A week of high-stakes diplomacy in Suva has left a clear fault line: international push to shape the rules for seabed mining has been welcomed at the government level while civil society and scientists warn Pacific voices risk being sidelined as decisions that could shape ocean economies and environments move forward.
On Monday ISA secretary-general Leticia Carvalho told a traditional welcome ceremony in Suva that the International Seabed Authority sought continued partnership with Pacific Island states and praised Fiji’s “commitment to the Blue Pacific vision.” Carvalho said the Pacific’s perspectives were “critical in shaping responsible governance of seabed resources,” remarks intended to reassure island states that their stewardship and legal principles would be central as the ISA finalises regulations for deep-sea mining.
Fiji’s Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Filimoni Vosarogo, echoed a cautious national stance. Vosarogo confirmed Fiji has mineral occurrences within its Exclusive Economic Zone but said they are not commercially viable in sufficient quantities to justify domestic mining. He told the Fiji Sun that his government would not operationalise the International Seabed Minerals Management Act 2013 until the ISA’s mining code and regulations were finalised, noting that the ISA had resolved 29 of 33 outstanding issues but four remained.
That official caution, however, has not quieted unease among environment-focused non-government organisations. At a press conference in Suva on Tuesday the Pacific Regional Non-Government Organisations Alliance — whose members include the Pacific Conference of Churches, Pacific Network on Globalisation, the Fiji Council of Social Services and Greenpeace Australia Pacific — accused the ISA-led consultation process of shutting civil society out. Fiji Council of Social Services executive director Vani Catanasiga questioned why local groups that have produced extensive research and policy analysis were not included in the consultations, saying their expertise should be part of regional deliberations.
The contrast struck a political and practical nerve. If Fiji keeps its domestic seabed law dormant until the ISA makes final rules, as Vosarogo says, the immediate risk of commercial mining in Fiji waters is low. But exclusion of civil society from ISA consultations could undermine the credibility of any final code, Catanasiga and other activists warned, at a moment when Pacific communities want robust scientific input and protections for marine ecosystems that are central to livelihoods.
Domestic climate policy and relocation work progressed in parallel this week, but followed the same pattern of government-led engagement seeking international support while civil society presses for inclusive policymaking. Fiji’s Minister for Rural Development, Mosese Bulitavu, welcomed a Vanuatu delegation to Suva for a peer-to-peer exchange on planned community relocation. The visit involved the government’s Relocation Unit and focused on operational procedures, community engagement, institutional coordination and logistics for moving communities threatened by rising climate risks.
Minister for Environment and Climate Change Lynda Tabuya held separate talks with UNDP resident representative Munkhtuya Altangerel and with Canadian officials, pushing for strengthened access to climate finance, locally led adaptation and improved national coordination on waste management and maritime community resilience ahead of Pre-COP and COP31. The UNDP reaffirmed support for Fiji’s climate priorities and Canada reiterated backing for Fiji’s hosting of Pre-COP31.
The relocation work reflects hard realities. Fiji has practical experience in planned moves and a national guidance framework; Vanuatu officials were briefed on that experience as they prepare their own relocation pathways. The exchanges are explicitly operational — focused on how to make relocations “safe, inclusive and dignified,” in Bulitavu’s words — but the visiting teams and aid partners will also face the same questions civil society raised about who gets heard when international rules and high-impact projects are decided.
Regional security and financial resilience were also on display in Suva and nearby Nadi this week. The first-ever Pacific Police Ministers Summit concluded with a regional mandate for stepped-up cooperation against transnational security threats. Fiji’s Minister for Policing, Iowane Naivalurua, described the summit as “history in the making,” noting 18 countries and four prime ministers took part and that the gathering created momentum for coordinated action beyond the conference.
Conversations on economic resilience ran at the Pacific Risk Based Supervision Workshop in Nadi, where Denton Rarawa, acting director of programmes and initiatives at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, urged Pacific countries to strengthen risk-based financial supervision. Rarawa argued that sound risk assessment and proportional regulatory responses were central to maintaining access to global banking systems, advancing financial inclusion, and combating financial crime — pressures small island states increasingly face as they remain reliant on international financial flows.
Those economics conversations took on urgency as agricultural stakeholders were handed a stark warning about a possible fertiliser shock. The Fiji Times’ commentary drew on analysis by columnist Dr Sushil K. Sharma, who warned that closure of the Strait of Hormuz on February 28 has unfolded into a global fertiliser supply shortage and that Fiji was unprepared. Sharma told the paper there was no contingency plan, no supply diversification strategy and no price stabilisation mechanism from the Rabuka government, and predicted serious impacts on agricultural exports if supplies and policy responses do not materialise. The paper described the threat as one that could hit sugarcane, root crops and other export-oriented farming hard.
Against that backdrop, the Fiji Development Bank moved this week to shore up future income flows. FDB Nominees Pte Limited, a subsidiary of the bank, completed acquisition of Tanoa Apartments in Votualevu, Nadi, from the Reddy Group. FDB chief executive Filimone Waqabaca said the purchase provides potential for integrated developments, including affordable gated housing and commercial ventures, that will generate returns to improve the bank’s capacity to finance agriculture, fisheries, forestry and small and medium enterprises. The transaction is framed as a long-term strategy to diversify revenue and buttress lending to productive sectors at a time when those sectors face external shocks.
The week also kept a lighter civic beat. Sport provides social relief and continuity: the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua remain in a tense stretch in Super Rugby Pacific, travelling to Perth with must-win fixtures ahead if playoff hopes are to remain alive after a heavy loss to the Waratahs. The 2026 Extra Futsal League resumes this week with fixtures in Suva on May 20 and matches in Labasa and Ba later in the week. Tourism pages reminded readers that local getaways remain an affordable option for Fijians who want to unwind without passports or long flights — an immediate economic and recreational answer as global prices and geopolitics make travel and commodity markets more volatile.
For now, the week’s headlines reflect a quintessential Pacific balancing act. Governments in Suva are publicly aligning with international institutions, soliciting finance and technical support, and launching practical exchanges on relocation and policing. At the same time, community groups are demanding a seat at the table where rules that affect oceans, land and livelihoods are being written. The ISA’s remaining four unresolved items, Dr Sharma’s fertiliser alarm and the need for strengthened financial oversight are reminders that technical details and transparent processes will matter just as much as the diplomatic handshakes and welcome ceremonies in deciding whether the Pacific shapes those outcomes — or is shaped by them.