In this bulletin:
1. PACIFIC — PRF takes Community Projects to COP31 as Pacific Fund starts moving money
2. PACIFIC — Pacific Leaders push Climate Action as Fiji and Tuvalu prepare for Pre-COP31
3. PACIFIC — Australia’s commitment to the Pacific is unshakeable
4. PACIFIC — PNG Police Chief calls for Pacific treaty to fight transnational crime
5. PACIFIC — Fuel crisis is about food, jobs and sovereignty: Palau Youth leader tells Forum Leaders
6. PACIFIC — Taiwan defends role at Pacific summit as China rages
7. PACIFIC — Australia spending up to stop Pacific drug trafficking
8. PACIFIC — Pacific Islands Forum leaders, Albanese must not lose focus on Pacific priorities of climate and ocean
9. FIJI — No date yet for referendum Bill in Fiji
10. PACNEWS BIZ — New Zealand, US to fund Cook Islands port upgrade
11. PACNEWS BIZ — Fijians caught in $100 fake overseas job scheme
12. PACNEWS BIZ — ANZ welcomes launch of instant payments in Solomon Islands
13. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Put us in the room, not on the sidelines: Civil Society tells Forum Leaders
14. PACNEWS DIGEST — Weather Ready Pacific strengthens ICT capacity at Solomon Islands Met Service
PAC – FORUM LEADERS MEET/PRF: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
PRF takes Community Projects to COP31 as Pacific Fund starts moving money
By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— The Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) is taking 14 community projects to the global climate stage as it prepares for Pacific pre-COP meetings in Fiji and COP31 in Turkiye, seeking to show investors that the Pacific-owned climate finance facility is no longer just a concept.
Finau Soqo, General Manager of the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), told the Pacific Media in Palau that the projects were part of an effort to demonstrate how the facility can deliver funding directly to communities.
Each participating member has been allocated up to US$20,000 for Community Impact Demonstration Projects.
“So now the PRF is not just a concept or an idea or a vision.
“It is actually a reality,” Soqo said.
The projects will be showcased during the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting, at Pacific pre-COP events and at COP31.
Soqo said 14 Community Impact Demonstration Projects had so far been nominated by PRF members.
The projects cover water security, food production, coastal restoration, sanitation, renewable energy and community resilience.
In Palau, two projects have been selected, including a water project implemented by the Coral Youth Council and the revival of traditional planting practices.
Tuvalu has nominated a women-led water resilience project in Funafuti.
Fiji is supporting rainwater harvesting, including 22 water tanks for a community vulnerable to drought and climate-related disasters.
The Marshall Islands is supporting water storage and water quality monitoring on two remote islands affected by recurring drought.
Nauru’s projects combine household rainwater harvesting with solar lighting to improve safety for women accessing water at night.
In Kiribati, water projects will support two schools, including a disability school.
Tonga is supporting community-led restoration of native coastal trees, including endangered mangrove species.
Niue is supporting household gardens and the revival of traditional crops that are more resilient to climate change and disasters.
In Solomon Islands, projects include community sanitation, waste management and climate resilience activities.
Other projects are also being developed in countries including the Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea.
The PRF manager said member governments had shown increasing confidence in the pilot approach.
“As we have continued with our implementations, we’ve gained confidence from members too.
“They saw that the projects are not wrong, and they have also expressed their willingness to be part of the pilot project.”,” she said.
Soqo said the Community Impact Demonstration Projects were also testing how the PRF would operate before scaling up.
The facility is developing three grant packages during its pilot phase.
The first is the COP31 Community Impact Demonstration Projects.
The second is a disaster community resilience pilot window, currently planned to operate from 01 November to 30 April, although some members have suggested it should remain open throughout the year.
The third package will support larger pilot projects through a call for proposals.
Soqo said the pilot phase would test the PRF’s ability to move money quickly while maintaining proper safeguards and reporting.
“We’re piloting the approach, the engagement approach, the interface with our members, how money flows, how money flows to partners, how we onboard partners, how quickly we can get the money out and how quickly we can implement,” she said.
The facility is also developing policies for community engagement, grants, partner onboarding and disability inclusion.
Soqo said Pacific climate ministers had asked whether the PRF could support renewable energy and the climate-ocean nexus.
“Absolutely,”she said.
The PRF’s core business is providing small grants, but Soqo said these could support renewable energy projects, coastal communities and fisheries-related livelihoods where there was an unmet financing need.
She said consultations across 13 Pacific members had shown that communities were often ready to move faster on renewable energy because the need was immediate.
Projects could include solar-powered water pumps, solar equipment for fishers and solar-powered refrigerators to protect vaccines in remote communities.
But Soqo said financing equipment alone was not enough.
Communities also needed access to training and after-sales support so equipment could be maintained and repaired.
On ocean finance, Soqo said the PRF could potentially play a wider role as an international financial institution.
“The PRF can actually be the first.
“We can actually issue the first regional blue bond in the region,” she said
The Government of Palau has offered US$1 million from its Green Climate Fund(GCF) readiness allocation to support the preparation of community project pipelines for the PRF.
Soqo said discussions were continuing with the Green Climate Fund, the Pacific Community and other partners on how the funding could be used.
The funding is not intended for capitalising the PRF itself.
Instead, it would help prepare a pipeline of community projects.
Soqo acknowledged that the proposed arrangement was unusual.
“We’re in discussion with GCF. “It is definitely not for capitalisation,” she said.
He said the focus was on ensuring that any use of GCF readiness funding complied with the rules governing the facility.
Soqo said the PRF did not intend to seek accreditation as a Green Climate Fund entity in the short to medium term.
She said the decision was based on a clear mandate from Pacific leaders.
