PACNEWS THREE, 31 AUGUST 2026

In this bulletin:

1. PACFIFIC — Palau President Whipps pushes for fixed annual Forum date
2. PACIFIC — Kiribati President Maamau hands Small Island States Chair to Palau
3. PACIFIC — Palau takes SIS Chair, President Whipps calls for results that reach the people
4. PACIFIC — SIS Leaders urged to turn 2025 decisions into action
5. PACIFIC — Climate demands are now backed by international law: Pacific Elders tell Forum Leaders
6. PACIFIC — Pacific Leaders urged to seek AUKUS assurances over Nuclear-Free Treaty
7. PACIFIC — Advantage Australia in Pacific contest but risks await
8. PACIFIC — Taiwan-friendly Palau changes Pacific Forum dynamic
9. PACNEWS BIZ — Palau President Whipps calls for Pacific Airline alliance to cut travel costs
10. PACNEWS BIZ — U.S and Taiwan say China used travel advisory to undermine Palau
11. PACNEWS BIZ — Naoero President Adeang launches construction of 212-room hotel in Anabar
12. PACNEWS BIZ — Report flags gaps in checks for $226.1m COVID cash programme: Fiji Auditor General
13. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Pacific Islands need more than Climate Finance — They need the capacity to use it
14. PACNEWS DIGEST — Sea‑level rise, fuel shortages and missile tests top the agenda as Albanese heads to Palau for Pacific talks

PAC – FORUM LEADERS MEET: PACNEWS PACNEWS 3: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Palau President Whipps pushes for fixed annual Forum date

By Pita Ligaiula

KOROR, 31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS)—Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr says he will push Forum Leaders to set a fixed annual date for the Pacific Islands Forum, arguing that inconsistent scheduling is making it harder to secure full attendance

Whipps said a predictable date would allow leaders and governments to plan their national and parliamentary schedules around the region’s most important political gathering.

“One of the things that we want to discuss, I want to bring up with the leaders, is fixing a date as to when we would have a Forum.

“So that everybody can plan yearly that they know that this is the Forum day that is within everybody’s schedule,” he told Journalists in Koror.

Whipps compared the idea to the scheduling of meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN).

“That’s the way to build it so that it becomes like ASEAN, that every leader is able to be there because it’s at a time that everybody agrees to,” he said.

He said the changing dates of past Forum meetings showed the need for a more consistent arrangement.

“Just back in history, we had a Forum here. One was in July. The other one was in October. Now we’re doing one in August and September

“So obviously we don’t have a fixed date on these Forums, and we’ve got to work on it,” Whipps said.

The issue of leadership attendance and regional coordination is expected to feature prominently as Palau hosts the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting this week.

Whipps said he had received no update on whether leaders who were expected to attend the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting but had not yet arrived would still make it to Palau.

“I don’t know. I haven’t had any update,” he said when asked about the attendance of regional leaders.

Whipps said the absence of some leaders presented challenges but noted that no Forum meeting in the organisation’s history had brought together every leader.

“Every Forum, all the Leaders are invited. But we all understand that sometimes there are internal challenges that we cannot manage, especially in parliamentary systems,” he said.

He acknowledged that full participation would strengthen regional unity.

“It’s pretty hard to speak with one voice if they’re not here.

“If you go back in time, there’s no Forum where all leaders are there. We want to get to that point,” Whipps said……PACNEWS

PAC – SIS LEADERS MEETING: PACNEWS PACNEWS 3: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Kiribati President Maamau hands Small Island States Chair to Palau

By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau

KOROR/TARAWA, PALAU, 31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS) — Kiribati President Taneti Maamau has called for stronger advocacy and support for Small Island States as he handed over the chairmanship of the group to Palau.

Addressing the Small Island States Leaders Meeting in Koror virtually from Tarawa, Maamau said the meeting provided an important opportunity for island countries to develop common solutions to the complex challenges they face.

“It is a privilege and an opportunity to converge ideas and solutions for the complex challenges that we face, especially as Small Island States,” Maamau said.

Maamau said it had been a privilege for Kiribati to serve as Chair of the Small Island States over the past year.

He said leaders had agreed at their meeting in Manila last year on two major tasks to reconsider the key characteristics that define Small Island States and to sharpen their collective priorities.

Maamau said the work was expected to strengthen the group’s approach to international advocacy and improve support for the development and financing needs of Small Island States.

“I am hopeful that these tasks will support a strengthened approach to advocacy and funding for the development of our Small Island States economies,” he said.

Maamau expressed confidence that Palau would continue the work and raise the political visibility of Small Island States at both regional and global levels.

“I am also confident that the incoming Chair will take on this future with the confidence and innovation necessary to heighten political visibility, engagement and support both in the region and globally,” he said.

He thanked fellow leaders for their support during Kiribati’s chairmanship and acknowledged the work of senior officials, the Small Island States Working Group, national administrations, the Secretariat and relevant international agencies.

“I thank colleagues for their trust and support.

“With those remarks, and in accordance with our established practice, I seek the support of members for Palau to assume the chairmanship of the Small Island States,” Maamau said.

The handover gives Palau another leadership role during a week in which it is also hosting the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting and preparing to assume the chairmanship of the Pacific Islands Forum….PACNEWS

PACIFIC – SIS LEADERS MEETING: PACNEWS PACNEWS 3: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Palau takes SIS Chair, President Whipps calls for results that reach the people

By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau

KOROR, 31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS) — Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr has called on Small Island States (SIS) leaders to focus on practical outcomes for their people as Palau assumed the chairmanship of the Small Island States group.

