PINA

Samoa’s Prime minister has urged her fellow Pacific leaders to stop paying lip service to regionalism and walk the talk when making collective decisions. Fiame Naomi Mataafa made the remarks last night as she welcomed the secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna, to Apia. Mata'afa said Samoa strongly believes in being part of the Blue Pacific that is free...

On 01 June, a video conference on ALPS treated water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) was held with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat and its experts. Officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), and staff from TEPCO, on the Japanese side; Deputy Secretary General...

In a frank admission on the circumstances which forced his exit from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Secretary General of the Forum Henry Puna has told a closed function hosted in Samoa that what took place must never happen again. “My appointment was in many respects, a double-edged sword,” he told invited guests at the ‘Special Address’ event which...

Fiji and Solomon Islands dominated the inaugural Pasifika Environews awards, which is a collaboration between the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Internews Earth Journalism Network (EJN), Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC), and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). The awards honour exemplary reporting on environment, ocean, and climate change in the Pacific. The winners were...

Interview with the Director of FAO's Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Manuel Barange The ocean is key to global food security, the livelihoods of over 600 million people, and essential to transforming agrifood systems, according to Manuel Barange, Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Barange, a top marine scientist,...

Flying Fijians Head Coach Simon Raiwalui has announced a wider squad of 45 players for the upcoming July test series against Tonga on 22nd July 2023, Samoa on 29th July 2023, Japan on 5th August 2023, and pre-Rugby World Cup warm-up matches against France on 19th August 2023 and England on 26th August 2023. The wider squad includes 23 players...

Fijians were reminded that the “ocean is our single greatest natural endowment and a gift from God.” “We are inextricably linked to the oceans,” said Acting Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum and the incoming Pacific Ocean Commissioner, Dr Filimon Manoni at the World Ocean’s Day celebrations in Albert Park, Suva, Fiji Islands, today. “For us here in the Pacific,...

Fiji is taking crucial steps in protecting its ocean and reefs aligned with the global commitments of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Global Biodiversity Framework. This was highlighted by the President of Fiji, Wiliame Katonivere at the World Ocean Day celebration in Suva. “Fiji is committed to leading the efforts towards 100 percent, sustainable ocean management and 30 percent...

By Pita Ligaiula Japan’s plan to discharge radioactive waste water into the Pacific has been described by Acting Forum Secretary General, Dr Filimon Manoni ‘unconscionable’. Dr Manoni made the remarks at the World Ocean Day commemorated in Fiji’s capital Suva, today. “Because for us here in the Pacific, the ocean is everything. If it were up to us, this celebration would be...

Over a third of global fish stocks are being harvested at unsustainable levels – just one example of how human activity is harming oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for greater action to protect oceans in his message to mark World Oceans Day on Thursday. “The ocean is the foundation...