PINA

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Sharm El Sheikh  Pacific youth movements led by the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change have thrown their support behind the government of Vanuatu as it takes up the fight to get an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on obligations of States under international law to protect the rights of...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Sharm El Sheikh Vanuatu’s locally developed and trialed root crop, the Golden Yam has been described the most successful root crop created after 15 years of research, according to the director of the country’s department of agriculture, Antoine Ravo. The successful story was shared with a global audience that attended the side event organised by...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Sharm El Sheikh Pacific negotiators and political champions have rallied support and used every opportunity at side events and bilateral discussions to hone in on the six priority issues that all the Pacific Island Countries are collectively pushing for at COP27. The new priority issue of gender and adaptation has gained a lot of traction...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Sharm El Sheikh Fiji and other Pacific Small Island Developing Countries (PSIDS) continued their push to include oceans on the agenda of the global climate talks in Sharm El Sheikh this week despite very little movement on the issue in week one of the negotiations. It hasn’t dampened the interest for countries like Fiji who...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Sharm El Sheikh Vanuatu’s much awaited UN General Assembly Resolution that is seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to protect the rights of people against the adverse effects of climate change will be announced this week, at the COP27 meeting in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. Minister Ralph Regenvanu, the...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Sharm El Sheikh The Canadian Government has renewed its CAD10 million climate risk early warning system (CREWS) that will benefit a number of Pacific Island Countries meteorological services in the next four years. Canadian Minister for Environment, Honorable Steven Guilbeault made the announcement at a COP27 side event here in Sharm El Sheikh on Friday...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Sharm El Sheikh After a week of technical negotiations on the draft climate and gender text, the Pacific co-lead on gender and climate change, Eunice Dus is quietly optimistic of the gains made here in Sharm El Sheikh to push for language that supports simplified access for finance to fund gender action plan (GAP). The...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Sharm El Sheikh In another first for the world, the island nation of Tuvalu has embarked on a national contingency plan to preserve and protect its statehood and sovereignty, in the event it becomes uninhabitable by 2050. It’s not waiting for climate finance from loss and damage or any other climate finance mechanism to fund...

Two days into the climate talks and Pacific Island countries have already been strong-armed into taking the short end of stick. While the inclusion of loss and damage for developing countries on the agenda for COP27 has been labelled a momentum shift, the reality for compensation and liability funding for vulnerable islands will not be realised in this meeting. Pacific Islands...

The US$100 billion to battle climate change pledged by developed countries should be delivered and made accessible, Fijian envoy to the United Nations urged at an international conference on climate change being held in Sharm el-sheikh. “As we know, Fiji and Pacific island countries have been on the frontlines of climate change. This is not an exaggeration, a single extreme...