“The mandate from leaders is very clear that we have to focus on getting grants to communities.
“That is the instruction — get the grants to communities,” he said.
Soqo said Pacific regional agencies had already invested years and significant resources in obtaining accreditation from global climate funds.
The PRF should instead concentrate on what it was specifically established to do.
“We really want to just be focused on that, which is deliver small grants to communities, do it well, do it fast, do it properly,” she said.
The PRF has received US$10 million in deposits so far, despite having secured US$173 million in pledges.
Soqo acknowledged that collecting pledged money was now one of the facility’s major challenges.
Japan, Canada, Ireland and Nauru are among those that have already paid into the facility.
Australia, New Zealand, France, the Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands are among governments processing contributions or preparing to make payments.
Soqo said the United States had appropriated US$20 million and discussions were continuing on its contribution.
The PRF is also working to secure payment of the pledge from Saudi Arabia.
“We have US$10 million in the bank.
“I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but between now and December, we’ll see maybe half of that being collected,” Soqo said
The PRF has set a target of collecting 100 percent of pledged funds.
“Our target is to collect 100 percent,” Soqo said.
Soqo said the PRF had learned from the pattern of earlier pledges that relying on many small contributions could slow the capitalisation process.
The facility is now seeking fewer investors but larger contributions.
A new capitalisation effort is being strengthened with additional expertise, including the involvement of former Fiji Ambassador to the UN, Dr Satendra Prasad.
Soqo said the PRF was now legally established and fundraising efforts were moving into a more serious phase.
“The focus now is to focus on fewer investors, but larger pledges,” She said.
She said the Community Impact Demonstration Projects were important not only for communities but also for building investor confidence.
The PRF needs to show potential investors where their money will go and how it will be used.
“The most important thing is that they need to see where the money is going,” Soqo said.
She was also questioned about the operational cost of running the PRF and how the facility would sustain itself while its capital base was still growing.
She said the PRF’s latest projection for its annual operating budget was about US$5 million.
The operating model would include an access-to-finance fee paid by members, which would cover part of the operational expenses.
The facility would also generate income from investments.
Soqo clarified that the management fee would be charged against investment income rather than the PRF’s capital.
She said the facility’s financial model was designed to ensure it could eventually sustain its own operations while protecting its capital base.
The PRF is also developing a lending sub-fund that could allow it to work with public and private capital, philanthropic organisations, multinational institutions and global climate funds.
Soqo said the model could create opportunities for co-financing beyond the PRF’s core community grant programme.
For Soqo, the immediate priority is to prove that the PRF can move money to Pacific communities quickly without compromising financial safeguards.
The 14 projects now underway will provide the first major test.
The projects will also be used to demonstrate the PRF’s purpose to Pacific leaders and international investors ahead of COP31.
The facility was created to fill a gap between large international climate funds and communities that often struggle to access them.
The challenge now is to show that a Pacific-owned institution can deliver.
“We have to do it well, do it fast, do it properly.
“Not just push the money out and not do the reporting properly,” Soqo said….PACNEWS
PAC – FORUM LEADERS MEET/CLIMATE CHANGE: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
Pacific Leaders push Climate Action as Fiji and Tuvalu prepare for Pre-COP31
By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—- Australia, Fiji and Tuvalu have stepped up preparations for the Pacific’s Pre-COP31 meetings, with leaders using a trilateral meeting in Palau to push for Pacific climate priorities to take centre stage in global climate discussions.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo and Fiji Foreign Minister Sakiasi Ditoka met in Koror as Fiji and Tuvalu prepare to host key Pre-COP31 meetings later this year.
The meetings will bring international leaders and climate decision-makers to the Pacific ahead of COP31, giving them a direct view of the region’s exposure to climate change and the measures Pacific Island countries are taking to adapt.
Albanese said the meetings would provide an important opportunity for international leaders to understand the realities facing Pacific countries.
“It is important to bring them to the Pacific so they can see firsthand why climate change and acting on it is both an opportunity but also a challenge,” Albanese said.
He said climate change remained an existential challenge for countries such as Tuvalu and was also increasing the threat of extreme weather across the region.
“It is an existential challenge to nations such as Tuvalu, but also a threat of increased extreme weather events, more frequent and more intense, that can do enormous damage and change the way that the Blue Pacific operates,” Albanese said.
Albanese said the Fiji and Tuvalu meetings would allow Pacific countries to demonstrate why climate action remained their highest priority.
“The visit to Tuvalu will be very significant indeed and an opportunity to showcase why it is that the nations of the Pacific have as their first priority above all action on climate change,” he said.
He thanked Fiji for hosting part of the Pre-COP31 programme and said he looked forward to returning to the country.
Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo said his country was grateful to Pacific leaders for designating Tuvalu to host the leaders’ segment of the Pre-COP meeting.
“There is a lot of excitement on the ground,” Teo said.
He said the meeting would provide an opportunity for international leaders to see the impact of climate change directly rather than relying solely on reports and presentations.
“This is the opportunity for leaders that will make it to Tuvalu to see for themselves the extent of our vulnerability to the impact of climate change and particularly sea level rise,” Teo said.
Teo said Tuvalu also wanted to use the leaders’ visit to demonstrate the adaptation work already underway.
“We have not been sitting idly around.
“We have taken on board the resources that you and other partners have provided us to try and build our own resilience,” he said.
Teo said the leaders’ segment would give Tuvalu the opportunity to demonstrate both the seriousness of its vulnerability and the practical measures it was taking to respond.
“I think the opportunity of the leaders’ segment in Tuvalu will be a fantastic opportunity for us,” he said.
He thanked Australia and Fiji for the trilateral mechanism established to coordinate preparations for the meetings.