Addressing the Small Island States Leaders Meeting in Koror, President Whipps thanked outgoing Chair Kiribati President Taneti Maamau for his leadership over the past year and said Palau was honoured to host the meeting and the wider 55th Pacific Islands Forum this week.

“It is a deep honour for the people and Government of Palau to be able to host this engagement, as well as the broader 55th Pacific Islands Forum this week,” Whipps said.

He paid tribute to Maamau and the Government of Kiribati for their stewardship of the Small Island States and the work undertaken over the past year.

“May I offer my deep appreciation to President Maamau and the Government of Kiribati for their stewardship of the Small Island States over the past year and for guiding the work that is now before us,” Whipps said.

Whipps said Palau’s theme for the Forum — BELAU: Building Economies, Livelihoods, Action and Unity — reflected the need to ensure economic growth translated into real benefits for Pacific people.

“Building stronger economies is not an end in itself.

“It must elevate the livelihoods of our people, create tangible, sustainable opportunities for our economies and unite us in ongoing efforts to deepen regionalism through integration,” he said.

He said it was significant that the Small Island States Leaders Meeting was the first leaders’ meeting to take place during Forum week.

“The clarity and unity that we establish will ensure a stronger SIS voice in the wider Forum deliberations this week,” Whipps said.

The incoming SIS Chair said leaders must judge their decisions by the results they deliver rather than simply by the agreements and statements they produce.

“The value of our decisions will be measured not only by the language we agree to, but by the tangible outcomes that they generate for our people,” Whipps said.

He said this was how the Small Island States could give practical meaning to the Forum’s theme of livelihoods, action and unity.

Whipps thanked senior officials who had worked throughout the year to prepare proposals for leaders’ consideration and said the responsibility now rested with leaders.

“The onus is on us now to consider how best we can position ourselves to ensure that we are able to advance these matters in a constructive and positive manner,” he said.

Calling for focused discussions, Whipps urged fellow leaders to be direct in their deliberations.

“I encourage us to be concise and candid in our reflections today,” he said.

Palau’s assumption of the SIS chairmanship comes as the country hosts the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, where Small Island States will seek to strengthen their collective position on key regional and international issues…..PACNEWS

PACIFIC – SIS LEADERS MEETING: PACNEWS PACNEWS 3: Mon 31 Aug 2026

SIS Leaders urged to turn 2025 decisions into action

By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau

KOROR, 31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS) —Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa has urged Small Island States (SIS) leaders to turn decisions made last year into practical action, as Palau takes over the chairmanship of the grouping.

Addressing the Small Island States Leaders Meeting in Koror, Waqa congratulated Palau on assuming the chair and acknowledged Kiribati for its leadership over the past year.

“At the outset, allow me to congratulate Palau on achieving the chairmanship of the Small Island States and acknowledge Kiribati for its leadership over the past year,” Waqa said.

He said the matters before leaders were aimed at implementing decisions taken in 2025.

“Leaders, the work before you today gives effect to the decisions you took in 2025,” he said.

Waqa said officials had recommended modernised membership criteria for the Small Island States grouping.

“Your officials have recommended a modernised membership criteria that retains structural smallness as its foundation and preserves the collective judgement of Small Island States members,” he said.

The proposed changes are intended to provide clearer criteria while maintaining the ability of SIS members to make collective decisions about the membership and direction of the grouping.

Officials have also recommended eight areas of work to provide greater clarity under the four priorities endorsed by SIS leaders last year.

Waqa said the recommendations would provide the basis for coordinated implementation from 2027.

“They have also recommended eight areas that provide greater clarity under the four priorities endorsed last year and establish a basis for coordinated implementation in 2027,” he said.

The Forum Secretary General said the proposals were based on common principles.

“Both proposals are grounded in the same principles – member ownership, practical delivery and the use of existing regional arrangements rather than parallel structures,” Waqa said.

The emphasis on existing regional arrangements is intended to avoid creating new institutions or processes where existing mechanisms can be used to deliver agreed priorities.

Waqa said the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, foreign affairs officials and regional agencies were ready to support leaders in implementing their decisions.

“As your Secretary General, the Forum Secretariat, in partnership with CROP agencies present here today, stand ready to support the decisions you take and, in particular, the development of the 2027 implementation work plans following your endorsement,” he said.

He wished leaders success in their deliberations as they considered the recommendations and the next steps for the Small Island States grouping.

Before concluding his remarks, Waqa also congratulated Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown on his successful re-election and return as Prime Minister.

“Another congratulatory note to Prime Minister Brown of Cook Islands for a successful re-election and your appointment again as Prime Minister,” Waqa said.

The Small Island States Leaders Meeting is the first major leaders’ engagement ahead of the wider 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting being hosted by Palau in Koror…..PACNEWS

PACFIFIC – FORUM LEADERS MEET/CLIMATE CHANGE: PACNEWS PACNEWS 3: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Climate demands are now backed by international law: Pacific Elders tell Forum Leaders

By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau

KOROR, 31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS) —Pacific Elders have told Forum Leaders that climate demands made by the region a decade ago can no longer be treated as political requests following last year’s landmark International Court of Justice advisory opinion.

The Pacific Elders’ Voice (PEV) released its Declaration on Climate Change at the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting in Palau, marking 10 years since Pacific leaders adopted the Suva Declaration in September 2015.

