Polynesian Leaders Group

The Polynesian Leaders Group (PLG) is a sub-regional bloc founded in November 2011 in Apia, Samoa, by leaders of Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau. It was conceived as a Polynesian counterpart to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), providing a forum for states and territories sharing Polynesian cultural and linguistic heritage to coordinate positions on issues affecting them within the wider Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

Membership has since expanded to include American Samoa, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and the Māori community of Aotearoa/New Zealand, with associate or observer arrangements for several others. The group's composition is notable because it brings together fully independent states, self-governing states in free association (Cook Islands, Niue), and non-self-governing or overseas territories of the United States and France, allowing dialogue across very different constitutional statuses.

Stated priorities in the founding Memorandum of Understanding include:

• Cultural and linguistic preservation, including Polynesian languages and traditional knowledge.
• Climate change advocacy, particularly on sea-level rise threatening low-lying atoll states like Tuvalu and Tokelau.
• Economic cooperation, trade, transport, and ICT connectivity.
• Education, health, and fisheries management, including sustainable use of tuna stocks.
• Good governance and the promotion of democracy.

The PLG meets at leaders' level, often on the margins of the annual Pacific Islands Forum, and issues communiqués reflecting consensus positions. It does not have a permanent secretariat on the scale of the PIF or MSG and operates largely through the host country's foreign ministry.

For Model UN delegates and researchers, the PLG is most relevant when analysing Pacific climate diplomacy, sub-regional caucusing within the PIF, or debates over decolonisation and self-determination in territories such as French Polynesia (Mā'ohi Nui), which was re-inscribed on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories in 2013.