PINA

By Sanjeshni Kumar The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it does not have any control over Japan’s planned release of treated nuclear water from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. The IAEA Director and Coordinator of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, Gustavo Caruso said the Vienna-based organisation reviewed the water discharge in line with its...

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) will host the Micronesian Presidents Summit (MPS) and the Micronesian Islands Forum (MIF) in Pohnpei State next week, from 13 - 17 February. The MPS comprise of leaders from FSM, the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The primary purpose for the MPS...

- The quality and quantity of Pacific Island climate data has been getting worse in recent decades according to a new report on climate change. The study, Climate Change in the Pacific 2022, released last week by the Pacific Community, looked at historical climate data from 15 Pacific nations. One of the main authors of the study and senior climatologist at...

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) updated Pacific nations on its work to review plans by Japan to release over a million tonnes of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, in the coming months. The wastewater, treated under a process known as ALPS, comes from storage tanks at the damaged TEPCO Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima from the...

Former Vanuatu Prime Minister Joe Natuman says allowing Indonesia, by former Prime Minister Sato Kilman into the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) was a mistake. “We (Melanesians) have a moral obligation to support West Papua’s struggle in line with our forefathers’ call including first former Prime Minister, Father Walter Lini, Chief Bongmatur, and others,” he said. “Vanuatu has cut its canoe over...

The Pacific region is uniquely vulnerable to worsening climate risks, which threaten to cause irreversible economic, social, cultural, and environmental damage. This was stated in the Pacific Security Outlook Report 2022-2023 released by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat this week, highlighting key regional security issues and trends. The report noted climate security issues where some Pacific Island countries had experienced up...

The Cook Islands new Ombudsman will head to Fiji to continue with efforts in forming a Human Rights Institute. Ombudsman Niki Rattle said the policy document to support the legislative amendments of the Ombudsman Bill to establish the National Human Rights Institute (NHRI) mandate is progressing well. “This is continued to be supported by Asia Pacific Forum (APF) and the Cook...

The regulations for the importation, cultivation, processing and export of medical cannabis and industrial hemp in Vanuatu were officially signed Wednesday. A person or business wanting to legally cultivate cannabis and hemp for medical and industrial purposes in Vanuatu can apply to get a licence once the regulations are enforced, after they are published in the government gazette. The regulations provide...

By Sanjeshni Kumar Pacific is not leaving “any stones unturned” when it comes to the safety of their ocean. The Pacific Islands Forum Acting Secretary General, Dr Filimon Manoni has appealed for transparency from the government of Japan on their plans to discharge 1.25 million tons of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. Dr Manoni said they will continue to oppose...

New Zealand authorities have found a record-breaking amount of cocaine floating in international waters, which they say was bound for Australia and would have been enough to supply the country for a year. The 3.2-tonne haul was valued at NZ$500m (US$315m, AUD$456m). It was the largest seizure of illicit drugs made by New Zealand law enforcement “by quite some margin”,...