The Declaration sets out 11 demands and three pathways for action, calling on major emitting and responsible States to end fossil fuel subsidies, stop new fossil fuel exploration and production licensing, strengthen national climate plans and provide greater financial support for Pacific countries.

It also calls for adaptation finance for Pacific Small Island Developing States to be provided as grants rather than debt, and for the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage to be capitalised at a level that reflects the scale of climate-related harm.

The central argument of the Declaration is that the legal position of Pacific countries has changed.

Pacific leaders and communities have long argued that major emitters have responsibilities to act on climate change and support countries suffering its consequences.

The Elders say the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion in July 2025 has strengthened that position by confirming that States have binding obligations to protect the climate system.

“The ground has shifted,” the Declaration states, arguing that what the Pacific sought in 2015 as a matter of justice can now be asserted with the backing of international law.

Anote Tong, Chair of the Pacific Elders’ Voice and former President of Kiribati, said the Pacific’s message had remained consistent for more than a decade.

“A decade ago our Leaders described what was coming and were told that it was premature.

“The World Court has now unanimously agreed with our original claims for attention and justice.

“Our case has not changed. What has changed is that our claims are now international law and what is owed to the Pacific islands,” Tong said.

Among its demands, the Declaration calls on responsible States to cease subsidising fossil fuels and end new exploration and production licences.

It also calls for Nationally Determined Contributions, or national climate plans, to meet a standard capable of withstanding legal scrutiny.

The Elders rejected carbon removal and solar radiation modification as substitutes for cutting emissions at their source.

They said such approaches should not replace the need for States to reduce and eventually end activities driving climate change.

The Declaration also renewed Pacific calls for adaptation finance to be delivered without adding to the debt burdens of vulnerable island countries.

The Elders said the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage must be capitalised at a level that has a credible relationship to the scale of climate damage already being experienced.

Pacific countries have repeatedly argued that international climate finance remains too slow, difficult to access and insufficient to meet the growing costs of climate impacts.

The Declaration argues that countries responsible for breaching their climate obligations must face consequences, including ending harmful conduct, preventing its repetition and addressing the damage caused.

The Declaration also reaffirmed that sea-level rise must not undermine the statehood, sovereignty or maritime zones of Pacific nations.

It said the movement of Pacific peoples must be a matter of choice rather than something forced by climate change.

Former Palau President and Pacific Elders’ Voice founding member Tommy Remengesau said the region’s strength remained its collective position.

“The strength of the region is its unity and consistency,” Remengesau said.

“Leadership may have changed but the issues remain the same or are even more challenging.”

He said the Elders’ statement was a reminder that many of the issues raised by a united Pacific a decade ago remained unresolved.

“The PEV statement is a stark reminder that much of what a united Pacific voice embarked on and said over 10 years ago is still relevant today, but the need for action is more compelling,” Remengesau said.

The Declaration comes ahead of the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level meeting on sea-level rise, the Pacific pre-COP meeting in Fiji and COP31.

The Pacific Elders are urging Forum Leaders to carry a stronger message into those meetings, arguing that the region is no longer simply appealing for climate action.

Their message is that the legal and scientific case has moved beyond debate.

The Pacific, the Declaration argues, is now demanding that States meet obligations that have been recognised under international law.

“Our case has not changed,” Tong said. “What has changed is that our claims are now international law,” he said….PACNEWS

PAC – DIPLOMACY: PACNEWS PACNEWS 3: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Pacific Leaders urged to seek AUKUS assurances over Nuclear-Free Treaty

By Pita Ligaiula in Koror Palau

KOROR/CANBERRA, 31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS)—-Pacific Island leaders meeting in Palau this week have been urged to seek clear assurances from Australia that the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement will not breach the Treaty of Rarotonga and the region’s nuclear-free status.

AUKUS Public Inquiry lead Commissioner Peter Garrett said the inquiry had heard legal evidence raising concerns about Australia’s obligations under the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty.

“The inquiry has already heard from credible legal experts that the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine pact risks breaching the Treaty of Rarotonga, to which Australia is a signatory,” Garrett said.

The issue comes as Pacific leaders gather in Palau for the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, where regional security, ocean governance and the region’s relationship with major powers are expected to feature in discussions.

Garrett said the Pacific’s commitment to remaining a nuclear-free region was well established.

“It is well understood that the Pacific community highly values its nuclear-free status and that the Treaty of Rarotonga is strongly supported across the region,” he said.

Garrett said Australia should provide greater clarity over the planned rotation of United States and United Kingdom nuclear-powered submarines through Australian ports and waters under AUKUS.

“By agreeing to the regular rotation of U.S. and UK nuclear-powered submarines — on occasion likely nuclear armed — through Australian ports and waters, the Australian Government risks violating both the spirit and the letter of this important South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty,” he said.

He said Pacific leaders should seek assurances from the Australian Government that AUKUS arrangements would not undermine regional commitments under the Treaty of Rarotonga.

The independent, crowdfunded Public Inquiry into AUKUS is examining Australia’s commitment to spend nearly $400 billion on eight nuclear-powered submarines.

The inquiry is asking whether AUKUS will improve Australia’s security and what economic, environmental and strategic costs may be involved.

More than 700 written submissions have been received so far, with public hearings already held in Melbourne, Fremantle, Adelaide, Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and Brisbane.

A special two-day hearing is scheduled to be held in Canberra on 02 -03 September.

