Mark Brown

Yeah, so we sought comment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand, and they say they stand ready to support the Cooks however it is necessary.

As for the Cooks government themselves, we have a statement from Mark Brown.

He says that he feels very happy with the response from Cook Islands Emergency Management, the Met Service, that were able to give quite a lot of warning for the cyclone.

Those who coordinated the response across the country, because of course Rarotonga was met with quite fierce winds as well.

We've learned their dancing, and we've worked with the local people on our projects that matter to them Those personal relationships build trust and understanding, and that makes it easier for us to work together in the future.

And I saw the team was also joined during the exercise by Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown, and the US ambassador.

How special was it for the contingent to have, you know, the leaders travel all the way to Penrhyn and see the work happening firsthand as well?

It was really nice for the team.

the commonality.

Uh, I've interviewed, um, Mark Brown in the Cook Islands and, uh, Fiame Mataafa and Oscar Temaru, um, you know?

Wow.

And so that is, that's just a real privilege to sit-

By the time finance arrives, the context and needs have changed, and the opportunity for prevention has passed, or worse still, damage has already been done.

And Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown shared how in his 15 years as finance minister, he's seen the Pacific bring the same messages to global climate gatherings, but with little practical action.

He told leaders at PRECOP that climate finance plans can be made and discussed, but the dollars mean nothing until they actually reach communities.

We are stuck in a painful loop, and somehow we keep finding increasingly creative ways to arrive back at exactly the same conversation.