Teo also acknowledged Albanese’s efforts to encourage international leaders to attend.
“The whole nation is ready and prepared to host the leaders that will come over,” he said.
Fiji Foreign Minister Sakiasi Ditoka said COP31 would be a critical opportunity to ensure Pacific experiences, leadership and solutions were central to international climate discussions.
“For Fiji, COP31 presents a pivotal moment.
“It will be a critical opportunity to build consensus and ensure Pacific experience, leadership and solutions are placed at the centre of global climate discussions,” Ditoka said.
Ditoka said the Pacific was seeking to move beyond simply being represented at global climate meetings.
“It is about bringing Pacific front-line experience to the centre of global climate deliberations, reinforcing the urgency of global commitments and ensuring Pacific voices, priorities and solutions are placed at the centre of global decision-making,” he said.
Ditoka said a number of Pacific and international leaders had already confirmed their participation in the Pre-COP31 programme.
He acknowledged Pacific leaders who had confirmed attendance, as well as international leaders from countries including Antigua and Barbuda, Cabo Verde, Thailand, Maldives and Timor-Leste.
Ministerial-level representatives from Germany, Mexico and the Republic of Korea were also expected to attend.
“We look forward to more confirmations of attendance in the coming weeks,” Ditoka said.
The trilateral meeting in Palau highlighted the importance Australia, Fiji and Tuvalu are placing on the Pre-COP31 process, with the Pacific seeking to ensure that global climate negotiations are informed by the direct experience of communities already facing sea-level rise, extreme weather and other impacts…..PACNEWS
PAC – FORUM LEADERS MEET/DIPLOMACY: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
Australia’s commitment to the Pacific is unshakeable
By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says climate change, security and stronger Pacific partnerships will dominate Australia’s engagement at the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau.
Speaking at a press conference in Koror, Albanese said it was important for Australia to listen to Pacific leaders and respond to the priorities of the region.
“The Pacific is our home, and the Pacific family needs to work together.
“It’s an opportunity to listen and to engage and to offer support as well on the challenges, but also the opportunities that are here in the Blue Continent, the Pacific,” Albanese said.
Albanese is attending his fifth Pacific Islands Forum and said the coming days of bilateral meetings, the Leaders’ meeting and the Leaders’ Retreat would provide an opportunity to strengthen Australia’s relationships across the region.
Albanese said climate change would remain a central issue for Pacific leaders.
“Climate change is an existential threat to the very existence of some of the countries who are represented here,” he said.
He said Australia had a key role to play in the Pacific but stressed that its engagement must be respectful.
“We are a leader here in the Pacific, but it’s important as well that we engage respectfully,” Albanese said.
The Prime Minister pointed to Australia’s growing security and diplomatic ties with Pacific countries, including its alliance with Papua New Guinea and a proposed alliance with Fiji.
“Australia’s commitment to the Pacific is unshakeable.
“No other part of the world is more important to us, which is why we have prioritised our engagement with the Pacific,” Albanese said.
He said climate change and security, including the growing challenge of transnational crime, would be key issues during the Forum.
Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the Forum meeting was an important step towards COP31 in Türkiye later this year.
He said Australia’s deeper engagement with Pacific countries had been closely linked to changes in Australia’s climate policy.
“This PIF Leaders’ Summit comes in the lead up to COP31, so it’s an important waypoint,” Bowen said.
Bowen said climate finance for small island developing states would be one of the key priorities of Australia’s COP31 agenda.
“Those small island developing states are on the front line of climate change, but have trouble getting access to the support for climate adaptation,” he said.
Bowen said Australia also wanted to give greater attention to oceans in global climate discussions and support Pacific countries seeking to reduce their dependence on diesel.
“Many Pacific countries are dependent on diesel
“The supply in recent months has been uncertain, and so many Pacific countries are seeking to transition to 100 percent renewables,” he said.
He said discussions with Pacific leaders and climate ministers during the Forum would help shape the pathway to COP31.
Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy said the 55th Forum Leaders Meeting was an opportunity for the region to determine its own future amid growing geopolitical competition.
“The Pacific region stands at a crossroads.
“The Pacific has the opportunity through its supreme decision-making event to chart its own course, to say that it stands on its own two feet,” he said.
He said Australia’s approach under the Albanese Government could be summed up simply.
“We turn up. We listen and we act on the Pacific priorities,” Conroy said.
“That’s what a proud member of the Pacific family should do in a respectful way,” he said.
Conroy said Australia’s security, prosperity and stability were closely linked to a safe and prosperous Pacific.
He said the Pacific faced a range of security challenges, from climate change and transnational crime to more traditional security concerns.
Conroy pointed to the Pacific Policing Initiative as an example of regional cooperation on security.
He said the Pacific Security Group was supporting Palauan police during the Forum meeting.
“This is a multinational police force made up of police personnel from across the Pacific, providing security for the Pacific,” Conroy said.
He said this demonstrated the Forum’s commitment to collective regional security.
Conroy also announced the completion of the East Micronesian Cable, connecting Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati through undersea telecommunications infrastructure.
He said the project was supported by Pacific countries, Australia, the United States and Japan.
The cable provides the three countries with access to undersea telecommunications infrastructure that carries most modern internet traffic.
“It’s another example of a regional approach to enhancing human development in our region,” Conroy said.
Albanese also announced that Australia will invest $15.6 million(US$11.14 million) over four years to support Pacific athletes preparing for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The funding will support athletes on their pathway through the Pacific Games in Tahiti next year and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Conroy said the investment would build on Australia’s PacificAus Sports and Team Up programmes.
“We’re allocating $15 million(US$10.71 million) to support Pacific athletes on the road to Brisbane over the next four years,” he said.