The inquiry is continuing to receive submissions and evidence as it examines the legal, strategic and financial implications of the AUKUS agreement…..PACNEWS

PACIFIC – FORUM LEADERS MEET: AAP PACNEWS 3: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Advantage Australia in Pacific contest but risks await

CANBERRA/KOROR, 31 AUGUST 2026 (AAP)—Anthony Albanese is heading to the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting against the backdrop of Australia’s strategic ascendancy in the region.

The prime minister has landed a string of deals underpinning Australia’s essential place in the Pacific, raising eyebrows among many.

Papua New Guinea and Fiji are becoming Australia’s first new defence allies in more than 70 years, following the signing of the Ocean of Peace Alliance in Suva in July and a landmark agreement with PNG in late 2025.

Port Moresby is getting an NRL side in a $600 million (US$430 million) spend-up on rugby league across the region.

An Australia-backed regional police force – which will be on hand to help during the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Palau from Sunday – and the Joint Heads of Pacific Security alliance are gaining strength.

This comes on top of existing treaties with Tuvalu and Nauru and steady progress towards a fresh pact with Solomon Islands.

And as luck might have it, one of the most pro-Beijing administrations in the region, Jeremiah Manele’s Solomon Islands government, was recently replaced by a more Canberra-friendly government led by Matthew Wale.

Australia is also the region’s largest aid donor, providing more than a third of total official development assistance in the Pacific, according to the most recent figures analysed by the Lowy Institute.

If the Pacific is – as Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said in 2024 – in a “state of permanent contest” between China and the West, Australia is currently kicking with the island breeze.

“Australia has definitely had some great advances,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute defence programme director Mick Hughes told AAP.

“All of these treaties speak to an integration agenda which achieves many things.

“One of the key things it achieves in a strategic competition sense is an inoculation against China’s malign influence.”

Australia’s haste comes after years of patient engagement in the region.

Senator Wong visited all Pacific Islands Forum member nations after Labor won government in 2022, while Albanese built relationships with key counterparts such as James Marape in PNG and Sitiveni Rabuka in Fiji.

Australia has stepped up those efforts in recent years in response to China’s heightened diplomacy.

The strategic contest was underlined in July when Beijing conducted its first public test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile in international waters in the South Pacific.

The nuclear-capable missile landed in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, drawing condemnation from many members.

It did not, however, earn a rebuke from the Pacific Islands Forum, which takes stances by consensus, after not all 18 members agreed.

“The failure to reach consensus on a statement condemning the Chinese missile test was quite a bellwether for where we’re at,” Lowy Institute fellow Connor Graham told AAP.

“The rhetoric of Pacific unity is escaping the reality.”

The logjam caused by consensus decision-making has led to a series of reviews expected to be put under the microscope in Palau.

But Australia is not waiting for reform to achieve its goals in the region.

Australia’s spate of deal-making and new inter-governmental policing and security arrangements speak to what Senator Wong has outlined as the central goal of Australian foreign policy.

“The purpose of our foreign policy is to expand the international space in which a nation can operate, to increase its options and to maximise its choices,” she said in a speech earlier in August.

“(It is) more pressing than ever in a world where it is increasingly difficult for middle powers and smaller nations to simply hold the strategic space they have, let alone expand it.

“The first priority must be the region, because this is where Australia has the most on the line.”

These ambitions and new arrangements, however, sit uncomfortably with many – not just in China, but across the Pacific too.

At the annual Pacific Dialogue on Security and Geopolitics, held without Australian and New Zealand involvement, Pacific policymakers and elders shared deep frustrations that their countries have been sidelined from leadership roles.

They say China’s aggression is unwanted; but so is a military response.

“The clear theme … is growing concern at the speed by which Australia is creating this hub-and-spokes security architecture,” Massey University associate professor Anna Powles told AAP.

“It is undermining the region’s concerns around securitisation and militarisation in the region.

“From Canberra’s perspective, the security challenge posed by China was moving at pace, hence the speed with which Australia has pursued security arrangements.”

The summit in Palau is shaping up as a fascinating check-in on regional dynamics given the host nation is one of just three Pacific states that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan, rather than Beijing.

It means Taiwan – and by extension, Australia and other western-aligned powers – enjoy a home-ground advantage.

With Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr allowing “dialogue partners” such as China, France and the U.S to attend alongside Taiwan – a specially-designated “development partner” – the likelihood of a China-Taiwan flashpoint looms large.

Climate financing and energy resilience, deep-sea mining and the would-be states of West Papua and Bougainville will also be on the forum leaders’ minds.

A range of regional and bilateral meetings will also take place alongside forum formalities, while advocacy groups will stage a host of events.

Organisers expect more than 2000 attendees from across the globe, straining the stunning Micronesian nation’s capital of Koror, home to about 12,000 people…PACNEWS

PAC – DIPLOMACY: AAP PACNEWS 3: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Taiwan-friendly Palau changes Pacific Forum dynamic

KOROR, 31 AUGUST 2026 (AAP)—There are many factors that make postcard-perfect Palau a peculiar host for this year’s Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting.

It’s remote and closer to the Philippines than any other PIF member. It’s attached to the U.S after signing a free association pact with Washington DC in 1994.

And it’s well-off for the region, thanks to that US tie-up, and a lucrative tourism industry.

But Palau’s most relevant anomaly ahead of this week’s summit is its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, which upends the table from recent gatherings.

