth family.  

And our shared ocean, as our Heads said in Samoa, binds us to one resilient common future. 

Let us honour that promise – with courage, with conviction, and with collective purpose. 

From my own travels to the Pacific, not least for the Samoa CHOGM at which I was appointed, I know how long your journey home will be.  

So for now, as I close, I want to thank you all again for being here, I hope you have an enjoyable evening here in your home from home after a long week of negotiation, and I look forward to working in your service over the months and years ahead  

Thank you.