Being the second biggest donor to the Pacific after Australia, the European Commission believes those financial assistance extended to small island nations is worthwhile and is dedicated to help tackle climate change in the region.
The Pacific island countries, frontline to combat climate change, are "in a sense of laboratory, what has happened to them will probably happen to us all on the planet if we don't work on the issue, if policies do not change, and if mitigation and adaptation do not start," Stefano Manservisi, Chief of European Commission delegation to the 40th Pacific Islands Forum,said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua?in Cairns?Thursday.
"If there is a place in the world where we can demonstrate economic activities and business are compatible with climate change and environmental protection, it is precisely here in the Pacific region," said Manservisi, also Director-General Development and Relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific States of EU.
Manservisi said being mindful of the big picture of the whole world, the Pacific region is quite unique that enjoys the biggest sea resources, the reservoir of marine life and fishery. However, he said it is also a region of both huge potentialities and fragilities, which implies all these fragilities have the possibility to turn into instability that threats to security in the region and the international society.
Manservisi told Xinhua the European Commission has a long history of partnership and cooperation with the islands states. He said that when a state is lack of money they are likely to stop investing in basic education and health care of the people. Therefore, the European Commission has set up a few funds supposed to invest in social safety net and infrastructures in the small island nations when global crisis hits hard.
On safeguarding funds invested in small island nations, Manservisi said the European Commission has not only administrative mechanism to control the financial assistance, more importantly, it spent money in partnership, establishing objectives and a benchmark beforehand, so as to ensure the money will go to areas where it should.
As a global player, EU therefore has its presence in most parts of the world. And here in the pacific, EU feels dutiful to intervene for support of climate change related works and help towards development and reaching the Millennium Development Goals, he said.
Manservisi called on major roles in the world such as EU, United States, China and Australia to work together in the Pacific region to show that this big climate change challenge can be won by joint efforts.
The 40th Pacific Islands Forum concluded here on Thursday with 15 heads of the island nations calling for strengthening development coordination in the Pacific region and action on climate change.
(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2009)