It is the first time since 2019 that a Taiwan-recognising nation is playing host to the region.

Which means that any talk of strategic competition in the region will put China on the back foot.

“The environment of holding this PIF in Palau really highlights the geo-strategic challenge going on,” Robert Underwood, the director of the Pacific Centre for Island Security, tells AAP.

That recognition places Taiwan on an almost-even playing field when it comes to its diplomatic efforts in the region.

With the support of its local embassy, Taiwan has sent a large delegation of officials, led by its foreign minister, and even staged a pre-summit symposium for delegates.

However, engaging directly will be a no-go for political attendees.

Given Taiwan’s fierce competition with superpower China, Beijing insists that countries which recognise it – the vast majority of states – do not develop relationships with the self-governing island.

Dr Underwood, the US House of Representatives member for nearby Guam from 1993-2003, said Beijing’s assertiveness had extended to asking Pacific nations for proactive statements of support.

“In advance of going to PIF they’ve wanted to reinforce (other countries) saying they won’t be interacting or participating in any Taiwan-led or Taiwan-friendly events,” he said.

The same does not apply to Palau President Surangel Whipps, who is known in the region for being “the leading advocate of a U.S-led Pacific”.

Under Whipps’ leadership, Palau is upgrading U.S military facilities across its archipelago, a move that has raised eyebrows given its eco-tourism credentials.

Dr Underwood said that came down to a power shift in the region over the last half-century, as shown by China’s nuclear-capable missile test last month.

“The whole Micronesian area (used to) function as an American lake and Guam was the centrepiece with every imaginable military tool available in order to project power,” he said.

“But now that China is on the ascendancy and has demonstrated that by the missile test and by the maturation of their navy … that changes the dynamics.

“All of the militarisation here and in Guam is now offered as a defensive posture rather than an offensive too,” he said…PACNEWS

PACNEWS BIZ

PAC – AIRLINES/CONNECTIVITY: PACNEWS PACNEWS BIZ: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Palau President Whipps calls for Pacific Airline alliance to cut travel costs

By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau

KOROR, PALAU, 31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS) — Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr has called for Pacific island countries to consider creating a regional airline alliance as part of efforts to tackle high airfares and freight costs facing smaller island states.

Speaking to Pacific media on the sidelines of the Small Island States Leaders Meeting in Koror, Whipps said the meeting was aimed at strengthening multilateralism and building stronger engagement between Pacific countries and their development partners.

“The whole purpose of the SIS Meeting is to strengthen multilateralism and to really come together and let our partners know how they can engage, how they can support the Pacific Islands and how can we build a positive Pacific,”

“That’s the goal.” Whipps told Journalists in Koror.

Whipps said high travel costs could not be addressed simply through more studies or meetings and that Pacific countries needed to look at practical ways of increasing competition and cooperation among regional carriers.

“The high cost of flight, you need competition. You need to build alliances,” he said.

He said major airlines around the world had strengthened their market position through alliances, while Pacific carriers largely continued to operate outside such arrangements.

“One of the things that we’ve noticed is that as the world, the big airlines have created all these alliances, Pacific carriers are not part of any of these alliances

“Maybe we need to build our own alliance and be able to work together to leverage that capability,” Whipps claims.

He highlighted several Pacific airlines that could potentially work more closely together.

“We have Air Niugini, Solomon Airlines, Fiji Airways, Nauru Airlines. Why don’t we have one Pacific alliance?” Whipps asked.

“These are things that we have to work on together.”

The proposal comes as Pacific island countries continue to face some of the world’s highest transport costs, with expensive air travel and freight affecting tourism, trade, access to services and the cost of living…..PACNEWS

PAC – TRAVEL ADVISORY: RNZ PACIFIC PACNEWS BIZ: Mon 31 Aug 2026

U.S and Taiwan say China used travel advisory to undermine Palau

KOROR, 31 AUGUST 2026 (RNZ PACIFIC)—The United States and Taiwan governments have accused China of trying to use a travel advisory notice to undermine Palau on the eve of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) leaders summit in Koror.

A travel warning posted on China’s Consular Service website on 19 August called on Chinese citizens “to exercise caution when traveling to Palau”. It cited “a number of theft and robbery cases targeting tourists, resulting in significant losses for the victims”.

The U.S Embassy in Koror denounced the notice on Sunday, calling it an attack.

“We call on Beijing to cease all its coercive activities against Palau,” the U.S statement read.

“The U.S Travel Advisory for Palau remains at Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions, reflecting our continued assessment of Palau as a generally safe destination for US travellers.”

Palau president’s office shared the .US Embassy statement, but stopped short of denying China’s claims.

“Palau remains a safe, peaceful, and welcoming destination for visitors from around the world,” it said instead.

The Taiwanese embassy in Palau echoed US sentiments, calling the advisory an “attempt to politicise and weaponise tourism.”

“Such actions only further demonstrate Beijing’s use of economic coercion to expand its political influence and will only generate greater concern and resentment within the international community,” it said.

Both China and Taiwan are at PIF Leaders Meeting as dialogue and development partner states.

Palau, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu are the only PIF member states that recognise Taiwan….PACNEWS

NAOERO – HOTEL INDUSTRY: PACNEWS PACNEWS BIZ: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Naoero President Adeang launches construction of 212-room hotel in Anabar

YAREN,31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS) — Naoero President David Adeang has launched construction of a major new 212-room hotel development in Anabar, with the first phase scheduled to be operational by January 2027.

