PINA

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...

Word leaders must address the “inequity and reduce the “artificial barriers” that hinder small countries from accessing climate finance needed to address the climate crisis, Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last week. “We urge the UN to address this inequity and reduce the artificial barriers to allowing small countries...

Fiji has recorded 54 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday increasing the total number of cases in the island nation to 50,685 and 588 deaths since the outbreak in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said there have been 99 new recoveries to report since the last update, which means that there are now 13,022 active cases. “There have been...

Nauru President Lionel Aingimea said last Thursday at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that Taiwan has made exemplary contributions globally in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, including to his own country. In his address at the 76th session of the UNGA, Aingimea said Nauru has made significant progress in its COVID-19 vaccination effort and its overall response to...

A new trade facilitation project was launched last week by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to streamline customs clearance processes in the Pacific region and to generate efficiencies facilitating international trade. The project titled “Improving Pacific Islands Customs and Trade” (IMPACT) worth EUR 10 million(US$11.7 million) seeks to optimise border and...

I join Forum Leaders in commemorating and promoting International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September. A day that once again reminds us of our painful nuclear legacy where our Blue Pacific Continent was subjected for five consecutive decades to the scourge of these deadly weapons following World War II. Sadly, we continue to confront these...

Pacific Leaders met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on 23 September 2021 in a virtual meeting held on the margins of the high-level week of the seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. Fijian Prime Minister and Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Voreqe Bainimarama, opened the meeting, commemorating 50 years of Pacific regionalism and collective action as...