Pacific Islands Forum
Regional · PIF
The Pacific Islands Forum declared on 6 August 2021 that the maritime zones its members had deposited with the United Nations would not be reduced by rising seas. Four of those members are not UN member states: two are French collectivities and two are territories in free association with New Zealand. The highest ground in Tuvalu, at Niulakita, stands five metres above the sea.
18 countries
Common questions
Questions about PIF
Which countries are in the Pacific Islands Forum?
Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu hold full membership. Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna, Guam and American Samoa are associate members. The secretariat publishes the list from Suva, and it is the roster this page is built on.
Are New Caledonia and French Polynesia full members?
Yes. Both are French collectivities rather than sovereign states, both spent about a decade as associates, and both were admitted to full membership in September 2016. The catalogue files them as dependencies of France, which is why the count of members on this page and the count of UN seats underneath it do not match. Membership of the Forum has never required a UN seat.
What is the Biketawa Declaration?
The framework the Forum uses when a crisis arises in a member country, adopted at Biketawa in Kiribati on 28 October 2000. It has the Secretary General consult the Forum Chair, assess the situation and seek approval before going further, and it lists the steps available: a statement, a ministerial action group, a fact-finding mission, an eminent persons group, third-party mediation, and a special meeting of leaders that may consider targeted measures.
Why did Kiribati leave the Pacific Islands Forum?
Five Micronesian members gave notice of withdrawal in February 2021 over the appointment to the office of Secretary General. Leaders agreed in June 2022 to rotate the post among the Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian subregions, and four of the five stayed. Kiribati withdrew on 9 July 2022 and returned on 24 February 2023. The Forum records the departure and the return and takes no position on either.
What did the Forum decide about maritime zones and sea-level rise?
On 6 August 2021 it declared that the zones its members had already established and deposited would be maintained without reduction, that it did not intend to review and update baselines and outer limits because of climate change-related sea-level rise, and that the zones shall continue to apply notwithstanding physical change connected to it. Five of the members have highest ground under 100 metres.
Sources
- The Pacific Islands Forum · Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The full members, the associate members and the secretariat address at Ratu Sukuna Road, Suva.
- Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the Face of Climate Change-related Sea-Level Rise · Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The declaration of 6 August 2021 and its wording on baselines, outer limits and reduction.
- Boe Declaration on Regional Security · Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The adoption on 5 September 2018 and the statement on climate change as a threat.
- Biketawa Declaration · Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The adoption at Biketawa on 28 October 2000, the sequence of consultation and the measures listed.
- 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent · Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The seven thematic areas and the description of the membership as custodian of nearly 20% of the earth's surface.
- PACER Plus · PACER Plus Implementation Unit. The parties to the agreement, country by country.
- Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus · New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The agreement as it stands in force.
- Pacific Islands Forum · The first meeting at Wellington from 5 to 7 August 1971, the seven original participants, the renaming in 1999, the suspension of Fiji from 2 May 2009 to 22 October 2014, the full membership of New Caledonia and French Polynesia in September 2016, the Micronesian withdrawal notices of 2021 and the rotation agreed in June 2022, and the withdrawal and return of Kiribati.
- South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty · The signature at Rarotonga on 6 August 1985, entry into force on 11 December 1986, the three protocols and the ratifications, and the Marshall Islands signature of 3 March 2025.
- Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency · The convention of 9 August 1979, the headquarters at Honiara and the seventeen members.