President Adeang, representing Eigigu Holdings Corporation (EHC), joined a representative of Japanese joint venture partner Sakurajuji to mark the start of construction with the first cement pour for the hotel’s foundation.

The development will cover about 35 acres across two land portions in Anabar and includes a 230-metre beachfront.

Speaking before the groundbreaking, President Adeang outlined the scale of the project, which will be built in three phases.

Phase One will include 84 rooms, including a presidential suite, a conference facility and two international-standard restaurants. Phases Two and Three will each add a further 64 rooms.

The project will bring the total number of rooms to 212.

The hotel development is a joint venture between Eigigu Holdings Corporation and Asia Medical Care Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Japan’s Sakurajuji Group.

President Adeang welcomed Sakurajuji representative Tatsuya Haga, who also serves as Chief Secretary in the office of Nauru’s Honorary Consul in Tokyo.

Sakurajuji Group Chief Executive Officer Tomoki Nishikawa was unable to attend the ceremony and was represented by Haga.

The five-storey hotel will be constructed using Mineral Composite Fiber-Reinforced materials, a construction method being introduced to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time through the project.

The material is designed to resist corrosion and offers faster construction compared with conventional building methods. It is also expected to have a minimum lifespan of more than 150 years.

The building will include an accessible rooftop area offering views of the surrounding coastline.

The project marks a major investment in Nauru’s accommodation and tourism infrastructure as construction begins on the first phase of the Anabar hotel development…. PACNEWS

FIJI – AUDIT: FIJI SUN PACNEWS BIZ: Mon 31 Aug 2026

Report flags gaps in checks for $226.1m COVID cash programme: Fiji Auditor General

SUVA, 31 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI SUN) —The Auditor-General could not confirm whether Fiji’s first COVID-19 cash payment of $90(US$45), given to 118,000 applicants in May 2021, reached only one member of each household as required.

This was highlighted in the Standing Committee on Public Accounts Review Report on the Compliance Audit Report, tabled in Parliament this month.

The report said the Ministry of Finance did not provide datasets or documentation to verify that the one-member-per-household restriction had been enforced.

“The Auditor-General was unable to determine whether the requirement of restricting assistance to one household member was met,” the report said.

The audit also found that no documented risk assessment was conducted for the $226.1 million (US$113.05 million) Cash Assistance Programme, despite the Ministry having standard operating procedures in place.

The report found that key personnel managing the programme did not submit written conflict of interest declarations, while reviews and approvals of staff tasks were not formally documented.

Verification of applicants relied partly on the then Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation. However, auditors said outdated and manual data held by the ministry reduced the accuracy of eligibility checks.

The committee recommended that the Ministry of Finance document all future risk assessments and require written conflict of interest declarations from staff managing relief programmes.

It also recommended stronger verification methods when third-party data is incomplete or outdated.

Comments were sought last week from the Ministry of Finance and its Permanent Secretary, Shiri Goundar……PACNEWS

PACNEWS In Focus

The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS

Pacific Islands need more than Climate Finance — They need the capacity to use it

By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau

KOROR, 31 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS)—- For Pacific Island countries, the challenge of climate finance is not simply about securing more money.

It is also about having the capacity, institutions, systems and expertise needed to access, manage and invest that money in ways that strengthen development and build long-term resilience.

That distinction was at the centre of discussions led by Karlos Lee Moresi, Programme Adviser and Climate Finance & Resilience Team Leader at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), during a Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Regional Media Training Workshop in Palau.

Moresi said climate finance was often discussed almost entirely through the lens of international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

But, he said, negotiations were only one part of a much bigger challenge facing Pacific Island countries.

“I want to make a distinction between climate finance in the negotiation space, which is under the UNFCCC, and climate finance in terms of its application and the effectiveness of its utilisation.

“These are two quite distinct propositions,” he said

Beyond the negotiations

According to Moresi, international negotiations establish the case for climate finance by highlighting the impacts of climate change on Pacific communities, the scientific evidence and the importance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“The UNFCCC process is putting forward the why — the need for climate finance.

“That is based on the impacts that we are experiencing in the region and the established narrative around the impacts and suffering that our people are facing, as well as the ongoing challenges identified by the science,” he said

But once finance is secured, Moresi said, the focus must shift from why the Pacific needs money to how that money can be effectively used.

For the region, the ultimate question is whether climate finance can strengthen development and help Pacific communities withstand the growing risks associated with climate change.

Climate as a risk premium

Moresi described climate finance as a “risk premium on development”.

Using water security as an example, he said investment in water infrastructure was fundamentally a development need.

However, climate change creates additional risks that require additional investment.

“Water, in its primary essence, is a development need.

“But because of the expected impacts of climate change, we need additional finance on top of that. If you are doing a water security project, the impacts of climate change mean you need additional financing,” he said

The additional investment, he said, was necessary to ensure development projects could withstand the increasing impacts of climate change and continue delivering benefits over the long term.

This approach also links climate action directly to the Pacific’s broader economic and resilience agenda, including regional economic development strategies and the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific.

“The resilience development concept straight away links it into economic development,” Moresi said.

The question is how

The Pacific Climate Finance Access and Mobilisation Strategy is therefore focused not only on why the region needs climate finance, but also on the practical questions surrounding access and use.

“How do we access finance, and what do we access finance for?” Moresi asked.

Pacific countries, he said, were still not receiving the level of climate finance they needed.

