PINA

Marshall Islands President David Kabua would have attended this week's first in-person meeting of Pacific Islands Forum leaders if members of his own government had not derailed an effort in February to undo legislatively-binding action to terminate the country's membership in the premier regional organisation. At a critical time in regional politics - with geopolitical manoeuvring by China and the...

By Nic Maclellan For Jean-Christophe Bouissou, Vice President of French Polynesia, the 51st Pacific Islands Forum is an opportunity to highlight the ongoing challenge of climate change for the five archipelagos of Maohi Nui. “A central focus of this week in Fiji is the climate risk and the impacts on the environment and biodiversity, as well as the impact on people’s...

The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Monday renewed their commitment and reaffirmed the region's solidarity in advancing climate action and ocean conservation. This was conveyed this evening at the “Blue Pacific Leaders Oceans Panel,” with the theme, “Ocean Leadership, Innovation and Partnerships,” convened during the first day of the 51st Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting in Suva. The discussions amongst the...

Monday marked a momentous achievement for Fiji and the Solomon Islands as Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare signed a Maritime Boundaries Delimitation Agreement, to demarcate their shared maritime boundaries. The Agreement was signed at the Blue Pacific High-Level Panel Event on Ocean Leadership at the Grand Pacific Hotel this evening, along the margins of the 51st...

By Nic Maclellan For the first time since 2019, presidents and prime ministers from around the region will gather face-to-face in Suva this week, to continue the 51st Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting. The centrepiece of the summit will be the adoption of the 2050 Strategy for a Blue Pacific Continent, a new framework to guide collective action on key regional...

By Nic Maclellan Last December, the Pacific Islands Forum sent a ministerial mission to New Caledonia, to monitor the conduct of the third referendum on self-determination under the Noumea Accord. Their report, obtained by Islands Business, is sharply critical of the referendum process. A large delegation from New Caledonia, led by President Louis Mapou, is in Suva this week for...

By Pita Ligaiula Members of the Pacific ACP subregion met in Fiji Monday on the fringes of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting to finalise a new partnership agreement with the European Union (EU). The pacific has develop a protocol under the EU framework agreement, which prioritises environment and climate change, inclusive and sustainable development and ocean seas and fisheries. The...

Kiribati's sudden withdrawal from the Pacific Islands Forum without wider political discussion by the government is out of order, the country's opposition leader and its first president Sir Ieremia Tabai says. The Kiribati government gave the Pacific Islands Forum secretary general a letter on Saturday, that said they were withdrawing from the body immediately. The latest Forum summit is now underway...

By Pita Ligaiula Solomon Islands has made its intention known to the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMMM) that it wants to host the next Forum Leaders Meeting in 2023. This was part of the Forum Foreign Ministers communique released Friday. Vanuatu is next in line in the rotation to host the Forum Leaders Meeting but the communique noted Solomon...

With climate change causing the sea to rise around them, the Pacific island of Tuvalu is calling on New Zealand to provide more support for their survival. Tuvalu foreign minister Simon Kofe told Barbara Dreaver for Q+A that “more needs to be done” by bigger countries, and that “it’s an issue of justice” given the scale of emissions produced by...