PINA

To commemorate World Environment Day, Papua New Guinea MP for Kundiawa Gembogl Muguwa Dilu is renewing calls for Japan to abort the plans to dump nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean. “We must keep our blue Pacific Ocean clean and free of all waste, including dangerous and highly toxic nuclear waste,” Dilu said. He expressed that the Pacific Ocean is home...

As international negotiators committed to hammering out a draft treaty by November on ending plastic pollution, the UN chief stressed in his message for World Environment Day on Monday, the importance of curbing the “catastrophic” consequences of waste plastics. “Every year, over 400 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide – one third of which is used just once”, said...

Q and A with Ambassador Ilana Seid, Permanent Representative of Palau to the UN and Chair of Pacific Small Island Developing States Nearly 200 countries met in Paris last week to negotiate one of the most consequential international multilateral environmental agreements of our time. The second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on...

Thirty-three coral atolls and islands are dispersed among the three groups that form Kiribati, which are the Gilbert, Line, and Phoenix islands. Covering a land area of 810km2, the island groups are spread over a vast ocean area of approximately 3.5 million square kilometers in the Central Pacific Ocean. An estimated 13 percent of the waste stream in Kiribati is...

Nauru might be a small country with a population of around 10,000 people on a single island in the Pacific Ocean but its voice is loud and clear at the second Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-2) in Paris, France. As negotiators, including delegations...

Slow progress is better than no progress at all. That’s the view of the Director of Tuvalu’s Department of Waste Management, Epu Falega, as negotiations at the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-2) wind down in Paris, France. Falega and his delegation last week...

25 broadcasters from 13 Pacific countries touched down in Auckland recently for the Pacific Broadcasters conference. A meet and greet filled with lots of talanoa, networking and healthy debate, the conference was a welcome change from a typical Zoom meeting. Natasha Meleisea, CEO of Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Ltd (PCBL) which operates Pasifika TV, says the conference is about uniting Pacific broadcasters. “I’ve...

Poor science heard during the negotiations for a new Plastics Treaty has caused concern for the Scientists Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty. A group of approximately 240 scientists representing over 250 independent scientists across the world that make up the organisation have been tracking the negotiations. They’re calling for greater participation in the INC process to ensure delegates have...

Cassie Siataga held her nerve to kick Samoa to a dramatic 19-18 victory against Fiji that secured a first ever Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship title and their place in WXV 2. Following an epic decider on Australia’s Gold Coast, it looked as though Fijiana had done enough to win the match, and their fourth championship, when Adita Milinia went over...

The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua will take on 11- time Super Rugby Pacific champions, the Crusaders in the quarterfinals this week in the cold of Christchurch. The Crusaders will be out for blood after losing to the Drua 25-24 at Churchill Park in Lautoka in round three. The Crusaders who finished second on the points tables after round 15 will host...