Fiji, June 8 -- Fiji's Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Lynda Tabuya, has issued a blunt warning that the country cannot claim to be climate resilient while pollution and poor waste management continue to damage the country's rivers, reefs and ecosystems.

In her World Environment Day 2026 Ministerial statement, Tabuya said Fiji was at a critical crossroads as it joined the global community under the theme "Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future."

"But let me be clear: we cannot claim to be inspired by nature while we are slowly strangling it with our own waste," she said.

Tabuya said nature was not simply a backdrop for tourism or photographs but Fiji's lifeline in the fight against climate change.

"The mangroves ...