But the quality of financing was equally important.

“We want the quality of access to be mostly grants-based, and it should not create further debt or financial pressure on our national systems,” he said.

For small island economies already facing debt pressures and limited fiscal space, the difference between grants and loans can have major consequences.

Climate finance, Moresi said, should help strengthen Pacific economies rather than create additional financial burdens.

A US$2.6 billion challenge

The scale of the Pacific’s climate adaptation challenge remains enormous.

Moresi said the region’s adaptation needs were estimated at about US$2.6 billion a year through to 2030, while funding available from major climate finance mechanisms remained far below what was required.

The gap means Pacific Island countries cannot rely solely on institutions such as the Green Climate Fund.

“We have to look elsewhere,” he said.

The region must broaden its financing base to include multilateral development banks, other international financial institutions, the private sector and philanthropic organisations.

“The Climate Finance Access and Mobilisation Strategy is about expanding the financing base.

“How do we access broader funding than through the Green Climate Fund or other climate funds so that we can actually meet our needs?,” he asked.

That effort requires coordination among Pacific leaders, technical experts, bilateral partners and international financial institutions.

Development banks and climate risk

Moresi also highlighted the changing role of development banks such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has increasingly positioned itself as a climate-focused development partner for the Pacific.

The shift reflects a growing recognition that climate change can threaten the very infrastructure and development investments that banks are financing.

“ADB was a heavy infrastructure development investor in the region.

“I started to realise that they also need to overlay what I call the climate premium, or the climate risk, on top of that to protect their own investment and also to extend the longevity and effectiveness of those investments in our member countries,” he said.

Climate considerations, therefore, are increasingly becoming part of mainstream development financing rather than being treated as a separate issue.

Capacity before capital

But Moresi stressed that getting more money into the Pacific was not simply a matter of asking donors and financial institutions for additional funding.

“The initial focus of the mobilisation strategy is actually on capacity and institutional strengthening,” he said.

For Pacific countries, stronger systems are needed to manage finance effectively, including public financial management, reporting, monitoring and project preparation.

“We need to capacitate our member countries to have the institutional strength and systems needed to access finance.

“We need to have our own capacity to develop projects and national development plans, identify regional priorities and have the capacity to absorb that money,” he said

This, he suggested, is one of the most important challenges facing the region.

Even when funding is available, countries must have the technical expertise and institutional systems needed to prepare projects, meet funding requirements, manage implementation and demonstrate results.

Without those systems, the Pacific risks being unable to fully benefit from the finance it has fought for in global negotiations.

Aligning national priorities

Moresi also called for stronger alignment between national development plans, national adaptation plans and national climate commitments.

“There needs to be alignment.

“We are spending a bit of time strengthening alignment across national systems, but also linking that to the regional architecture,” he said.

Stronger alignment, he said, would help ensure that climate finance is directed towards nationally identified priorities and supports broader development objectives.

Only after national systems and institutions are strengthened can Pacific Island countries maximise their ability to access and effectively use climate finance.

Building value at home

The discussion on resilience and finance also extended beyond climate change.

Moresi outlined several economic development initiatives that could come before Pacific leaders, including proposals relating to fisheries and the development of a regional fisheries fund.

The goal, he said, should be to move beyond simply exporting raw resources and instead create greater value within Pacific economies.

In fisheries, that could mean greater investment in processing, innovation, market development and new products that generate stronger economic returns for Pacific communities.

“We should be looking at innovative ways of differentiating our products instead of just selling licences and allowing fishing boats to come and take the fish away,” he said.

The same principle, he said, could apply across other Pacific industries.

Protecting Pacific identity

Moresi pointed to the region’s kava industry as another example of how Pacific countries could create greater value through ownership, identity and cultural recognition.

He said the proposed Kava Declaration was intended to explore issues of ownership, identity, trademarks and the cultural value associated with kava, while creating opportunities for Pacific countries to promote and export the product collectively.

He compared the concept with geographical protections associated with products such as Champagne.

“The plant grows elsewhere, but the term kava is very specific to the cultural practices around it,” he said.

“It gives a certain identity and a certain value, and that is what we are trying to get our leaders to agree to through a Kava Declaration,” he said

The broader objective is to ensure that Pacific resources and products generate greater value for Pacific communities.

When disaster erases development

Climate change, however, is not the only risk facing Pacific development.

Moresi warned that disasters could wipe out years of economic and social progress almost overnight, creating a different and urgent type of financing need.

“When I talk about the risk premium of human development, disasters are definitely a potential, or absolute, risk to our development,” he said.

He highlighted the experience of Pacific countries such as Fiji, where a major disaster can destroy infrastructure and livelihoods built up over many years

“Twenty-four hours can wipe away a decade of development.

“That is a totally different kind of risk and requires a different, specific kind of financing.” Moresi said.

For small island countries, the challenge is therefore not simply to finance future development, but also to protect the development gains that have already been achieved.

More than money

For Moresi, the success of climate finance in the Pacific cannot be measured simply by the amount of money pledged or announced at international conferences.

The more important test is whether Pacific Island countries have the systems, institutions, projects and long-term strategies needed to turn that finance into meaningful and lasting development.

The Pacific, he said, must continue pushing for greater and better-quality climate finance.

But it must also invest in its own ability to access, manage and absorb that funding.

In the end, the region’s climate finance challenge is about more than money.

