Fiji is engaging with global donors to partner with agencies and organisations to promote the growth of healthy reef networks across the country.
Speaking at the Our Ocean Conference in Panama this week, Fisheries Minister Kalaveti Ravu said the science on reef degradation was clear, and it invoked a sense of urgency to protect coral reefs before it was too late.
“The world lost 14 per cent of the coral on its coral reefs between 2009 and 2018, and 90 per cent of the world’s remaining coral reefs are threatened and may disappear completely by 2050,” he said.
“The world cannot save itself on aspirational development support.
“Far too often do we have environmentalists and conservationists at loggerheads with investors and the private sector because they’re speaking completely different languages.
“There is a need to create businesses, returns and profitability to unlock affordable private capital in the conservation arena.
“Fiji is making tremendous efforts to create space for sustainable investment in our Blue Economy to combat climate induced development challenges.”
He said Government had collaborated with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) and the United Nations Pacific Office to support private sector investments in reef-positive business ventures.
This, he said, used a combination of preparatory grant funding and affordable lending to de-risk blending financing in reef conservation and regeneration.
Mr Ravu said this would bring positive impacts, not only to reef systems, but also the people who depended on them.
