Fiji is preparing new legislation aimed at confronting climate change impacts and protecting vulnerable communities, Minister for Lands Filimoni Vosarogo announced this week. Speaking at the Capacity Building Program on Climate Change, Human Rights and Business, Vosarogo said the government is working to ensure laws and policies are “climate-ready” — designed to protect indigenous communities, safeguard vulnerable groups and minimise unintended consequences as adaptation and mitigation measures advance.
“We are working collectively to ensure our legislation is climate-ready: protecting indigenous communities, safeguarding vulnerable groups, and minimising unintended consequences as we advance adaptation and mitigation,” Vosarogo told participants. He framed the legal work as part of a broader push to make domestic systems better able to respond to the practical, on-the-ground effects of a changing climate.
Vosarogo highlighted several immediate challenges already affecting land management across Fiji, naming rising sea levels, coastal erosion and shifting landscapes as forces that are “already reshaping land boundaries, land-use planning, and lease arrangements.” He warned these dynamics have real consequences for landowners, tenants and communities and must be addressed through law and policy that recognise changing physical realities as well as customary and statutory land rights.
In a related announcement, Vosarogo confirmed Fiji will host the COP31 Pre-COP meeting from October 5-8. The Pre-COP gathering is a preparatory forum ahead of the main UN climate conference, and Vosarogo stressed its timing makes domestic reforms more urgent. “As we prepare for global discussions, the work in this room takes on even greater importance. Strong international representation must rest on robust domestic systems — informed stakeholders, inclusive policies, and effective land governance,” he said.
The minister’s statements build on a series of recent government moves to boost resilience and incorporate climate considerations into planning and infrastructure. Earlier coverage of Fiji’s climate response noted the government’s use of climate finance — including funding under the Duavata Partnership — to support resilience projects such as road upgrades and to advance implementation of the national Climate Change Act. Vosarogo’s call for legal reform signals a next phase that seeks to align those investments and plans with durable rules governing land use and community protections.
Officials at the capacity-building event emphasised that drafting laws will require engagement across affected groups, including customary landholders and tenants, as well as coordination with agencies managing leases and development approvals. The work to make legislation “climate-ready” is likely to involve technical mapping of shifting shorelines and land boundaries, updates to land-use planning processes, and measures to prevent unintended adverse impacts on the most at-risk populations.
With Fiji set to host Pre-COP in October, the government faces both pressure and opportunity to demonstrate domestic progress on issues that will be central to international negotiations: adaptation, loss and damage, and equitable governance of land and resources in a changing climate. Vosarogo framed the coming months as a chance to show that Fiji’s international voice will be backed by concrete, inclusive reforms at home.
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