PINA

The Indo-Pacific tug-of-war has already begun to fray the mat of our Pasifika Household, warns the Pacific Conference of Churches. Speaking at the Synod of the Etaretia Porotetani Maohi (Maohi Protestant Church) on Moorea, Ma’ohi Nui (French Polynesia) last week, PCC General Secretary called churches to be vigilant of the use of terms such as “regional security” as an excuse...

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has reaffirmed his commitment to closely monitor expert analysis of treated wastewater discharge from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant and to engage in ongoing dialogue with Japan. The PM’s statement in Parliament this morning comes as Fiji grapples with divergent opinions concerning this matter. Rabuka acknowledged the initial stance of former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who initially...

In a landmark hearing, small island nations disproportionately affected by the climate crisis will take on high-emitting countries in a court in Hamburg, Germany, on 11 September, in what is being seen as the first climate justice case aimed at protecting the ocean. During the two-day hearing, the nations – including the Bahamas, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Antigua and Barbuda among others...

The world is not on track to meet the long-term goals set out in the Paris Agreement for limiting global temperature rise, a major UN report warned on Friday, calling for a commitment to decisive action. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which issued the report, called for “greater ambition and accelerating action”. “I...

By Sherryn Groch Thirty years ago, Australian geologist Ray Binns threw a camera over the side of his science ship and hit a “goldmine” on the bottom of the sea. A kilometre down, his camera had slammed into a hydrothermal vent chimney: a tall spire of copper and gold reaching up from a seafloor hot spring. Binns had spent five years...

Environment Ministers and High-Level Representatives from SPREP’s member countries are returning home with a strengthened commitment to mobilise individually and collectively to address the impact of the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, on Pacific communities. The resounding call to action is highlighted in the SPREP Environment Ministers and High-Level Representatives Talanoa Communique 2023, committing SPREP...

Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Wiranto – a former high-ranking military officer — has proposed an additional budget of 60 billion rupiahs (US$4 million) to fund diplomatic efforts related to the so-called “Papua problem”. The proposed budget would be separate from the Coordinating Ministry for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs’ (Kemenko Polhukam) annual budget. Wiranto said that...

While Parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement have taken widespread actions to address climate change and its impacts, ambition and implementation must be accelerated rapidly. Many creative and actionable solutions to overcome challenges are ready to be implemented, finds a key technical report on the global stocktake published Friday. The global stocktake was designed under the Paris Agreement to assess our...

Wales struggled to hold off fast-finishing Fiji to win 32-26 in the latest instalment of their entertaining Rugby World Cup rivalry on Monday. The pre-tournament hype around Fiji looked to be justified when Waisea Nayacalevu and Lekima Tagitagivalu scored classic Fijian tries from deep in the space of four minutes to vault their team into a 14-8 lead by the...

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape met with the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Leaders Summit Thursday. Amongst issues discussed by the two leaders was the issue of West Papua and the application by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (UMLWP) to become full members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). A PNG...