From climate diplomacy to energy transition — how Germany is deepening its relationship with the Pacific Island States, ahead of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.
WHY IT MATTERS
United in building climate resilience
The Pacific peoples’ contribution to global warming is only marginal — yet they face its most severe consequences: rising seas, intensifying storms, and an ocean that is warming and acidifying. Germany, that has itself experienced unprecedented heat waves this summer, stands with Pacific partners to build resilience locally and advance climate action on a global level.
Germany helps atoll states to protect land and culture from an existential threat and supports 13 projects through its International Climate Initiative (ICI), with two additional projects on loss-and damage resilience and freshwater in the pipeline.
In addition, Germany contributes to international climate funds that support projects in the Pacific Island nations, such as the Green Climate Fund, to which it is providing €3 billion for the period 2024–2027.
FEBRUARY 2026
A Foreign Minister who cares
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s visit to New Zealand, Tonga and Australia underscored Germany’s senior level interest and commitment, also with regard to combat the effects of climate change and build resilience, after former Foreign Minister Baerbock’s visit to Fiji in 2024.
One of the trip’s highlights: In Auckland on 3 February 2026, Minister Wadephul signed the joint declaration formally establishing diplomatic relations with Niue, making Germany a partner to every member state of the Pacific Islands Forum.
A WIDE CIRCLE OF PARTNERS
Climate as the common thread
German engagement on climate in the Pacific runs through many hands, not one. GIZ, the German government-funded service
provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education work, active in the region
since 1977, is the largest implementing partner — but the following three examples, each led by a different German institution, show the extent of that engagement:
Tuvalu — with no national museum and a cultural record at risk from rising seas, the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) is building a community-managed Digital Repository for Cultural Heritage, now feeding a UN expert process on sea-level rise.
Marshall Islands — since 2017, GIZ’s Low Carbon Sea Transport project, financed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment,
Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nucelar Safety has backed Majuro’s goal of cutting domestic shipping emissions 40% below 2010 levels by 2030 and reaching full decarbonisation by 2050. Its centrepiece, the 48-metre SV Juren Ae, combines a partially automated sail rig with solar power and a small diesel back-up, cutting emissions by up to 80% — and doubles as a training platform for Marshallese seafarers. For further projects implemented by GIZ follow: https://www.facebook.com/GIZPasifika/.
Palau — the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), together with the University of Bremen, has run the Palau Atmospheric Observatory on the Palau Community College campus since 2015/2016 — the largest of its kind in the tropical Western Pacific, monitoring the upper atmosphere and marking its 10th anniversary in June 2026.
A NEW CHAPTER
The energy transition
Alongside climate protection, economic cooperation is moving to the forefront. Through the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs’ Export Initiative Energy, Germany is backing market entry for German firms in energy infrastructure, EV charging and e-mobility across the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
SUVA
A presence on the ground
Germany’s first resident Embassy in Fiji opened in Suva in August 2023, with Dr. Andreas Prothmann as Ambassador and Special Envoy to the Pacific Islands Region. He is succeeded as Ambassador and Special Envoy by Nicole Menzenbach, previously Germany’s Ambassador to New Zealand.
