11 September 2025, Apia Samoa - When a group of friends from across the Pacific gathered in Nadi, Fiji for what was meant to be a small reception music gig, they didn’t know they were about to spark something much bigger than themselves. During the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty’s Pacific Strategy meeting, they were invited to join in on the sessions, to listen to the stories from frontline advocates from across the region and to express how they felt about these stories through the medium they knew best - music. By the end of the event, they weren’t just a band, they were a movement.
“By the time I returned home, the team was already sending me original music they had written and composed at the retreat, inspired by the stories they had heard and what they had seen”, recalls Joe Moeono-Kolio, the project’s founder. The group became, ‘This Is Our Home’ - a nod to the title of its first original song written by Mr Junior Soqeta from Fiji and its main message.
That movement landed them in Samoa last week, where they were part of the Thirty second SPREP Meeting of Officials (SM32) and associated meetings from 1-5 September. The group performed during the opening of Emma Luke Earth Observation Centre, and then on the last day of the SPREP Meeting, featured in the Amplifying our Pacific Voices side event hosted by SPREP’s Climate Change Resilience programme and the Communications and Outreach Unit.
“We thought this would be an opportunity to weave artistry, like music, into the climate action space,” recalls Mr Sione Pole from Tonga. “Poetry and dance already existed there, but not much music. We wanted to give the Pacific climate movement its own soundtrack.”
“Even though most of us are part of the diaspora, the islands are our homes. That’s where our parents and ancestors come from,” explains the group’s guitarist Mr Vailahi Vaoese from Tuvalu. “We just want to carry the torch forward in the way we know best, through music and storytelling.”
In the early days, their rehearsals were chilled and laid back, often thrown together days or hours before performances. But the chemistry was undeniable, these weren’t strangers, they were already friends who had grown up singing together. The challenge wasn’t learning how to play but learning how to infuse every lyric and harmony with a sense of urgency about climate justice.
“It’s no longer just an ordinary gig,” says Sione. “Every song has to carry a story that connects to the movement.”
That clarity of purpose carried them onto one of the biggest stages in the world. A chance meeting with the multi-award-winning producer, Brian Eno led to an invitation that most artists only dream of: performing with Coldplay in Lyon, France in 2024 before a crowd of over 50,000.
Wearing their traditional attire, they sang indigenous songs on the global stage and used the mega-platform to speak to the issues facing our islands and oceans to their target audience - the masses outside of the Pacific who do not think about climate change.
“It was the opportunity of a lifetime and a blessing,” says Sione.
When Coldplay brought their world tour to New Zealand, the partnership deepened. The Pacific group shared the stage on all three shows in Auckland, weaving their own music into Coldplay’s iconic “Fix You” and “We Pray.”
For Nate Lopa, Samoan-Tokelaun, it wasn’t just about music, it was about solidarity.
“They didn’t owe us anything, but they gave us their platform to talk about climate justice. It showed the kind of legacy they want to leave.”
That exposure elevated their journey to a new level. Suddenly, the world wanted to know who these Pacific voices were. “Coldplay gave no one a choice,” laughs Nate. “If you came to see them, you also saw us. It was history in the making.”
Coldplay’s global spotlight brought new attention to This Is Our Home, but the band insists their mission remains unchanged. They aren’t chasing fame; they’re chasing impact. The platform is but a gateway to the unreached, those who could never understand what it is like on the front lines of climate change, those who could be inspired to act locally through the power of music.
“What that opportunity did,” Nate explains, “is show young people who look like us that it’s possible to stand on stages that weren’t created for us. We were there for climate justice, but we were also showing that Pacific voices belong on the world stage.”
And while their dream collaborators range from Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder to the late George Fiji Veikoso, the band keeps returning home to the Pacific to ground themselves.
Recently performing at a side event at the margins of the 32nd SPREP Meeting of Officials, reminded them why they began in the first place. “We’re not here to educate our people,” Nate reflects. “We’re here to acknowledge their work, to stand alongside them, and to make sure they know they’re not fighting alone.”
For the members of This Is Our Home, every performance is both protest and prayer, a way to honour their ancestors, inspire their peers, and remind the world that the Pacific is not just a dot on the map. It is home. And it is worth fighting for. As Sione puts it, “we are the messengers of our reality.”
Now, as they prepare to release their debut album during COP30, the team prepares once again to take that message out into the mission field and in the farthest corners of the world, shining a light on what’s happening here in the Pacific.
As Nate sums it up: “Tomorrow isn’t promised. But today, we’re blessed with the chance to use the talents God gave us to sing, dance, and tell the stories of our people. That in itself is doing the work.”
The Thirty second SPREP Meeting of Officials (SM32) and associated meetings are taking place at Sheraton Aggie Grey’s Hotel & Bungalows in Samoa, from 1-5 September.
Guided by the theme “Sustaining our Pacific Environment in Harmony with our Cultures”, the SM32 and associated meetings bring together SPREP Members to discuss strategic issues pertaining to the organisation, and to approve the 2026-2027 Work Programme and Budget.
The 21 Pacific Island Members of SPREP are: American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna. The five Metropolitan members of SPREP are: Australia, France, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
In our efforts to fulfil our vision of ‘a resilient Pacific environment, sustaining our livelihoods and natural heritage in harmony with our cultures’, SPREP is extremely grateful to our valued Members, partners, donors, our CROP family, and stakeholders.
For more information on the 32SM, visit https://www.sprep.org/sprep-meeting/2025/32nd-meeting-of-officials or contact [email protected]