PINA

By Nic Maclellan in Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga For twelve years after the Second World War, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests on Bikini and Enewetak atolls in the Marshall Islands. Today, the government and people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) want regional and international support to address the nuclear legacies of that era. As she joined...

As the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting crossed the halfway mark, Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa delivered a call to action, urging Leaders to stay focused and united in tackling the region's most pressing challenges. “I congratulate you all for the important progress we are making, setting a solid platform for our Leaders’ Retreat tomorrow in Vava’u,” Waqa said in his...

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr has nominated his country as Pacific Islands Forum chair in 2026. If accepted, it would confirm a return to Micronesia and a healing of rifts which have marred the organisation in previous years. Pacific leaders, including Australia's Anthony Albanese, are meeting in Nuku'alofa for the annual PIF summit. Tonga Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni will assume the...

As leaders and ocean champions converged in Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting, the spotlight was firmly placed on the Pacific Ocean. On 24 August, the Pacific Ocean Alliance (POA) held its inaugural Alliance event, organised by the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC) on the sidelines of the Forum. This marked a significant moment as ocean...

Tuvalu's Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Home Affairs, Maina Talia urged the global community to prioritise climate change as the most significant threat facing Tuvalu and other Pacific Island developing states. In a press conference at the start of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting on Monday, Minister Talia emphasised the urgent need for immediate and decisive action to...

Australia and Tuvalu will announce their trailblazing treaty, the Falepili Union, has entered into force on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga. Anthony Albanese and Feleti Teo will hold a press conference later on Wednesday to mark the occasion, the Tuvalu prime minister confirmed to AAP. “Yes, we have indicated on both sides readiness to ratify...

New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has talked down the impact of emissions on climate change at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. The Kiwi foreign minister also cast doubt over whether NZ would continue to offer generous climate finance when the current budget runs out next year. Peters was a sole voice downplaying the climate crisis on the same...

A Nauru-backed company will forge ahead with contentious plans to start industrial deep-sea mining in 2026, a top executive has told AFP, vowing to overcome environmental criticisms that have dogged the project. Canada-based The Metals Company is leading a contentious push to mine the sea floor underneath the Pacific Ocean, hoovering up lumps of rock studded with coveted metals. Through a...

A newly released report identified that accelerated sea level rise in the Pacific is alarmingly above the global average. As the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo launched the World Meteorological Organisation State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2023 report, hundreds of Pacific island youth took to the streets of Nuku’alofa today with the...

By Sera Sefeti in Nuku'alofa, Tonga In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles from Tonga, the winds began to intensify. Sail master Ivanancy Vunikura was helping lead the Uto ni Yalo, a vessel that had set off from Fiji days before. “The weather completely changed; the waves went up to four-metre swells and the wind went up to...