Albanese said the Brisbane Games would provide a major opportunity to deepen Australia’s engagement with the Pacific.
“The Brisbane Olympic Games is an opportunity, particularly to engage with the Pacific,” he said.
As Forum Leaders prepare for their main discussions, Albanese said Australia would continue to focus on the issues identified by the region itself.
“I’m really looking forward to the discussion over the next few days and to some really positive outcomes,” he said…..PACNEWS
PAC – TRANSNATIONAL CRIME: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
PNG Police Chief calls for Pacific treaty to fight transnational crime
By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Papua New Guinea Police Commissioner David Manning has called for a regional Pacific treaty to strengthen the fight against transnational organised crime, warning that existing security arrangements are too often ad hoc and must be replaced with stronger Pacific-led mechanisms.
Speaking at a Pacific Islands Forum side event on “Transnational Organised Crime in the Pacific: Evolving Threats and Pacific Response,” Manning said Pacific governments must move towards a more unified and formal approach to regional security cooperation.
“Looking to the future, we must be honest that our national and regional security architecture has too often tended towards the ad hoc.
“We’ve relied on relationships, temporary arrangements and case-by-case operations” Manning said.
Manning said relationships between Pacific police forces remained a major strength, but organised crime had grown beyond what informal arrangements could effectively address.
“Those relationships are a strength, but the threat has now grown beyond informal mechanisms alone,” he said.
As interim chair of the Pacific Police Initiative Leadership Board, Manning called on Pacific governments to support what he described as a unified model for regional security.
He said the model being developed by Pacific police chiefs and commissioners was police-led, Pacific-owned and respectful of national sovereignty.
“That model is police-led, Pacific-owned, sovereignty-respecting and operational.
“It is built around the realities of the Pacific,” Manning said.
Manning said the next step should be the development of a regional Pacific policing agreement that would strengthen cooperation and support across the region.
“The next step should be a regional Pacific Police treaty — an agreement that streamlines cooperation, employment and regional security support across the Pacific,” he said.
Manning said a treaty would formalise and strengthen cooperation already taking place between Pacific police forces.
“A treaty would give force to what police leaders are already doing,” he said.
He said it could establish pathways for peer-to-peer cooperation, regional assistance, operational deployments, personnel exchanges, training standards and legal cooperation.
Manning said Pacific governments did not need to build an entirely new system.
“We don’t necessarily need to reinvent the wheel.
“We should take what is already working through Pacific policing and strengthen it and give it the force of international law,” Manning said.
He warned against creating competing security structures or duplicating existing regional mechanisms.
“We should not create competing frameworks, duplicating existing mechanisms or militarise a regional security problem that Pacific police are already authorised to combat,” Manning said.
Manning said the decision by Pacific ministers to call for a Pacific-led response reflected the importance of protecting the region’s sovereignty and way of life.
“This is about sovereignty, security and protection of our Pacific way of life.
“Our partners are welcome and necessary, but the Pacific is now joined together to lead the fight against transnational crime in our region,” he said.
The Police Commissioner said international partners had an important role but stressed that Pacific countries must remain in charge of the regional response.
Manning said the effectiveness of the fight against organised crime should not be measured only by the number of arrests or drug seizures.
“Success will not be measured by arrests or seizures alone.
“The real test is whether we reduce harm in Pacific communities, disrupt the networks behind the trade and make the region a harder and less profitable arena for organised crime,” he said.
He said transnational criminal networks were evolving and Pacific countries needed stronger regional cooperation to disrupt their operations.
“As I stated earlier, our leaders need to work towards a regional Pacific treaty to combat transnational crime going forward,” Manning said.
Manning’s call comes as Pacific leaders and regional security officials consider how existing regional mechanisms can respond to growing threats from transnational organised crime, including drug trafficking and other cross-border criminal networks.
The Papua New Guinea Police Commissioner said the future regional response must be based on Pacific leadership and practical operational cooperation.
“Success will be measured by whether we make the Pacific a harder and less profitable arena for organised crime,” Manning said….PACNEWS
PAC – FORUM LEADERS MEET/CSOS DIALOGUE: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
Fuel crisis is about food, jobs and sovereignty: Palau Youth leader tells Forum Leaders
By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS) — A Palau youth representative has told Pacific Islands Forum leaders that the region’s fuel crisis is not simply an energy problem but a wider crisis affecting food, livelihoods, social stability and Pacific sovereignty.
Speaking during the Forum Leaders’ Dialogue with Civil Society and the Private Sector, Shuri Chibana, Youth Coordinator at Palau’s Bureau of Behavioural Health under the Ministry of Health and Human Services, said Pacific communities were facing the consequences of deep dependence on imported fuel.
“I have been asked to speak about community impacts of the global fuel crisis
“But our communities do not live these impacts in isolation,
“For our communities, it is not a fuel crisis. It is a food crisis and a livelihood crisis, which happens to have arrived through the fuel pump, Chibana told leaders in Koror.
Chibana spoke on behalf of the Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations Alliance(PRINGO), wider civil society networks and Pacific communities.
Chibana said rising fuel prices had direct consequences for Pacific households and essential services.
“Here in Palau, our outer islands faced the brunt of the hike in fuel costs, impacting community services and costs of goods,” she said.
She highlighted the wider impacts across the region, including government workers being sent home in Tuvalu and the declaration of a national economic emergency in the Marshall Islands.
“Behind each of those decisions sits a household, and the costs fall unevenly,” Chibana said.
She said women, persons with disabilities and young people were among those most affected.
“Women absorb the shock performing much of the unpaid labour. Persons with disabilities lose access before anyone else. Young people watch the cost rise and have to decide whether to leave or stay.”
