Transparency International has called on Pacific governments to press for stronger integrity safeguards in the COP31 process, ahead of the pre-COP meeting in Fiji from 5 to 8 October.
In a statement issued in Berlin on 1 October, the organisation said Pacific governments should use their collective voice in the COP31 process, including in their engagement with Australia as COP31 President of Negotiations.
The organisation said the call follows a warning by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the General Assembly that fossil fuel interests will not step aside on their own. It builds on a statement issued on 28 August by Transparency International's Pacific chapters urging Pacific Forum leaders to protect climate governance from fossil fuel influence.
Transparency International asked Pacific governments to encourage the COP31 Presidency to set up an independent ethics committee or ethics adviser to oversee integrity measures through the COP31 process.
It also called for clear conflict-of-interest standards and a code of conduct for participants at COP31, with safeguards against undue influence.
The organisation said participants should disclose their institutional affiliations and any ties to fossil fuel and other high-polluting industries, and that governments and presidencies should exercise caution over who they invite onto delegations.
It said dedicated discussions on transparency, integrity and reform of the COP process should be put on the COP31 agenda, building on the Open Dialogue held at the Bonn intersessional meetings.
According to the statement, a dialogue on improving the multilateral climate system is on the agenda of the high level event at the pre-COP, which the organisation said is an opportunity for parties to address transparency and integrity rather than only efficiency.
Transparency International said recent COPs have prompted concern that fossil fuel and other high-polluting interests can shape outcomes in ways that dilute ambition or slow progress. At COP30 in Belem, it said, 54 per cent of participants in national delegations either left their affiliation type undisclosed or selected a vague label such as "Guest" or "Other".
"Communities on the frontline cannot afford decisions shaped by vested interests," said Maira Martini, chief executive of Transparency International.
Martini said Pacific countries, and Vanuatu in particular through its work at the International Court of Justice, had shown that climate justice and integrity go together, and that Australia as President of Negotiations had an opportunity to act. She said voluntary action by the presidency should pave the way for system-wide reforms within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, including binding conflict-of-interest rules and mandatory disclosure.
The organisation said the measures would complement existing Pacific commitments, including the Teieniwa Vision, the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, the Boe Declaration and the Tassiriki Call for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific.
The statement did not say whether Solomon Islands will attend the pre-COP or whether any Pacific government has responded to the call.