PINA

The release of a third batch of treated radioactive wastewater from Japan's damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean ended safely as planned, its operator said Monday, as the country's seafood producers continue to suffer from a Chinese import ban imposed after the discharges began. Large amounts of radioactive wastewater have accumulated at the nuclear plant since it was...

By Brittany Nawaqatabu The second meeting of state parties on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is set to kick off at the United Nations headquarters in New York from the 27 November - 01 December, 2023. The TPNW outlines the total elimination of the production, testing, use, possession, and threats of the use of nuclear weapons globally....

With global temperatures soaring and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reaching unprecedented levels, dramatic climate action is needed to steer the world away from runaway climate change and align it to the objectives of the Paris Agreement, a major UN report has found. The 2023 Emissions Gap Report, released on Monday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), carried a clear message...

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says Fiji is a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), being the first country to sign the Convention in 1982, in Jamaica. The Prime Minister while responding to a question in Parliament on the benefit of signing the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction(BBNJ) Treaty, Rabuka said...

Tonga did not sign the Samoa Agreement, that took place in Samoa last week. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Fekitamoeloa 'Utoikamanu, said that there is a requirement in order to formalise Tonga’s commitment to sign the agreement, and at the time of the signing, it had not been concluded. “The impact of this, is that Tonga will not be able to access...

Climate advocates are urging the Pacific Islands Forum to exercise caution in considering Saudi Arabia’s climate financing commitment. Saudi Arabia pledged US$50 million making it one of the first donors for the newly established Pacific Resilience Facility(PRF). Saudi Arabia is currently the largest exporter of petroleum in the world. Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN) Regional Coordinator Lavetanalagi Seru is calling on...

Summing up the Pacific Leaders meeting earlier this month in Rarotonga, Tonga's Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni said the meeting reassured the Pacific leaders commitment to its 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific continent, and also allowed leaders to be in one mind, especially for the upcoming COP28. In a media briefing the PM held last Friday, he said the...

Senior leaders from Christian, Muslim and Buddhist faiths visited key Ministers and MPs in Canberra last Thursday to urge the federal Labor government to put an end to all new fossil fuel projects in Australia, and to listen to the voices of Pacific Island nations calling for Australia to phase out fossil fuels. The faith leaders met with Climate Minister...

Cuba stressed the importance of having multilateral ties with South Pacific Island States and reasserted its commitment to friendship and cooperation at the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting, held in the Cook Islands. “Our links with the Pacific Islands are based on deep feelings of friendship, solidarity and brotherhood,” said the deputy minister of Science, Technology and the...

National Invasive Species Coordinator of the Tonga Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC), Viliami Hakaumotu and has been honoured as the 2023 Battler of the Year. Described by David Moverley, SPREP Invasive Species Adviser, as one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the calendar, this year's Pacific Invasive Species Battler of the...