The Pacific’s voice at COP31 has three faces. Under the COP31 Pacific Partnership, three envoys carry the region’s priorities into the climate negotiations in Antalya: Kristina Eonemto “Tina” Stege of the Marshall Islands, envoy for Oceania charged with keeping 1.5°C within reach; Ruel Yamuna of Papua New Guinea, envoy for access to climate finance; and Inia B. Seruiratu, a member of Fiji’s parliament, envoy for the ocean. Backed by Pacific climate ministers, they are the region’s dedicated advocates on the road to the November summit.
FAKTA
- Kristina Eonemto Stege (Marshall Islands) — envoy for Oceania, focused on keeping the 1.5°C goal within reach.
- Ruel Yamuna (Papua New Guinea) — envoy for access to climate finance for Small Island Developing States.
- Inia B. Seruiratu (Fiji MP) — envoy for the ocean, championing the ocean–climate nexus.
- Arrangement: named under the COP31 Pacific Partnership; Türkiye holds the COP31 presidency while Australia serves as president of negotiations.
- Recent mission: the three envoys took Pacific priorities to UNGA High-Level Week and New York Climate Week (21–25 September 2026).
- Next stops: the Pacific-hosted Pre-COP in Fiji and Tuvalu (5–8 October 2026), then COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye (9–20 November 2026).
What each envoy’s brief covers
Kristina Stege: keeping 1.5°C within reach
Stege, the Marshall Islands’ climate envoy, carries the existential number for island nations: holding global warming below 1.5°C. She delivered the opening address at the “1.5°C to Stay Alive” forum at the University of the South Pacific in Suva on 3 October 2026, ahead of the Pre-COP, and joined her fellow envoys at the Global Citizen NOW Impact Sessions in New York on 23 September to shape the agenda on keeping the Paris goal alive.
Ruel Yamuna: access to climate finance
Yamuna’s brief is the money question. For Pacific Small Island Developing States, complex funding processes and limited resources keep support from reaching the communities that need it most. “For Pacific countries, the challenge is not ambition, the challenge is access,” he says — pressing for climate finance, technology and partnerships that actually reach the ground.
Inia Seruiratu: the ocean envoy
Seruiratu advocates the ocean’s central role in climate solutions: protecting and restoring mangroves, coastal resilience and investment in nature-based solutions. “The Ocean is central to the climate solution — climate action cannot succeed without it,” is his key message. He is also Fiji’s opposition leader, a role he has kept separate from the envoy mission, with his participation costs covered by the Australian government.
Where they sit in the COP31 architecture
The three envoys were appointed under a distinctive hosting arrangement: Türkiye holds the COP31 presidency, Australia serves as president of negotiations, and the Pacific hosts the preparatory meetings. The envoys have been taking the region’s priorities to world leaders — including UNGA and New York Climate Week — building momentum ahead of the Pre-COP ministerial in Fiji and the leaders’ event in Tuvalu, and then into the Antalya negotiations. Their briefs map directly onto the Pacific’s core demands: adaptation, resilience, loss and damage, ocean protection and climate finance.
Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong has said Pacific countries have long been leaders on climate action and their voices are central to shaping the global response, while climate minister Chris Bowen notes that leading the negotiations alongside Pacific partners raises the region’s profile in support of shared prosperity, stability and security.
The bottom line
Three people, three briefs, one region: the Pacific COP31 envoys turn the Pacific’s climate priorities — 1.5°C, finance access and the ocean — into named advocacy inside the negotiations. From New York to Fiji and Tuvalu, their road runs to Antalya, where the test will be whether that advocacy lands in COP31’s outcomes.
Read more on Watan News: the Pacific COP31 envoys.