Chibana also warned that economic hardship could create conditions that criminal networks exploit.
“Where legitimate income collapses, the illicit economy steps in,” she said.
“The methamphetamine trade in our region is not separate from this crisis. It is downstream of it.”
Chibana said the seriousness of the regional fuel crisis was demonstrated by the Pacific’s decision to invoke the Biketawa Declaration earlier this year.
“In April this region invoked the Biketawa Declaration — an instrument written for coups and conflict.
“We invoked it because of the price of imported fuel,” she said.
She said this demonstrated that the issue went beyond energy policy.
“This was never an energy policy question. It is a question of dependency, and dependency is a question of sovereignty.”
Chibana said the Regional Response Mechanism was important but could only manage the immediate effects of the crisis.
“The Regional Response Mechanism is sound, and we commend it.
“But it manages the shock. It does not remove the exposure,” she said.
Chibana said Pacific leaders needed to match their global climate advocacy with stronger action at home.
She noted that the Pacific was preparing to take its climate priorities into the Pre-COP process and COP31.
“Our region carries the moral authority of the world’s climate movement into Pre-COP and into COP31,” she said.
But she questioned why the Tassiriki Call for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific had not yet been adopted by Forum leaders.
“The Tassiriki Call for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific, launched in April by six of our Pacific governments, has still not been adopted at Leaders level,” she said.
“We can’t arrive at COP31 as the conscience of the world’s climate negotiations if we have not adopted our own declaration now.”
Chibana said Pacific resilience could not be based on dependence on imported fuel.
“Resilience cannot be built on a fuel tank we do not own, a price we do not set and a schedule we do not control,” she said.
The youth representative also linked energy dependence to the growing strategic competition in the Pacific.
She said Pacific countries were increasingly being offered infrastructure, energy and finance by outside partners, often at a time when their economic vulnerabilities were most exposed.
“Strategic competition is intensifying in our ocean precisely because our vulnerabilities are visible and our needs are urgent,” Chibana said.
She said the Pacific should view energy security and regional security as connected issues.
“Both are questions of who decides what happens in our ocean.
“We ask you as Leaders to treat them as the same question, because our communities already do,” she said.
Chibana said civil society opposed militarisation and nuclear threats in the region.
“Our ocean is not a theatre, and our islands are not assets in somebody else’s calculation,” she said.
She also challenged leaders to ensure that the concept of an Ocean of Peace was backed by clear political commitments.
“An Ocean of Peace that cannot name a missile is not yet an Ocean of Peace
“It is a hope, and we ask you to make it a commitment,” Chibana said.
Chibana also called for greater accountability for decisions made by Pacific leaders.
“This region has 55 years of Leaders’ commitments and declarations.
“More than half a century on, there is still no transparent mechanism to track whether they were implemented,” she said.
She said Pacific communities could no longer rely on repeated commitments without clear systems to measure results.
“A declaration that cannot be audited is not a commitment,” Chibana said.
“We cannot ask our communities to live on sentiment from communiques and declarations time and time again.”
Chibana presented three proposals to Forum leaders.
First, she called for community-owned renewable energy to move beyond small pilot projects and become a permanent part of Pacific infrastructure.
“Community-owned renewable energy should be used as infrastructure rather than pilots,” she said.
She argued that renewable energy had demonstrated its value during the fuel crisis because its operating costs were not directly affected by rising fuel prices.
Second, Chibana called for fossil fuel subsidies to be redirected towards strengthening local food systems.
Third, she called for direct community access to the Pacific Resilience Facility, which opened its first call for proposals in Koror.
“We ask that it carries direct access for community-led, women-led, youth-led and disability-led organisations, with civil society in its governance,” she said.
“A facility the community cannot reach will measure success in disbursement rather than outcomes.”
Chibana ended with a direct message to Forum leaders that Pacific resilience should mean greater control by Pacific communities over the decisions affecting their lives.
“If the energy crisis has taught us anything, it is that Pacific resilience cannot mean becoming better at absorbing decisions made somewhere else,” she said.
“It must mean having the power to make those decisions right here at home.”
“We are not asking to be consulted,” Chibana said. “We are asking to be counted on,” she said….PACNEWS
PAC – FORUM LEADERS MEET/DIPLOMACY: AAP PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
Taiwan defends role at Pacific summit as China rages
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (AAP)–Taiwan has stood its ground, backed by Australia and hosts Palau, and asserted its right to partake in the Pacific Islands Forum amid a backlash from China.
Palau’s National Gymnasium in Koror was the unlikely venue for a geopolitical flashpoint on Monday.
On the stage for the Pacific summit’s opening ceremony were traditional dancers, Pacific leaders and speeches pleading for unity and climate action.
And in the crowd, along with Anthony Albanese and other regional leaders, were delegates from external powers – including Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung and China’s Pacific envoy Qian Bo.
Qian said he had “serious concern” at Lin’s attendance and had lodged diplomatic objections at Taiwan’s presence at the summit.
‘We have made our position very clear to the government of Palau and the (Pacific Islands Forum) secretariat,” he said.
Asked if there would be consequences, Qian said “there will always be consequences”.
“It should not have happened. We think it’s very inappropriate,” he said.
On Tuesday, Lin fired back, saying the envoy was guilty of “wolf warrior diplomacy”
“What he stands for, basically, is threat,” he said at a press briefing.
“China is not a normal nation. China uses diplomacy to achieve its political gains”
Lin took aim at China’s recent missile test, its debt-trap diplomacy, attempts at economic coercion and more in a over hour-long press conference.
“Whenever China goes to a party, it makes itself as if it’s the host and China ruins the whole atmosphere of the party,” he said.
As for Qian’s promised consequences, it is not yet clear what they will be.
