PINA

By Pita Ligaiula in Glasgow Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama took to the podium at the COP26 opening in Glasgow with another brusque and no-nonsense attack against leaders who make pledges without plans, or those he said pursue a policy of appeasement. Bainimarama dropped no names in his fiery three-minutes address at the first part of the High Level Segment session...

By Pita Ligaiula in Glasgow The two days World Leaders’ Summit on Climate change opened Monday with UN Secretary General António Guterres calling for greater ambition on mitigation and immediate concrete action to reduce global emissions by 45 percent by 2030. “The science is clear. We know what to do. “First, we must keep the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius alive. “This...

By Pita Ligaiula in Glasgow Pacific Ocean Commissioner Henry Puna has called on everyone to work together to save the ocean, save ourselves, our children and our future. “This is our legacy.” Puna made the remarks at the High level launch of the ‘Third Because the Ocean Declaration’ that was held at the University of Edinburgh on Sunday, as part of...

By Pita Ligaiula in Glasgow Tuvalu’s disappearing islands has led to the tiny Pacific nation to sue major developed nations for the severe damage caused by climate change. Tuvalu and Antigua and Barbuda signed a pact Sunday to hold large nations accountable for climate change damage. The development comes as world leaders are meeting in Glasgow for the United Nations Climate...

The Tongan Government has announced that the main island Tongatapu will go into lockdown from midnight after the discovery of the first case of Covid-19 in the Kingdom last week. The island, where most of the population live, will be going into lockdown from one minute past midnight yesterday. It will stay in place until next Sunday. RNZ Pacific's correspondent in...

As the World Leaders Summit opened on day two of COP26, UN chief António Guterres sent a stark message to the international community. “We are digging our own graves”, he said, referring to the addiction to fossil fuels which threatens to push humanity and the planet, to the brink, through unsustainable global heating. It was a grey and windy morning,...

Pacific Island delegations at COP26 have a “home away from home” within the venue. Known as the Moana Blue Pacific, this hub will support our 140 island delegates as they strategise and plan across the two weeks of climate change negotiations. The Twenty-Sixth Conference of the Parties to the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) is reported to have...

By Pita Ligaiula in Glasgow Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna says the world must act now to keep 1.5degrees alive”. Speaking to PACNEWS in Glasgow, Puna said Forum Island Countries (FICs) are calling for more ambitious targets from major polluting nations to ensure that carbon emission cuts keep temperature rise at no more than 1.5 degrees. “That is really the...

By Pita Ligaiula in Glasgow Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna has welcomed the new climate policy announced by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Morrison announced last week that Australia will join the developed world in pursuing a net zero emissions by 2050 but its formal target for 2030 remains unchanged - a reduction in 26-28 percent in emissions Forum...

By Pita Ligaiula in Glasgow Pacific nations are on the frontlines of climate change because of rising sea levels risk having the smallest voice at the crucial COP26 talks this week due to COVID-19 pandemic. PACNEWS understands only three Pacific leaders from Fiji, Tuvalu and Palau are in Glasgow this week for climate change talks. Low-lying Pacific islands are being battered by...