The prime minister of Fiji has become the first world leader to congratulate Joe Biden – before the result of the US election has even been announced.
There are tens-of-thousands of votes yet to be counted following the election on Tuesday, with some states so close that several recounts are on the cards.
Democrat hopeful Biden has said himself that he expects his campaign to win but there’s been no official confirmation of the result yet, and may not be for days to come.
The lingering uncertainty hasn’t delayed Fiji leader Frank Bainimarama from congratulating Biden on his (again, unconfirmed) success.
He wrote: “Congratulations, Joe Biden. Together, we have a planet to save from a climate emergency and a global economy to build back better from Covid-19.
“Now, more than ever, we need the US at the helm of these multilateral efforts (and back in the Paris Agreement – ASAP!).”
Comprised of more than 300 small islands, Fiji’s future is gravely threatened by climate change and rising sea levels.
Fiji was the first country to ratify the Paris Agreement and Bainimarama has become a prominent climate change advocate, leading the COP23 climate change conference in Bonn in 2017.
Trump pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement in the same year, with the country finally exiting the landmark accord just days ago. Biden has vowed to reenter the agreement on his first day in office, if he is elected.
With the result of the US election still unconfirmed, it is thought that Bainimarama is the first head of state to congratulate Biden.
In a speech on Friday evening the Democrat candidate said he has a “mandate for action”, anticipating his own victory after earning more than 74m votes – the highest number ever recorded in the US – and edging ever closer to securing the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to officially claim victory.