PINA

The king of Tonga has criticised the country’s parliament for what he says is a failure by the government to combat the country’s problems with drug addiction, in a move that has been welcomed by politicians and civil society groups. King Tupou VI addressed Tongan parliament before the parliamentary session closed last week, urging politicians and nobles to commit time...

Fiji has recorded 52 new cases of COVID-19 and two new deaths Monday, increasing the total number of cases to 50,737 and 590 deaths since the outbreak in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 17 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 13,045 active cases. “There have been...

Tourism “touches almost every part of our economies and societies”, enabling the historically marginalised, and “those at risk of being left behind, to benefit from development”, declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday, marking World Tourism Day. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism could result in a more than US$4 trillion loss to the global economy, according to a...

By Jonathan Watts A short bureaucratic note from a brutally degraded microstate in the South Pacific to a little-known institution in the Caribbean is about to change the world. Few people are aware of its potential consequences, but the impacts are certain to be far-reaching. The only question is whether that change will be to the detriment of the...

Leaders who cannot summon the courage to unveil the commitments and policy packages at COP26 should not bother booking a flight to Glasgow. Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama said instead, those leaders and the selfish interests they stand for should face consequences. Bainimarama said the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) are demanding net-zero emissions and accepting zero excuses. He said at COP26, the...

In her address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa called for more climate action to fight the impacts of climate change in the region. Mata'afa said the real challenge for Pacific communities is about action for survival. “We all need to shoulder our responsibilities and play our part,” Mata'afa said in her address to...

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has called on the big carbon emitters of the world to own up and apologise to small island states including PNG who are victims of climate change. He made the call in his PNG Country Statement to the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United General Assembly on Friday the 24th...

Pacific Island leaders speaking in the UN General Assembly on Saturday underlined the need for global solidarity, commitment and action to tackle COVID-19 and climate change, two crises which threaten sustainable development. Referring to the recent UN Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda, for a better, greener, and safer future for all, Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama outlined what that vision...

Three days after the Fijian Parliament passed a ground-breaking Climate Change Bill, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama delivered a challenge to developed countries at the United Nations General Assembly to follow Fiji's lead in legislating a net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050. Fiji is the seventh country in the world -- and the first Small Island Developing State -- to pass...

-Vanuatu is asking the International Court of Justice to issue an opinion on the rights of present and future generations to be protected from the adverse impacts of climate change. Vanuatu, with a population of some 280,000 people spread across roughly 80 islands, is among more than a dozen Pacific island nations facing rising sea levels and more regular storms...