It is about ensuring that every dollar accessed helps Pacific communities build stronger economies, protect development gains and become more resilient to a future defined by climate change and increasing disaster risks.

For the Pacific, securing climate finance is only the first step. Having the capacity to use it effectively may be just as important……PACNEWS

PACNEWS DIGEST

The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS

Sea‑level rise, fuel shortages and missile tests top the agenda as Albanese heads to Palau for Pacific talks

By Wesley Morgan

SYDNEY, 31 AUGUST 2026 (UNIVERSITY OF NSW)—Pacific nations will want Albanese to address the world’s key security threat – climate change.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Palau’s capital Koror this week for the annual Pacific Islands Forum, and regional security is expected to top the agenda.

China is testing nuclear-capable missiles in the Pacific, prompting talk of a new regional agreement. The United States-Iran war has exposed a reliance on costly fossil fuels that is undermining Pacific economies.

And as the world comes perilously close to the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature goal, a record-breaking El Nino looms in the Pacific Ocean.

But the forum will be missing key leaders – Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale made a shock departure, flying out of Palau just hours after arriving, in order to deal with a looming leadership challenge back home.

And Kiribati President Taneti Maamau, Samoan Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt, and Vanuatu’s prime minister, Jotham Napat, are also not attending. It is unclear if Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, will be present.

Pacific nations will want Albanese to address the world’s key security threat – climate change. As co-president of the COP31 climate talks in November, Australia can work with the Pacific to keep 1.5°C within reach, and secure much-needed finance for island nations at the climate frontline.

China’s missile test

Since the second world war, the United States has maintained fortified bases in the Pacific and an unrivalled deep-water navy (the U.S also regularly tests long-range missiles in the region). However, China’s investment in military capabilities has challenged the status quo.

In July, China launched a nuclear-capable test missile that flew over multiple Pacific nations and hit waters close to Tuvalu’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

This sparked calls for a new regional security agreement: Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale said China’s missile test was “not the act of a friend”.

Ironically, it was Solomons Islands that signed a security deal with China in 2022. This changed the security dynamics of a region long aligned with the U.S and Australia (notwithstanding concerns about nuclear testing and decolonisation).

Since then, Canberra has pursued a web of bilateral deals to shore up Australia’s place as Pacific security partner – first with Tuvalu (2023), then Naoero (formerly Nauru) (2024), Papua New Guinea (2025) and Vanuatu (2026). Discussions are ongoing with Tonga and Solomon Islands. The most recent agreement, an “Ocean of Peace Alliance” signed with Fiji in July, is a mutual defence pact that is open to other Pacific nations to join.

Canberra was already pursuing a treaty allowing for coordinated regional responses to disasters and other crises. China’s missile test may have opened the door for something more.

Renewables the solution to fuel crisis

The Middle East conflict has pushed the Pacific toward an energy crisis. Around 80% of the region’s energy relies on imported oil products, much of which would normally transit the Strait of Hormuz. Even before the US-Iran war, Pacific island countries spent an eye watering percentage of GDP (between 10-25% buying fossil fuels to run power plants, generators, boats and vehicles. This compares to a regional average of 8% spent on education and 6 percent on health.

The Middle East conflict has only added to the bill. According to a new report, Fiji’s annual refined fuel import costs could rise by US$375 million (AUD$520 million) if high oil prices persist. This is more than Fiji’s entire healthcare budget.

Renewable energy offers a clear solution. Replacing diesel generators with grid-scale solar and battery storage could save Pacific countries around US$700 million (AUD$520 million) each year in avoided fuel costs.

The incoming chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Palau president Surangel Whipps Jr, wants the region to become the first in the world 100 percent powered by renewables. He says investment of US$120 million (AUD$ 166 million) is needed for Palau to add 60MW of solar and battery storage, which would enable 90 percent of its power needs to be met by renewables.

Climate change remains greatest Pacific threat

When climate change was first debated at the UN Security Council in 2007, Pacific countries argued the impacts of a warming planet were “no less serious than those faced by nations and peoples threatened by guns and bombs”.

Since then, Pacific Islands Forum leaders have explicitly reaffirmed climate change is “the single greatest threat” to Pacific security.

In 2025, Earth was 1.44°C warmer than the long-term average. Pacific countries are reeling from stronger cyclones, dying reefs and ocean acidification. Without urgent action to shift away from coal, oil and gas impacts will get much worse. Just this week, the world’s oceans are the warmest on record, fueled by climate change and a rapidly intensifying El Niño event.

It is now almost certain the world will warm past 1.5°C. Yet it remains possible, following a temporary “overshoot”, that countries can limit warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century. This will require deep and immediate emissions reductions and some carbon dioxide removal to achieve “net-negative” emissions.

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C is a line in the sand for low-lying Pacific nations – “1.5 to stay alive” is the slogan. Pacific negotiators helped secure this temperature goal in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Pacific nations expect Australia, as co-president of COP31 climate talks in November, to reaffirm global commitment to 1.5°C. Australia is helping Fiji and Tuvalu host a pre-COP summit in October that will remind world leaders the survival of island nations is at stake.

Pacific countries will also seek new finance for a Pacific-owned climate fund to invest in community-scale adaptation projects.

Some argue collaboration with the Pacific in the lead-up to COP31 is an expensive exercise. But climate action is crucial to Australian strategy in the region. Investing in renewables and adaptation in the Pacific is an investment in shared security, even as geopolitical competition sharpens between China and the United States.The Conversation…PACNEWS

Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW