The Kingdom of Tonga and the Nature Bank: Pacific Leadership in the Next Phase of Resilience Finance

The Kingdom of Tonga’s engagement with the Development Bank for Resilient Prosperity (DBRP) began early.

At the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, the Kingdom of Tonga became the first country to sign the Letter of Commitment to the DBRP, also known as the Nature Bank. It was an important signal from a Pacific Island state that has consistently placed resilience, ocean stewardship, and regional leadership at the centre of its development agenda.

The recent DBRP mission to Tonga, held from 13 to 15 May 2026, built on that foundation. During the mission, the DBRP team held discussions with senior government officials, including Prime Minister Lord Fatafehi Fakafānua, on how the Bank’s model could support Tonga’s national priorities as it advances towards operationalisation.

The timing matters. Across the Pacific, countries are working to translate the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent into implementation. That Strategy recognises the shared priorities of Pacific Forum members and is organised around seven thematic areas, including climate change and disasters, oceans and environment, resource and economic development, technology and connectivity, and people-centred development. It also reflects a clear Pacific position: the ocean is not simply a resource base, but central to identity, livelihoods, economies, security, and future prosperity.

Pacific Leaders have made this point directly. With 96% of the region being ocean, they have described the ocean as central to Pacific geography, cultures, and economies. They have also called for stronger investment in ocean finance, marine and coastal ecosystem restoration, blue carbon, sustainable fisheries, monitoring systems, innovation, and community-level resilience. 

This is where DBRP’s model is relevant to Tonga.

During the mission, discussions centred on how Tonga’s national priorities could be brought together into a more structured and investable programme. These priorities include coastal resilience, marine ecosystem protection, ocean stewardship, sustainable fisheries, blue economy development, climate-resilient agriculture, food security, disaster risk reduction, community livelihoods, natural asset valuation, and stronger data systems for planning, verification, and accountability. 

The DBRP approach is not to replace national plans or existing partners. It is to help countries organise their priorities into integrated investment portfolios that are easier to finance, implement, and measure. For Tonga, this means looking at resilience not as a list of disconnected projects, but as a national investment pathway linking ecosystems, communities, infrastructure, data, and finance.

One area discussed during the mission was an emerging Tonga flagship portfolio focused on coastal resilience and blue economy development. The portfolio could bring together foundational systems such as mapping, data, monitoring, reporting, and verification; coastal and marine assets such as reefs, mangroves, fisheries, ports, lagoon restoration, and ecotourism opportunities; and coastal communities as stewards and beneficiaries through livelihoods, employment, restoration, food security, and local resilience programmes. 

This approach speaks directly to the Blue Pacific agenda. It recognises that sustainable ocean management is not separate from economic development. Healthy reefs protect coastlines and support fisheries. Mangroves reduce storm impacts and strengthen biodiversity. Reliable data improves planning and attracts investment. Communities are not passive beneficiaries; they are central to implementation and long-term stewardship.

The mission also explored how DBRP can complement the Pacific Resilience Facility. The two mechanisms serve different but interrelated purposes. The PRF is grant-based and community-focused, while DBRP can help link community resilience efforts to broader national and regional portfolios and mobilise larger-scale finance for non-grant resilience investments. This complementarity is important for the Pacific, where community resilience, national planning, and regional financing need to work together rather than in parallel.

Tonga’s role is also regional. As the first country to sign the DBRP Letter of Commitment, Tonga has been part of the Bank’s journey from the beginning. Its continued engagement places it in a strong position to help introduce DBRP’s model to other Pacific Island countries and support wider regional discussion. The mission identified the potential, subject to further agreement and the Bank’s legal establishment, for Tonga to serve as a Pacific hub or anchor for DBRP’s regional work. 

That would position Tonga not only as an early supporter, but as one of the countries helping shape a financial institution from the ground up.

The value of this engagement goes beyond Tonga. It speaks to a broader question facing vulnerable countries: how can countries that are rich in ocean, biodiversity, culture, and resilience assets access finance on terms that recognise those strengths, rather than only their vulnerabilities?

DBRP was created to respond to that challenge. Its model is built around sovereign ownership, equal voice, natural capital, resilience, and portfolio-based assessment and financing of nature-positive investments. For Tonga, this creates an opportunity to connect national priorities with a financing architecture designed specifically for vulnerable economies.

From its first commitment at SIDS4 to the recent mission in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga’s engagement with DBRP tells a clear story: Pacific countries are not waiting for development finance to be redesigned for them. They are helping shape it.

As DBRP moves towards operationalisation, Tonga’s leadership offers a practical example of how the Blue Pacific can turn resilience, ocean stewardship, and natural capital into a stronger investment pathway for communities, economies, and future generations.