Bell School researchers to join Pacific governments and feminist movements at pre-COP31 panel
Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs researchers Professor Bina D’Costa, Dr Maria Tanyag, and PhD candidate Romitesh Kant, will take part in a high-level panel at the pre-COP31 events in Fiji, alongside representatives of the Governments of Fiji, Kiribati and Tuvalu and Pacific feminist and women-led movements. The panel will discuss policy responses on gender justice and climate justice ahead of COP31.
Bina, Maria, and Romitesh are members of the working group for "Activist-Academic Alliances for Gender and Climate Justice", a project funded by the ANU Gender Institute through its Enhancing Gender Justice through Transdisciplinary Research Grant. The working group is made up of Bernard Baffour, Bina D'Costa, Michael Fabinyi, Romitesh Kant, Esperanza Martinez, Jeremy Smith and Maria Tanyag. It works in partnership with DIVA for Equality (Fiji), co-led by Noelene Nabulivou and Viva Tatawaqa.
The project examines and documents the processes, challenges and enabling conditions for partnerships between academics and activists working on gender justice, human rights and climate justice. It builds on the intersectional frameworks and methodologies developed by Pacific movements co-led by DIVA for Equality.
Progress so far
The working group first met in December 2025 to plan its activities and strategy. In April 2026, the group held its first workshop at ANU and committed to developing three policy briefs in support of the 17 Urgent Demands of Pacific Feminists Defending the Living Planet. The workshop ended with a project launch and open dialogue featuring Emily Rudland from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Professor Simon Niemeyer from the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. Members of the public, ANU students and the Honourable Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, former Prime Minister of Samoa, attended.
The project also held a side event at the Women Deliver Conference titled "Building an Activist–Academic Alliance for Gender and Climate Justice: Transdisciplinary, Feminist, and Urgent". Professor Esperanza Martinez moderated the event with Viva Tatawaqa. The working group's participation feeds into the conference outcome documents, including the Melbourne Declaration and the First Nations, Indigenous Women's Statement.
From 17 to 19 June, the working group met in Nadi with leaders who partner with DIVA for Equality on gender justice and climate justice campaigns. Participants reviewed and revised the draft policy briefs and discussed the significance of forming alliances across activist and academic spaces.
Next steps
The working group will finalise the policy briefs by August and draft a Feminist Policy Roadmap for Gender Justice and Climate Justice, co-developed with DIVA for Equality. Once the pre-COP31 activities in Fiji are complete, the team will develop a Guidebook on Activist-Academic Alliances and a draft journal article manuscript. The project is on track to finish in early 2027.
The panel - Urgent Climate Action: Nationalising the Belém Gender Action Plan (GAP) 2026-2034 - will take place on 7 October in Fiji. Further details are available here.
