PINA

Australia and New Zealand should make good on their rhetoric of being part of a “Pacific family” by creating a European Union-style common market in which people could move and work freely across the region, Samoan Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa says. Mata’afa, who will meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Wednesday, acknowledged her idea was “very...

After losing his bid for another term, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) President David Panuelo has begun preparing for the leadership turnover to his successor, who will be elected by the 23rd FSM Congress on 11 May. Based on unofficial results of the 07 March elections, four at-large senators from all four states are listed as eligible candidates for the...

In the wake of the latest warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Pacific island nation renews calls for a global phaseout of fossil fuels. By Ralph Regenvanu Vanuatu is on a permanent war footing due to the climate crisis. It is a country on edge. As I walk through the streets of our capital city, Port Vila,...

Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources Jelta Wong has asked all Pacific Forum Leaders of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) to unite to form a stronger position against Japan’s plan to proceed with the dumping of nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. “I make this appeal to the PIF Secretary General Henry Puna to immediately convene an...

Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa has criticised the United State for changing its strategic language around the Pacific without consulting the region, adding the growing competition between the Chinese and American governments was “an opportunity not to be missed.” Speaking in Canberra on Monday, Mata’afa said there had been new “narrative” created by the U.S and its diplomatic partners...

The final report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s Sixth Assessment Cycle is the final-hour warning before the clock runs out on 1.5°C, and we must pull every lever to achieve the globally agreed objective, says Greenpeace Australia Pacific. The IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report, which integrates findings from the six reports the IPCC has published since 2018,...

Scientists have delivered a “final warning” on the climate crisis, as rising greenhouse gas emissions push the world to the brink of irrevocable damage that only swift and drastic action can avert. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), made up of the world’s leading climate scientists, set out the final part of its mammoth sixth assessment report on Monday. The...

Samoa's prime minister says small Pacific nations need to be listened to and consulted more over regional security issues as bigger players crowd the region. In her first official visit to Australia, Fiamē Naomi Mata'afa told diplomats and politicians Pacific nations felt like they were being left out of discussions involving their own region. “I feel I need to be very...

The Pacific islands have applauded the announcement from the Government of Australia, pledging its support for a long-term solution to weather-related extreme events posed by climate change in the Pacific through the Weather Ready Pacific Decadal Programme of Investment. Weather Ready Pacific is a visionary, ground-breaking ten-year programme of investment that will strengthen the region’s ability to anticipate, plan for,...

The Papua New Guinea Government is still in bilateral talks with the Japanese government over concerns that Japan might release one million tons of radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean. The issue was raised again on the floor of Parliament on Friday by Kundiawa- Gembogl MP Muguwa Dilu, who stated that this was against the London Convention and Protocol of...