PINA

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has confirmed his attendance to attend the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, next week. The Leader of Government conceded to attending the meeting in Dubai, after the Speaker of Parliament Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and the Leader of the Opposition Inia Seruiratu pleaded with the Prime Minister to attend the...

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna has bluntly told the Seventh Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development in Suva Tuesday, that the time for ‘talk and discussions’ are over. “We need to be working towards meaningful partnerships that will deliver the results that we need to see.” “It is crucial that we translate our decisions into actions that bring about genuine...

UN agencies on Tuesday issued an urgent call for action, emphasising the severe health risks faced by pregnant women, babies and children due to worsening climate catastrophes. In Protecting maternal, newborn and child health from the impacts of climate change, the World Health Organisation (WHO), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) jointly underscore the neglect, underreporting, and...

There needs to be a regional approach to deep-sea mining, as opposed to relying solely on the sovereign rights of individual nations, given the transboundary risks such activities can pose to the Pacific Ocean, says a Cook Islands environmental group. Te Ipukarea Society (TIS) has welcomed a decision by the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ for greater regional dialogue and cooperation...

Australia’s climate minister, Chris Bowen, says Pacific nations and other countries vulnerable to climate catastrophe should be the major beneficiaries of “loss and damage” funding, and a broader range of countries should bankroll the international effort along with the private sector. Bowen used a speech to a foreign policy thinktank on Tuesday night to signal Australia’s position ahead of Cop28,...

A US$50 million pledge from Saudi Arabia has opened the investor search for a new US$500 million Pacific Resilience Fund (PRF) to build resilience against disaster. The pledge was announced by Minister for Tourism and Chair of the Saudi Fund for Development, Ahmed Al Khateeb to Leaders at the Dialogue Partners sessions of the 52nd Forum Leaders Meeting in Rarotonga. Pacific...

Pacific delegates who attended the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-3), in Nairobi Kenya, are returning home reasonably satisfied with the progress made during the past week. Although some will argue that the outcome could have been better, others among Pacific delegations say...

Pacific Island leaders have stressed the need to grasp their own destiny by setting their own regional agenda, with a focus on climate change and nuclear issues. Leaders and delegates of member nations this month gathered together on the Cook Islands for the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum under the theme "Our Voices, Our Choices, Our Pacific Way: Promote, Partner, Prosper". Founded...

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will visit Indonesia in 2024. The invitation extended by Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo follows their recent discussion on the matter concerning the West Papuan people. The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) had appointed Rabuka alongside Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape as special envoys during the Pacific Islands Forum leader’s regional meeting in the Cook Islands...

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As one of the first countries to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on maintaining cooperation under the BRI framework, Fiji has maintained close cooperation with China in the areas of economic affairs, trade and climate change. Global Times reporter Leng Shumei (GT) recently held an exclusive...