The ABC reported that Qian’s formal statement to the Pacific Islands Forum was quite mild, while referring to the “One China” principle.
China and Taiwan share an unresolvable problem, with Beijing believing the US-backed island is an inalienable part of its territory, and Taipei claiming it is sovereign.
Beijing uses fierce diplomacy to subdue Taiwan’s claims, preventing the vast majority of governments from political engagement with Taiwan, though many nations – including Australia – hold strong economic links.
There is no PIF rule preventing Taiwan’s presence, with Palau President Surangel Whipps offering a pointed rebuke to countries looking to control the region.
“[The world increasingly recognises the strategic important of our region and we welcome friends and genuine partnerships,” he said in his opening address.
“Our partners are welcome to sail with us, but they do not chose our destination.
“The Pacific agenda must be driven by us, for us, and the forum must remain the political home in which that agenda is shaped.’
Albanese also asserted the right for PIF members to make their own ground rules.
“The Pacific Islands Forum determines what happens here, not any other country,” he said.
There is a distinction between China and Taiwan’s status within PIF, with China a dialogue partner which can sit around the table at formal sessions, and Taiwan a development partner with lesser rights.
Also on Tuesday, representatives from New Zealand and the U.S announced a port upgrade at Penrhyn in the Cook Islands.
The U.S will spend $US50 million (AUD$70 million), and New Zealand US$10 million (AUD$414 million) on the facility in the northernmost island in the Cook Islands, once a military base.
The development is likely to be used for extraction of deep sea minerals, a deeply controversial practice, but a desire of Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown.
The 55th PIF leaders meeting has also been notable for a lengthy list of no-shows.
Leaders from Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are not attending for a range of reasons, with Kiribati not sending any political representation.
Albanese said the summit would not lose its authority because of a few absences.
“This is a well-attended meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, and I don’t think it’s productive to talk it down. I’m talking it up,” he said…. PACNEWS
PACIFIC – DRUGS FIGHT: AAP PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
Australia spending up to stop Pacific drug trafficking
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (AAP)—Australia will step up its support to fight trans-national drug trafficking flowing through the Pacific, with a $600 million (US$428 million) package.
Anthony Albanese announced the new investment at the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, which aims to stop the contraband arriving in Australia.
The increase in drug flow across the Pacific is a huge problem in several countries: linked to increased gang activity in Samoa and Tonga, and a sharp rise in the HIV rate in Fiji.
Heightened activity is showing up in Australian Federal Police interventions of narcotics in the region.
In 2025, about 4.6 tonnes of illicit drugs were seized by local and international law enforcement, the Australian Federal Police reported.
In the first five months of this year, 17 tonnes have been picked up – mostly cocaine.
The new package – which will be opt-in for Pacific countries – will include enhanced aerial surveillance, and police and border training.
“Drug trafficking is having a devastating impact on Pacific communities,” Pacific Minister Pat Conroy said.
“This initiative responds to the calls of regional leaders to do more, and to step up regional coordination to address this scourge.”
The $600 million(US$428 million) will be spent over the next 10 years.
On Wednesday, leaders in Palau will consider a new ‘Waqa Moana” partnership, which builds on the growing Australia-led security infrastructure in the region.
Australia believes a lack of co-ordination between Pacific nations, underpinned by an inability to resource policing and maritime surveillance, is being exploited by crime syndicates.
The Waqa Moana proposal would result in better information-sharing across the region, utilising exisiting patrol boats, to fill those gaps.
A co-ordination centre in Samoa would receive and analyse intelligence and surveillance, while a Fiji-based maritime body would put out interdiction requests through the region for individual countries to act on.
The proposal comes two years after Australia announced a similar investment towards a Pacific Policing Initiative, which created training hubs for regional police and a multi-country force which can deploy on request….PACNEWS
PAC – FORUM LEADERS MEET/CLIMATE CHANGE: GREENPACE PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
Pacific Islands Forum leaders, Albanese must not lose focus on Pacific priorities of climate and ocean
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (GREENPEACE)—As Pacific leaders gather for the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau, Greenpeace Australia Pacific is urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to stand with Pacific family by keeping Pacific needs at the heart of negotiations, backing longstanding Pacific leadership, supporting Pacific energy sovereignty and ocean custodianship, and holding the line on 1.5°C.
Against the backdrop of tense geopolitical turmoil, increasingly frequent and lethal extreme weather disasters, the threat of deep sea mining and an energy crisis driven by fossil fuel dependence, the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIFLM) is a critical moment for Pacific nations to unite with Pacific needs central to regional dialogue.
The climate crisis, security, the opportunities of renewable energy in the Pacific, ocean protection, and the shifting political landscape will be the focus of the Forum’s discussions.
Speaking from Palau, Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:“The Pacific Islands Forum is the most important multilateral forum in our region, unifying the Pacific under increasingly turbulent global circumstances. We are urging Forum members, including Australia, to not lose focus of Pacific priorities of climate and oceans amid noise and external pressures at this year’s meeting.
“It is very clear that the greatest security threat to our region is climate change and the only way we can address that is through a just transition away from fossil fuels. Regional cooperation is an antidote to climate chaos and geopolitical tension – together, our region can be guided by Pacific nations’ legacy of leadership from the frontlines of the climate crisis, as we build a more peaceful and secure world.
“This year’s Forum will set the stage as we build momentum toward COP31 and a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific. Australia must back Pacific energy sovereignty as a solution to the compounding threats facing our region, including soaring costs of living and increasingly lethal extreme weather disasters, and resist the militarisation of our oceans, deep sea mining, and power politics.
