PINA

Given our Blue Pacific region's ongoing nuclear testing legacy, and our collective commitment to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (SPNFZ) – also known as the Treaty of Rarotonga – the Forum will always exercise the highest levels of caution on all nuclear related issues. As related to the complex case of the Japan Fukushima nuclear wastewater issue, PIF Leaders...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Nadi The government of Cook Islands undertook five years of exhaustive consultation throughout the islands before it set up its marine park, the Moana Marae in 2017. In the five years – from 2011-2016, it conducted 34 public meetings, sent out 212 questionnaire surveys, convened five stakeholder workshops and set up 32 committees and taskforce...

Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has defended the Japanese Government’s decision to discharge nuclear waste material into the Pacific Ocean. In a statement, Rabuka said there are constant references to the plans for the wastewater to be dumped in the Pacific. “That creates the wrong impression. It is to be discharged - into Japan’s own backyard, 7306 kms from Fiji,” said...

COP28 Director-General and Special Representative Majid Al Suwaidi visited Fiji to meet with Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and distinguished leaders of Pacific Island nations. In his remarks at the Pacific SIDS High-Level Dialogue on Climate Change in Fiji, Al Suwaidi underscored the COP28 Presidency’s commitment to delivering for vulnerable countries at the upcoming climate summit. Al Suwaidi also recognised that...

On behalf of Ocean Vision Legal (OVL) and the civil society groups, movements and alliances from the Pacific, Asia and the United States, we are concerned about the imminent risk of severe Human Rights violations caused by the disposal of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS) into the Pacific Ocean by the Government of Japan...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Nadi The Republic of Marshall Islands national ocean policy is premised on working 'smarter' and not 'harder.' Glen Joseph, the Director of the Marshall Islands Marine Resource Authority (MIMRA) said his government has had to innovate and strategise on how to engage with donors and partners – given the increasing geostrategic and geopolitical interests in...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Nadi The government of Vanuatu hopes the long-standing joint submission with Fiji and Solomon Islands to extend their outer limits of the continental shelf in the North Fiji Basin will be resolved soon. In 2009, the three coastal states lodged their interest to extend the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles...

By Samantha Magick The new Pacific Ocean Commissioner, Dr Filimon Manoni says the support expressed for his office and appointment from Pacific Islands regional agencies, is good news for ocean governance, and for him personally. The decision to create a stand-alone Office of the Pacific Ocean Commission (OPOC) in Palau and appoint a dedicated Commissioner, was driven by political expediency; the...

By Samantha Magick Discharge of treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan is expected to begin on Thursday, 24 August, weather and sea conditions permitting. The Japanese government has asked the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) to promptly proceed with its preparations for process. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last month issued a report that...

Japan has said it will start releasing more than one million metric tonnes of treated radioactive water from the devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant on 24 August, despite concerns among neighbouring countries, including China, and local fishing communities. The plan, approved two years ago by the Japanese government, is seen as crucial to the decommissioning of the nuclear power station,...