Pacific Pre-COP: an opportunity for The George Institute to spotlight climate, health, and gender priorities

Fiji’s hosting of the United Nations Pre-COP in October 2026 provides a significant opportunity to elevate Pacific priorities ahead of COP31 in Türkiye later this year.

Pre-COP is a critical step in the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (the COP) process. As nations gather to shape negotiations on the world's most pressing climate challenges, The George Institute for Global Health is helping drive conversations on the interconnected challenges of climate change, health and gender and the evidence needed to support effective and equitable climate action, especially in the Pacific region.

The George Institute’s growing program of advocacy, coalition building, collaboration, and partnership across the Pacific focuses on identifying and addressing priorities for climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable health systems and supporting locally led solutions to emerging health and climate challenges. Importantly, The George’s work centres on culturally grounded approaches that incorporate Indigenous knowledges and participatory decision-making processes to drive sustainable impact.

One example is RESist-NCD, a four-year program funded by the Australian Government which is supporting governments in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia to strengthen primary health care, improve access to essential medicines and diagnostics, and support healthier food and water systems. The RESist-NCD consortium includes The George Institute for Global Health, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and UNSW Sydney, and embeds strong partnerships with governments, health services, academic institutions, civil society organisations, communities, and international agencies across partner countries. The program's focus on resilient health systems is particularly relevant as Pacific nations confront the double health impacts of climate change and escalating non-communicable diseases, and provides many strong examples of scalable community-lead solutions.

In Fiji, RESist-NCD is partnering with Fiji National University, communities, and local interest-holders to identify priorities and co-design solutions to strengthen food and water security, recognising the importance of food and water systems as key determinants of non-communicable diseases and community resilience. The program will test and evaluate innovative community identified and led systems-change strategies to improve food and water security, generating evidence to support translation at the national level. By addressing upstream drivers of health through community-informed action, RESist-NCD demonstrates how locally led approaches can simultaneously strengthen climate resilience, promote environmental sustainability, and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases.

Bringing climate, health and gender together in a shared conversation at pre-COP, The George Institute is highlighting the interconnected impacts of these challenges and building momentum for further evidence-based climate action at COP31 in November.

Read more about recent recommendations using input based on our current work with partners in the region, highlighting key health priorities for Pacific Island countries and communities.