PINA

Pacific Ocean Commissioner Dr Filimon Manoni has praised Samoa’s continued leadership in advancing the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity during the opening of the Samoa National Workshop on the Ratification and Implementation of the BBNJ Agreement. A new legally binding agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) was...

Sea level rise and other climate impacts—compounded by insecure land tenure, limited access to land, and inadequate government support—are undermining the rights of the people of Walande, an Indigenous community in Solomon Islands, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Despite taking the last resort measure of leaving their island home to escape the impacts of climate change,...

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says the United States will not make any decisions on aid funding for the Pacific region until mid-April. Peters has met with acting head of U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) Peter Marocco and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. On his sit-down with Marocco, Peters said the pair had a “frank and open” discussion...

--Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has reaffirmed his commitment to tabling the 2019 post-referendum results in Parliament, allowing for a final decision on Bougainville’s political future. Speaking at the Joint Moderation Consultation Meeting between the PNG National Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government Monday, PM Marape stated that the National Government is ready to take the post-referendum results...

The Pacific Islands Forum is making significant strides toward enhancing regional resilience and economic development as Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa outlined ambitious goals during a press conference in Suva Monday. Waqa reported strong progress in securing international support for the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), which recently received its first capitalisation funding from Japan, a vital step towards building a...

The company at the vanguard of plans to mine deep sea metals used in electric vehicle batteries has surrendered a third of its Pacific Ocean exploration area after a breakdown in cooperation with the island nation of Kiribati, paving the way for China to add to its regional foothold in the contentious industry. The Nasdaq-traded The Metals Company, or TMC,...

COP30 host Brazil has announced that world leaders will deliver their speeches on climate action several days before UN negotiations officially kick off on 10 November, in a bid to ease pressure on hotels and transport in the medium-sized Amazon city of Belém. For the past decade – since COP21 which adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015 – most heads...

French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls will return to New Caledonia for further political talks one week later than originally planned, local media report. After an initial one-week visit to New Caledonia, which ended on 01 March, Valls said he was planning to come back for more political talks sometime around 22 March. However, the revised plan now mentions a four-day...

Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua lock Carletta Yee will be the youngest Drua player ever to make her debut when she runs out against the Brumbies in this week’s Round 3 of the Smartech Super Rugby Women. The 17-year-old will make her first appearance, as will Olympics Bronze medallist and former Fijiana 7s captain Rusila Nagasau. True to his word, Head Coach...

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved an unprecedented US$12.9 million in grant financing to scale up life-saving early warning systems in Fiji. This support, as part of the UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, will ensure all Fijians, especially those in vulnerable and remote communities, have access to timely, reliable, and actionable information before climate-related disasters strike. With...