PINA

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...

The call for side events is out now for the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion at the COP29 in November this year. Moana Blue Pacific at the twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) is a Pacific partnership with the Governments of New Zealand and Australia managed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional...

Former South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou is back in work, agreeing to become head coach of the Kumuls, the Papua New Guinea national team. Demetriou left the Rabbitohs in April following several heavy defeats. It was a disappointing end to his first head coaching role in the NRL having led the Rabbitohs to the preliminary final in his debut 2022...

Team Pacific will have seven women and six men - the highest number of Paralympians - competing at the 2024 Paralympics. The 13 athletes will represent six Pacific nations in taekwondo and athletics. The Paralympics will have 4400 athletes from 160 countries competing in Paris. Each Paralympic sport has its own system of classification, which helps to ensure fair and equal competition....

By Selita Bolanavanua Executive Director of Femlink Pacific, Fay Volatabu is urging political party leaders to provide support for women. She highlighted that Fiji lacks a general quota or reserved seats in Parliament for women, placing the responsibility on political parties to nominate female candidates. “Political parties, please, you have a role to play. Let’s talk about breaking barriers and increasing female...

By Selita Bolanavanua Female participation in local elections has escaped scrutiny, says Dr Shailendra Singh, Head of Journalism at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Fiji. He made this statement last week at a panel discussion on increasing female participation in local government elections in Fiji, organised by Dialogue Fiji. Although local elections have not been held in recent years,...

By Selita Bolanavanua “Something is not right," says Fiji's Assistant Minister for Women, Sashi Kiran, expressing her concern on the low visibility of women in Parliament and leadership roles on boards. When she joined Parliament in 2022, one thing that struck her was the low percentage of women Members of Parliament. With only five women out of 55 MPs, Kiran said the...

The Pacific Islands are on the brink of an environmental and socioeconomic crisis as they confront the devastating impacts of accelerating sea level rise, ocean warming, and acidification. These alarming findings are detailed in the latest "State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2023" report, released by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The report, released by United Nations Secretary-General António...

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres has issued a stark warning from Tonga, calling for a major increase in climate finance to support vulnerable countries facing the devastating impacts of rising sea levels. His call comes on the heels of new UN reports that underscore the urgent need for financial intervention to prevent catastrophic consequences for low-lying nations like those...