Last week our Co-Founder and CCO Matthew Jackson attended the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s 25th Pacific Update, hosted by BECA at their Auckland offices. The event was one of 17 nationwide forums the Ministry has run this year, reaching over 500 participants across Aotearoa.

The keynote was delivered by Bernadette Cavanagh, Deputy Secretary of MFAT’s Pacific and Development Group, followed by an open Q&A session with senior Ministry officials covering infrastructure, energy, transport, industry and innovation. The evening opened with a blessing from BECA’s Pacifica Network — a reminder that Pacific engagement begins with relationships, not transactions.

We came away with three clear signals that reinforce why the work we’re doing at ASL matters — not just in Aotearoa, but across the Pacific.

The Fuel Crisis Makes Renewable Energy Urgent

The most striking data point of the evening: roughly 80% of electricity generation across the Pacific still comes from diesel. With fuel prices being driven up by the ongoing Middle East conflict, MFAT’s analysis is that the cost increases will be “very sticky” and will persist for the foreseeable future.

The downstream effects are significant — hitting electricity costs, cost of living, transport including the critical tourism sector, and business inputs like agricultural fertilisers. MFAT’s headline response is to accelerate investment in renewable energy infrastructure across the region.

That is precisely the gap a Bio-Resource Recovery Plant fills. Our BRRP technology converts sewage sludge and organic waste into biogas — a locally produced, renewable energy source that reduces dependence on imported diesel while simultaneously solving two other problems: wastewater discharge and landfill diversion.

Climate Resilience and Water Security Are Core Priorities

Deputy Secretary Cavanagh outlined climate resilience as one of three core Pacific Development Programme priorities, alongside economic prosperity and security. Two specific programmes were highlighted: a climate evidence and advice programme focused on data, forecasting and early-warning systems, and a water security programme covering rainwater harvesting, desalination and groundwater supply.

Wastewater treatment sits at the intersection of climate resilience and water security. Untreated sewage discharged into coastal waters and lagoons degrades the freshwater and marine ecosystems that Pacific communities depend on. Our approach — treating sewage as a resource rather than a liability — produces bio-fertiliser that returns nutrients to soil, reducing reliance on imported synthetic fertilisers while protecting waterways and eliminating emissions from conventional sludge disposal.

The Pacific Wants Solutions It Owns

A consistent theme throughout the evening — from the keynote through to audience questions — was Pacific ownership. New Zealand’s position is clear: external engagement in the region should advance Pacific priorities, be consistent with regional practices, and carry a high degree of Pacific ownership.

Minister Peters’ cross-parliamentary delegations have been focused on going to Pacific nations rather than waiting for them to come to us — and encouraging other international partners to respond to what the Pacific actually needs. The cross-party nature of these trips was singled out as especially valuable, lifting Pacific knowledge across Parliament and demonstrating the role of oppositions in democracies.

This resonated strongly with us. Our model has always been to work alongside communities — partnering with local government, iwi, and regional stakeholders to build infrastructure that serves the people who live there. The BRRP is designed to be operated locally, creating local employment and producing outputs that benefit the local economy directly — renewable energy, organic fertiliser, and carbon credits.

Impact Needs to Be Proven, Not Assumed

Perhaps the most candid moment of the evening came when Deputy Secretary Cavanagh acknowledged that MFAT faces hard questions every year at the parliamentary select committee about the real-world impact of its development work. Several audience members echoed this, including a Tonga-based economic-impact researcher with over two decades of experience analysing Pacific aid projects.

We take this seriously. Our financial modelling quantifies the economic, environmental and social returns of every project we scope — from energy output in gigajoules, to tonnes of organic waste diverted from landfill, to emissions reductions measured against verified carbon-credit methodologies. If you can’t measure it, you can’t prove it. And if you can’t prove it, communities and funders shouldn’t have to take it on faith.

Looking Ahead: Pacific Islands Forum 2027

MFAT confirmed that New Zealand will host the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland around August–September 2027 — the first time since 2011. The Ministry is in early planning and signalled it will be looking for ways to engage New Zealand’s Pacific communities and business sector in a way that reflects how much both the region and the relationship have changed over the past fifteen years.

The convergence of energy security, climate resilience, and waste management is only going to become more prominent in Pacific policy discussions. Combined with our participation in the broader bioenergy conversation in Aotearoa, we intend to be part of that conversation as it extends across the Pacific.

We’ll continue sharing updates from across our work — in Aotearoa and across the region.

Ngā mihi,
The Alimentary Systems Team