Pacific leaders have moved to put the region on an emergency footing over the growing risk of fuel shortages, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said, as several island states take urgent domestic measures and discussions begin on coordinated regional relief options.
Manele told reporters the Pacific Islands Forum “Troika” — comprising himself, Palau President Surangel Whipps and Tonga’s Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua — agreed to invoke the Biketawa Declaration, the Forum’s regional emergency response mechanism, to coordinate preparedness and response. The declaration, last used during the COVID-19 pandemic and previously in the lead-up to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), would provide a framework for joint scenario planning and alerting across the Pacific, Manele said, according to ABC Pacific.
Although the Pacific has not yet faced widespread physical shortages, several governments are already moving to limit risk. Tuvalu has declared a state of emergency in its capital, Funafuti, and the Marshall Islands has applied emergency powers to restrict fuel use, the prime minister said. Other island governments are reportedly considering rationing, contingency plans and staged responses as uncertainty grows over supply beyond May or June.
Manele said leaders discussed developing a regional scenario-planning framework to guide short-, medium- and long-term responses to potential disruptions, and to place the region on a coordinated alert footing. He emphasised the intent was to ensure smaller states, which often have limited reserves and tight supply chains, can coordinate demand management and access assistance if shipments are delayed or prices spike.
Canberra is understood to be examining practical options to help, including a proposal that could see diesel stocks held by the US military made available to Pacific nations facing shortfalls. The proposal remains under consideration, and logistical, legal and political questions would need resolving before any transfers, Manele’s remarks indicated. It is not yet clear whether the wider Pacific Islands Forum membership has formally agreed to activate Biketawa, or whether the Troika has authority to do so unilaterally.
A Melanesian government source told ABC Pacific there is growing momentum for a coordinated regional response as global tensions and surging oil prices feed uncertainty about shipping through strategic chokepoints. The concern in the Pacific is heightened by recent tensions in the Middle East that have disrupted markets and prompted governments such as Fiji’s Competition and Consumer Commission to warn of price shocks should key routes such as the Strait of Hormuz be affected.
The situation remains fluid. Leaders’ moves to invoke Biketawa mark a clear shift from contingency chatter to formal emergency planning, but whether that will translate into shared fuel pools, international military stock transfers, or binding rationing arrangements across states will depend on further Forum deliberations and offers of external assistance.
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