“We must not lose sight of what is needed. The regional adoption of Pacific-led solutions, a Pacific pre-COP with focus on advancing the just transition away from fossil fuels and community-targeted finance for strong and resilient futures beyond fossil fuels must be the foundations of this year’s Forum discussion. What we need now is stronger political will.”
Also in Palau, Dr Simon Bradshaw, COP31 Lead and climate expert at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:“Prime Minister Albanese faces a major test of Australia’s climate credibility and Pacific partnership this week. We cannot be a friend to the Pacific and continue to expand fossil fuel production. The best way for Australia to remain the Pacific’s security partner of choice is to act faster on the Pacific’s number one security concern — climate change.
“The Albanese Government has approved at least five new coal and gas projects since the last Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, and 36 since being elected, every one of which increases the threats to life, security and sovereignty facing Pacific communities.
“Nowhere in the world are the dangers of fossil fuels or the benefits of renewable energy clearer than in the Pacific, which faces the double blow of climate disasters and expensive fuel imports.
“Australia, as incoming President of Negotiations for COP31, has a responsibility to follow the Pacific’s lead, embrace the vision of a resilient Fossil Fuel Free Pacific, and do everything possible to keep 1.5°C alive. Doing so would establish Australia as a highly effective middle power, a force for good in troubled times, and a true ally and partner to the Pacific.”….PACNEWS
FIJI – POLITICS: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 1: Wed 02 Sep 2026
No date yet for referendum Bill in Fiji
SUVA, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—The Bill that will provide the legal framework for Fijians to vote in a referendum on constitutional change remains before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights, with no clear indication of when it will return to the House.
Committee chairperson Ratu Rakuita Vakalalabure could not say yesterday when the committee would report back to Parliament.
“We are still deliberating. We are probably targeting — not sure when,” Ratu Rakuita told this masthead.
Asked whether the committee would meet Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s plan to table Constitution Amendment Bills in September, he said: “When the committee is ready, then we’ll table.”
This masthead understands that the Bill has been sent back to the drafters for amendments following months of public consultation. It has not been withdrawn.
The delay is significant because, without the Bill, there is no law governing how Fijians would vote in any referendum on constitutional change.
Rabuka has said the Constitutional Review Commission’s draft Constitution could reach Parliament during the September 28 sitting.
Whether a referendum question is included will depend on how MPs vote on the Constitution Amendment Bills.
Questions sent to Acting Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Siromi Turaga remained unanswered when this edition went to press.
Meanwhile, Opposition MP Premila Kumar and Fiji Council of Social Services executive director Vani Catanasiga have questioned why Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is appealing for calm over the Constitutional Review Commission report when the public and media have not seen the document.
Kumar said Rabuka’s assurance that the rights, freedoms and faith of minority communities would be protected was welcome.
However, she questioned why a call for calm was needed “before the Report has even been made available to the public”.
“Rather than creating uncertainty, the best way to reassure Fijians is to make the Report public, explain its recommendations and allow the country to have an informed and respectful discussion,” she said.
Catanasiga said the Prime Minister’s statement had created confusion rather than clarity.
“It’s calling for calm but no one’s panicking. Who’s panicking?” she said.
“Just make it easy and just release the report publicly.”
Only four recommendations were revealed by CRC chairperson Sevuloni Valenitabua during Monday’s handover at State House.
“So, we don’t know. You see how that leaves people in the dark? Like they’re not sure whether to get excited or to panic,” she said.
Kumar said the Constitution “does not belong to a Government, a political party or a Commission”, but to the people of Fiji.
Rabuka’s statement had specifically addressed concerns over Fiji’s status as a secular state…..PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
PAC – PORT UPGRADE: REUTERS PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 02 Sep 2026
New Zealand, US to fund Cook Islands port upgrade
WELLINGTON, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (REUTER)—- New Zealand and the U.S will jointly fund a major upgrade of a World War Two port on a Cook Islands atoll, the three governments said on Tuesday, in a fresh sign of Western efforts to reinforce ties in a Pacific region that is increasingly being influenced by China.
Washington intends to contribute US$50 million and New Zealand NZ$17.5 million (US$10 million) for the project, which Wellington will implement in coordination with the Cook Islands and the U.S., according to a joint statement released during the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau.
The upgrade at Omoka village on Penrhyn, also known as Tongareva, is intended to make ship landings safer, improve access to services and strengthen transport and economic links for the northern Cook Islands, according to the statement.
Penrhyn’s port and airstrip were originally constructed by American personnel over 80 years ago, according to U.S Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
The airfield was used to move personnel and supplies and support aircraft transiting the region during World War Two.
“Through transformational infrastructure initiatives such as this, we are making the United States and our partners safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” Landau said in the statement.
He added that the project built on a critical-minerals framework signed earlier this year with the Cook Islands.
Mark Brown, the prime minister of the Cook Islands, said the port project speaks to economic resilience as it would help to facilitate emerging industries like potential seabed mineral mining or enhanced fisheries capabilities.
“This project will play a key role as our northernmost port in our country,” Brown said.
The investment comes as the U.S, Australia and New Zealand seek to counter Beijing’s expanding diplomatic, economic and security footprint in the Pacific, where small island states have become more important in a contest for strategic influence.
China has stepped up engagement through infrastructure, trade and security agreements across the region.
The Cook Islands signed a comprehensive strategic partnership with China in February 2025, which included cooperation on infrastructure, maritime issues and seabed minerals. That agreement triggered a sharp dispute with New Zealand, with which the Cook Islands is in a free association.
This means that Cook Islanders have New Zealand citizenship, but the two countries consult on foreign affairs matters. Wellington said it had not been adequately consulted on the agreement and later paused NZ$18.2 million(US$13 million) in development funding.
