PINA

Solomon Islands' sports officials are confident of a impressive team performance at the Pacific Games which is being held in the capital Honiara later this year. This belief is not only down to a desire to do well on its own turf: the country has a programme designed to improve sport performance. The establishment of the Solomon Islands National Institute of...

Solomon Islands leader of Opposition Matthew Wale says the Prime Minister and his Government must clarify the recently signed agreements with China. In a statement, Wale said it is quite serious and that amongst the nine newly signed agreements, it is purported one is a comprehensive strategic agreement and the other, a new policing security agreement. The Opposition Leader said this...

-Following the adoption of the resolution seeking an Advisory Opinion (AO) on climate change by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by consensus, legal proceedings now commences with the first written submissions due to the Court on 20 October. Vanuatu and 130 other United Nations (UN) member states are asking the world’s highest court on what the obligations of states...

Fisheries Ministers from member countries of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) have enhanced their commitment to address the impacts of climate change on oceanic fisheries. This was made duringthe 20th Forum Fisheries Ministers meeting,which concluded last week in Majuro, Marshall Islands. Fisheries Ministers welcomed the priority that the FFA is placing on work to respond to the impacts of...

A UN agency tasked with regulating the deep sea is debating whether to open the Earth’s watery depths to countries and companies that as of Monday were allowed to start applying for provisional mining licences. The International Seabed Authority (ISA), based in Jamaica, launched a two-week conference on the issue Monday, a day after it missed a deadline to approve...

-The Australian government has called on Solomon Islands and China to “immediately” publish a new policing plan between the two countries, saying it is concerned the deal will invite “regional contest” in the Pacific. The concern from Canberra comes on the back of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's visit to Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping...

As controversial plan by Japan to release treated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant sparked anxiety and anger at home and abroad, the ‘precautionary principle’ is of utmost importance to us in the Pacific says Forum Chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown. Brown made the remarks at the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) presentation of Fukushima report in...

Pacific Island leaders will review a report by the United Natons nuclear watchdog on Japan's proposed Fukushima treated water release before deciding a position, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says. After a two-year review, the IAEA said Japan's plans to release some 500 Olympic size swimming pools worth of water from the Fukushima plant wrecked by a tsunami more...

At its highest point, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) stands at two metres above sea level. As people of a low-lying atoll nation, the Marshallese face an existential threat from climate change impacts, specifically sea level rise. According to the IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), sea level rise will continue beyond 2100,...

Many small island states live in fear of natural disasters, as unprecedented storms become more frequent, says Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland. Natural disasters had increased by 75 percent over the past two decades, causing US$3 trillion of economic losses, Scotland told RNZ Pacific. The worst affected were developing countries, she said. “If you look at where those losses occurred, the majority...