PINA

You could call it a Switzerland-like foreign relations policy — just in the Pacific. “Friends to all, enemy to none” is how Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare describes it. The phrase itself -something Sogavare repeats over and over - has become official government policy. Even in a nation colloquially known as the Hapi Isles, it may seem like a bit of...

Michael Lodge, a British lawyer and the head of the UN-affiliated body responsible for governing mining in the high seas, has been criticised by diplomats who claim he has been pushing them to accelerate the start of deep-sea mining. A German diplomat said Lodge – the secretary-general of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) – has a duty of neutrality and...

By helping the ocean to recover, we can create a healthier, more sustainable and prosperous future for all. By Marco Lambertini, Special Envoy to WWF International  The ocean is a vital part of our planetary life-support system, covering 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and producing half of the oxygen we breathe – it makes the planet habitable. It also...

Humanity still has a chance, close to the last, to prevent the worst of climate change’s future harms, a top United Nations panel of scientists said Monday. But doing so requires quickly slashing nearly two-thirds of carbon pollution by 2035, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. The United Nations chief said it more bluntly, calling for an end to...

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is calling on the international community to assist vulnerable countries by closing the gap between climate promises and delivery. This follows the release of the Synthesis Report of the International Panel of Climate Change’s (IPCC) 6th Assessment Cycle, which revealed that small island developing states will face life threatening risks if global warming...

A White House envoy on Tuesday decried “disinformation and smears” about the United States' motives in the Solomon Islands, after his meeting with the country's pro-China leader was overshadowed by unsubstantiated rumors of dark plots and geopolitical intrigue. Veteran U.S diplomat Kurt Campbell visited the Solomons' capital Honiara as part of Washington's effort to counter growing Chinese political, economic and...

Indigenous activists have made clear that they don’t give their consent to deep sea mining. In a petition presented Monday to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), over 1,000 signatories from 34 countries and 56 Indigenous groups called for a total ban on this destructive industry. Addressing the delegates of the ISA, Hawaiian Indigenous speaker and activist Solomon Kaho’ohalahala, offered the delegates...

The Synthesis of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Cycle confirms life-threatening risks to small island developing States, and challenges to sustainable development, if warming is not limited to 1.5°C. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s foremost climate science body convened by the United Nations, has released the Synthesis Report of its 6th Assessment Cycle in which it reveals...

Dozens of athletes from the Solomon Islands will train in China for three months to sharpen their competitiveness for the Pacific Games in November, underlining the intention of both countries to make the sporting event a showcase of Chinese-Pacific cooperation. China is covering more than half the cost of the quadrennial games that will be staged in the Solomon Islands...

Solomon Islands will host the region’s biggest ever sporting event, the 17th edition of the Pacific Games in Honiara this year (2023). The Pacific Games (formerly known as the South Pacific Games or SPG) was established in the 1960s by the then South Pacific Games Council (now the Pacific Games Council) with the vision to promote a unique, friendly world-class...