Pacific leaders preparing to gather for the Pacific Islands Forum in Solomon Islands this month have accepted a collective responsibility: to act decisively for the many Indigenous communities already living the sobering realities of climate displacement.
Over the last decades, abnormally high “king tides” and storms forced one such community, the Solomon Islander people of Walande, to abandon their tiny island home, now submerged by the sea. Families collectively planned to relocate to mainland Malaita but continue to face challenges at their new site as seawater breaches protective seawalls and inundates the community’s traditional food sources. Their experience, documented in a 2025 Human Rights Watch report, is a powerful reminder that relocation, if inadequately supported, risks compounding harm instead of reducing it.
No single community or country can address planned relocation, or any other form of climate mobility, alone. That is why leaders at this year’s Pacific Islands Forum should prioritize regional cooperation to tackle these challenges. The Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility (endorsed by leaders at the Forum in 2023) was an important first step. Government leaders should now adopt the Pacific Guidance on Internal Planned Relocation, which offers a blueprint for Pacific governments to center the right to self-determination and other human rights when supporting communities making adaptation decisions.
Seventeen member states are expected to attend this year’s forum. As the host, Solomon Islands has an opportunity to lead by example. Its forthcoming Standard Operating Procedures on planned relocation should be finalized and adopted swiftly, integrating lessons from communities like Walande and human rights principles from the regional guidance.
Moreover, leaders should commit to operationalizing funds, such as the new Pacific Resilience Facility, in ways that are accessible to communities most at risk. Without adequate funding and national governance frameworks to ensure community-led approaches, regional commitments will remain words on paper.
The theme of this year’s forum, “Iumi Tugeda: Act Now for an Integrated Blue Pacific Continent,” reflects a call to collective action, according to Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele. To truly act now, Pacific leaders should commit to a regional approach to planned relocation governance that places communities’ voices and rights at its core.
