Climate, Environment, and Conservation: Remarks Before Meeting With Prime Minister Gordon Lilo of Solomon Islands

Can I just say, while the press is here, I want to make sure -- I want them to hear how important we believe stopping here in the Solomon Islands is. We are a Pacific nation. The President is engaged in a major rebalance in the Asia Pacific. We have great concerns about -- first of all, great ties with the Solomon Islands, as you know. And beyond that, we're working together on things. We're very, very saddened by the loss of life during the cyclone. America was happy to (inaudible) $250,000 of water, and aid, and assistance.

But more importantly, we have $25 million in Asia Pacific climate change adaptation. We have another $25 million in mitigation programs. I know it's of great concern to you. And in addition to that, we have huge historical ties that we respect enormously.

So there's a lot that ties us together. Our fisheries. We hope the Tuna Treaty is something that can be signed up to and furthered. We're working together on illegal fishing. We thank you for coming to the conference that took place in Washington on the oceans. We want to continue that work.

So there's a lot of work for us to do, and we look forward to working with you.