PINA

Finance is often and always a thorny issue wherever multiple countries try to agree on anything. On the fourth day of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, in Busan Korea, money was a central focus for Contact Group 3. On the table...

Vanuatu becomes first country to ever lose EU visa-free access after golden passport scheme poses security threat. Commentary by Tess Newton Cain Earlier this month Vanuatu received a stinging rebuke from the European Parliament, becoming the first country ever to lose its visa-free access to the bloc’s Schengen area. In the explanatory note accompanying the European Parliament vote, rapporteur Paulo Cunha said...

Super Rugby Pacific is set to launch an official fantasy competition for the 2025 season. It will be the first time the competition will launch its official product in association with the teams, players and player's associations. Fans can register at https://www.playfantasyrugby.com/ to ensure they’re first in line when the game launches in January when further details around how to play...

The Speaker of the Niue Assembly says the recent referendum has significantly improved the role of the Parliamentary Select Committee. Hima Douglas, who has served as Speaker since 2020, shared his insights into Niue’s parliamentary processes. He said that although the referendum changes may appear minor, they have substantially impacted the parliamentary processes. “As a result of that change, there have been...

Fiji’s Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka called for a united front among Western and Central Pacific nations to manage their tuna resources, even suggesting the formation of a “tuna OPEC” to wield greater influence in the global market. At the official opening of the 21st Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Thursday, Rabuka emphasised the critical importance of sustainable tuna...

Rhea Moss-Christian, the executive director of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) has called for urgent action to address the impacts of climate change and human rights abuses in the fishing industry at the opening of the commission's 21st annual session in Suva this morning. Speaking before an audience of government ministers, delegates, and stakeholders, Moss-Christian emphasised the...

Fiji's Minister of Fisheries, Alitia Bainivalu has stressed the importance of incorporating traditional knowledge and practices into fisheries management strategies at the 21st Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting in Suva, Fiji. Bainivalu said Pacific Island nations have with the deep relations with the ocean and emphasised the need to learn from ancestral wisdom to ensure sustainable fisheries...

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) opened its 21st annual meeting today with Chairwoman Dr Josie Tamate, emphasising the critical importance of sustainable marine resource management in the Pacific region. Dr Tamate highlighted the region's significant global impact with the Western and Central Pacific Ocean providing over 50 percent of the world's tuna supply - a multi-billion-dollar industry...

By Nic Maclellan It began five years ago, as an exercise amongst law students at the Emalus campus of the University of the South Pacific in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Now, in the Netherlands, the Republic of Vanuatu will open presentations before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 2 December, seeking an advisory opinion on climate change and human rights. The ICJ...

Torn between the defenders of the world’s seabeds and industrialists eager to exploit the vast, untapped resources of the deep, the international community faces a crucial year that could decide the future of mining in the high seas. “It feels like a real crunch point,” Louisa Casson of Greenpeace International told AFP. “We are seeing surging momentum for a moratorium (on...