PINA

Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas delivered a hard-hitting address to the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York Friday, slamming global inaction on climate change, international financial reform, and decolonisation. In his speech, Tabimasmas criticised the continued global inaction on climate change, calling it a betrayal of the international community's commitment to protecting vulnerable nations like...

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, James Marape, used his address at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York Friday to deliver a pointed critique of the international community’s failure to address major global threats. In his speech, Marape emphasised the pressing need for concerted global action on climate change, religious intolerance, and geopolitical tensions,...

Forum Chair and Tonga’s Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni spent time promoting the benefits of the new Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) at a UN side event last week. Hu’akavameiliku led Tonga’s delegation to New York for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and, as chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, he introduced the Pacific Resilience Facility...

New Zealand Climate Change Minister Simon Watts is travelling to Fiji on Monday to attend a Ministerial Meeting (Talanoa) with Pacific Island countries, Australia, and New Zealand. “Attending the Talanoa will reinforce New Zealand’s commitment to supporting climate resilience in the Pacific and advancing action in the areas of climate change,” Watts said. “The Talanoa will bring together Climate Change Ministers...

Buried in the hundreds of pages of the continuing resolution passed Wednesday by U.S lawmakers to prevent a government shutdown are Washington’s final steps to implement a 20-year security pact with Pacific Island allies, cementing a U.S commitment to the region in the face of an increasingly assertive China. The Compacts of Free Association, or COFA, provide economic support for...

The date for the Kiribati presidential - or beretitenti - vote has been set for 25 October. Notices were published by electoral districts across the country on Friday. There will now just be three candidates - all from the same party, the ruling Tobwaan Kiribati Party (TKP) - after one TKP candidate, Riteta Iorome, was dropped. There had been no public...

At the UN General Assembly on Friday, leaders from Asia and the Pacific underscored a dire reality: climate change is a clear and present danger for everyone on the Planet, but their countries and peoples will likely suffer the most. Prime Ministers of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Tuvalu and Tonga underlined the UN’s role as...

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has met with Tonga’s Prime Minister and Forum Chair Siaosi Sovaleni, congratulating Tonga for successfully hosting the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in August. During their talks, Guterres and Sovaleni discussed key regional issues, including early warning systems and the Pacific Resilience Facility, reflecting the broader priorities of the Pacific Islands Forum(PIF). The Secretary-General also held...

Rising waters are slowly but surely swallowing Carnie Reimers's backyard in the Marshall Islands, pushing her toward an agonising choice: stay in the only home she's ever known or leave and face the prospect of becoming a climate refugee. “It's not a comfortable topic to talk about,” the 22-year-old activist tells AFP, explaining the emotional toll this looming reality has...

Tepaeru Herrmann has been reappointed as the Cook Islands Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI) for a fourth consecutive term. Speaking about her appointment, Public Service Commissioner Carl Hunter in a statement said, “The re-appointment of Herrmann is a credit to her tireless work over the last nine years (three terms) as Secretary, and affirmation of...