The Pacific Islands face some of the most urgent climate and energy challenges, including rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and high dependency on fossil fuels. Transition to renewable energy is an effective strategy not only to improve energy security but also contribute to green local development for small island countries. 

Under the framework of the Pacific Green Transformation Project (Pacific GX), a multi-county initiative implemented by UNDP and funded by the Government of Japan to accelerate net-zero and climate-resilient development in the Pacific region, government officials from Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu recently came together in Okinawa, the southern most prefecture of Japan consisting of 160 small islands, for a South-South and triangular knowledge co-creation mission. Their visit to Japan focused on how clean energy technologies can support a more sustainable future for their island communities and reinforced the solidarity among island communities. It enabled participants to share common challenges and learn from each other on scalable renewable technologies and business, as well as governance models that can be adopted in island settings. 

During their visit, the delegates saw several innovative sites across Okinawa’s remote islands, including the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) demonstration project in Kumejima, Retractive Wind Power Generation Tower in Taramajima, and a microgrid project in Kurimajima. The delegates interacted with political leaders, city/town development planners and Okinawa Electric Power Company representatives to learn how the promotion of these clean energy technologies is integrated into the development planning processes to ensure better and more resilient livelihoods of island communities in Okinawa. These visits provided valuable insights into how Japan is integrating advanced clean energy technologies into local development and green/blue economic growth. Each case offered practical examples of how Japan is using new technologies to meet local energy needs while promoting economic development and greater circularity.

A special highlight of the visit was an interaction between the delegation and students from Tarama Elementary and Junior High Schools. This gave students in Okinawa an opportunity to meet with representatives from the Pacific Island communities which face similar challenges of energy security and climate change and learn from them. The delegates made a presentation on their countries and shared the main challenges in energy security and climate change impacts which are quite similar to those of Okinawa, stressing the importance of involving young people in climate solutions. 

“One of the highlights for me during the Tarama Island school visit was when a student asked a bold and thought-provoking question: ‘Will Tarama Island disappear due to sea level rise?’ It was a real eye-opener. I could easily imagine the same question coming from a student in Samoa or another small island nation. It captured the very essence of our mission — building resilience to climate change and advancing the transition to low-carbon energy technologies”, commented Mr. Tupuivao Junior Vaiaso, Assistant CEO for Energy Division of Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure of Samoa.

Reflecting on the exchange and learning, Mr. Manoka Mea, GIS Officer at the National Energy Authority (NEA) of Papua New Guinea, shared, “This visit reshaped my mindset. Visiting Okinawa’s innovative energy projects helped me understand the power of decentralized, community-driven systems, especially for off-grid and remote areas like ours. What made these insights particularly powerful was witnessing how local communities in Japan are trained to operate and maintain their own systems. That’s the kind of ownership we need to build back home.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Mr. Marito Ferreira, Chairman of Board Director, Electricidade de Timor-Leste (EDTL) noted, “Learning from Okinawa's decentralized energy planning as well as innovative technology and business model for effective energy transition will give us practical tools for energy transition toward clean and stable electricity supply in rural areas in a way that aligns with our development goals.”

Mr. Joseph Temakon, Acting Manager Electrification, Department of Energy from Vanuatu shared, “For Vanuatu, resilient and renewable energy is non-negotiable. This experience in Okinawa has given us both hope and a concrete sense of what’s achievable when knowledge is shared and tailored to our needs, particularly in identifying viable renewable energy technologies for our islands and exploring public-private partnerships and financial feasibility for their implementation."

This exchange builds on the outcomes of the ‘Policy Discussion among Leaders of Pacific SIDS Countries to Accelerate Green Transformation in the Pacific region through Just Energy Transition’ which was organized under the Pacific GX Project, in commemoration of the tenth Pacific Island Leaders Meeting (PALM10) in Tokyo, Japan in July 2024. 

“All the challenges that we (Japan) are facing are the challenges that the Pacific Islands are facing,” said Ms. Kuniko Takamatsu, Country Assistance Division 1, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. “In that sense, it's very important to share the experience and then keep collaborating together.”

Japan has demonstrated a strong and ongoing commitment to global climate action, particularly in partnership with the Pacific region. Through its Green Transformation strategy, Japan has pledged financial and technical support to accelerate clean energy transitions. This commitment was reaffirmed at the 2024 PALM10, where Japan launched the Pacific Climate Resilience Initiative—designed to work closely with Pacific countries to expand renewable energy access and strengthen climate resilience.

UNDP has played a central role in enabling South-South and Triangular Cooperation, ensuring that Pacific countries are not only recipients of support, but also co-leaders in the global clean energy transition.

“This learning exchange is really about co-creating a Pacific-led pathway to clean energy,” said Ms. Akiko Yamamoto, UNDP’s Regional Team Leader for Environment and Energy. “By connecting local solutions with global expertise, we empower countries to drive change on their own terms.”

The visit also helped strengthen a growing network of energy leaders across the Pacific—people who are learning together, tackling shared problems, and building new partnerships. The knowledge, experience, and partnerships formed in Okinawa reinforced a vision of regional collaboration rooted in shared realities, and the power of collective action. The journey from the Pacific to Okinawa may be long, but the lessons, connections, and momentum generated are bringing the islands closer to a clean, resilient energy future.