Prime Minister Mark Brown met with the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Hilda Heine in the margins of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, yesterday.

The two leaders discussed a range of issues including the Smaller Island States (SIS) priorities, shipping, nuclear issues including the Rarotonga Treaty and RMI nuclear legacy issues, RMI’s candidature for a second term on the UN Human Rights Council for 2025-2027 and the Pacific Islands Forum led Troika mission to New Caledonia.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI), both leaders committed to elevating the relevance and priorities of SIS within the Forum architecture and allocation of necessary resources by the Secretariat for implementation of initiatives.

They also agreed on the importance of early confirmation of arrangements for the Troika led Forum mission to New Caledonia subject to agreement on the terms of reference and timing for the mission between New Caledonia, the Republic of France and the Pacific Islands Forum.

The two leaders had an exchange on a range of nuclear issues including the Rarotonga Treaty, nuclear legacy issues the RMI continue to manage and the Fukushima ALPS discharge.

PM Brown said: “I welcomed President Heine’s advice of proactive consideration by her government of possible participation in the Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (the Rarotonga Treaty) which came into force in December 1986 and remains open for signature.”

“I will continue to encourage the RMI and remaining members of the Forum who’ve yet to sign the Rarotonga Treaty to do so as a powerful demonstration of our region’s commitment to a nuclear free Pacific. This is an obligation we have to future generations and RMI is an important advocate in that regard, given its historical and current exposure to the nuclear activities of others in their home.”

Brown also expressed his appreciation for President Heine’s briefing on the RMI sponsored proposal for the imposition of a levy on shipping in response to the 2030 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships – the RMI proposal being one of four to be tabled for consideration by the IMO member states later in September.

Whilst the Cook Islands remain committed to the IMO’s Green House Gas Reductions strategy, it is premature to support any of the four proposals being presently contemplated, MFAI said in the statement. Further evidence and data on the impacts of the different proposals is still needed to make an informed decision.

“Shipping is fundamental to our connectivity to the world and supports 80 per cent of world’s trade. Any tax on shipping is a tax on trade and as countries at the end of global shipping routes, any taxes the IMO contemplate will be passed onto us and we refuse to accept that it is our cost to bear,” Brown said.

“The global shipping emissions contribute less than 3 per cent to global emissions and G20 countries, who are responsible for 80 per cent of historical and current emissions have fallen far short of their climate finance commitments.”