Relations have since been repaired, with the Cook Islands and New Zealand signing a defence and security declaration that clarified how the two sides would consult on defence and security matters.
“The relationship of these cousins has got back to its best footing ever,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said after the announcement.
Responding to a question about whether China had planned to fund an upgrade to the Penrhyn airfield, Peters said that was never going to happen because of New Zealand’s special relationship with the Cook Islands…..PACNEWS
FIJI – SCAMS: FIJI SUN PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 02 Sep 2026
Fijians caught in $100 fake overseas job scheme
SUVA, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Fiji’s Ministry of Employment is working with police to identify a network allegedly targeting Fijians with fake job offers in Australia and New Zealand under Government-supported labour mobility programmes.
The investigation follows an incident in Nadi last Sunday in which a senior ministry manager and a police officer were chased from a property believed to have been used to register workers for overseas employment.
Ministry official Maritino Nemani said it was frustrating to see Fijians continue to fall victim to such schemes despite repeated warnings.
The latest case involved men from Lau who were promised three-year work contracts in farming and butchery in Australia and New Zealand.
They were told the jobs would include visas and passports for a processing fee of $100(US$50), which they paid through M-PAiSA.
The men said the opportunity was advertised on Facebook by a woman of Samoan heritage living in New Zealand.
They said the woman later travelled to Fiji and held meetings with prospective workers in the West and Suva to finalise arrangements.
One of the men, who did not wish to be named, said they were assured they would not have to worry about paperwork.
They were allegedly told their passports, visas and tickets would be provided at the airport before departure, while their official three-year contracts would be handed to them during the flight.
The men stayed with relatives in Nadi while waiting to leave Fiji. However, after turning up for several days without seeing the recruiter, they began to suspect they had been scammed.
Nemani said such offers should immediately raise concerns.
“How can you go to Australia and New Zealand without a passport, without a visa, without a ticket, and think $100(US$50) is going to take you there?” he said.
“If you go to Australia and New Zealand under the Government programme, there are no fees to be charged.”
He said workers should verify recruiters with the ministry before handing over money or personal documents.
He urged prospective workers to check whether they had a passport, ticket, visa and employment contract before agreeing to any overseas job offer.
“Can $100(US$50) take me to Australia or New Zealand? No. So why give $100(US$50?” Nemani said.
He said workers should also ask for proof that a recruiter was authorised to recruit under the relevant labour mobility programme.
“In the absence of that, verify with the ministry,” he said.
Nemani reiterated that Government-supported labour mobility programmes do not charge workers recruitment fees….PACNEWS
SOL – BANK: ANZ PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 02 Sep 2026
ANZ welcomes launch of instant payments in Solomon Islands
HONIARA, 02 SEPTEMBER (ANZ)— ANZ has welcomed the introduction of near real-time domestic payments in Solomon Islands, providing customers with a faster and more convenient way to send and receive money.
The Central Bank of Solomon Islands enabled Instant Funds Transfers between participating banks on 23 August 2026. Customers can now make eligible domestic transfers almost instantly, with a transaction limit of SBD3,000(US$374) per payment.
The Solomon Islands is the third Pacific nation to introduce instant payments, following Fiji and Samoa.
Heath Bruns, ANZ Country Head Solomon Islands said the launch represented an important milestone in the modernisation of payments across the Pacific.
“Instant payments are transforming the way people move money, providing customers with faster access to funds and greater convenience in their daily lives.
“The successful introduction of Instant Funds Transfer in Solomon Islands reflects the progress being made across the Pacific to strengthen digital payment infrastructure and create more seamless banking experiences for customers.”
The new capability supports ANZ’s commitment to helping build a more connected and inclusive digital economy across the Pacific, while enhancing access to secure and efficient banking services.
The initiative also aligns with the broader vision of ANZ, regional regulators and the World Bank to advance financial inclusion and modernise payment systems throughout the region.
Bruns said the launch was the result of strong collaboration between ANZ teams across multiple markets and functions.
“This has been a truly regional effort involving teams from Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and India, working together to deliver a solution that meets the needs of customers and supports the ambitions of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands.
“We are proud to have played a role in enabling this important capability and look forward to continuing to support the evolution of payments across the Pacific,” Bruns said…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
Put us in the room, not on the sidelines: Civil Society tells Forum Leaders
By Pita Ligaiula in Koror, Palau
KOROR, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS) — Pacific civil society organisations have issued a blunt call to Forum Leaders: stop treating civil society as an outside stakeholder and give communities a permanent place in the region’s decision-making system.
In a statement to the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Koror, the Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGO) Alliance said the Pacific had accumulated 55 years of declarations and commitments but still lacked a transparent mechanism to track implementation and hold decision-makers accountable.
“Pacific civil society is not a peripheral stakeholder,” the statement said, describing civil society as an independent development actor, rights-holder, technical expert, driver of implementation and essential partner in regional governance.
The organisations said governments, communities and civil society were “interdependent pillars” of Pacific regionalism and warned that the gap between political commitments and delivery was where Pacific communities were living with the consequences.
“Action is moving beyond declarations and commitments to implementation,” the statement said.
“It is the distance between a commitment and its delivery, and that distance is where our communities live.”
Demand for a permanent seat
The PRNGO Alliance has made institutionalised civil society participation its first priority call to Forum Leaders in Koror.
It said the ongoing Review of Regional Architecture provided an opportunity to establish a permanent mechanism for civil society engagement across Forum processes.
The Alliance is calling on Leaders to establish a PIFS-PRNGO Joint Working Group, launch a 12-month engagement pilot across major Forum meetings and processes, and develop principles and practical standards for civil society participation.
“It is time the Pacific had its own fit-for-purpose, institutionalised mechanism for civil society engagement,” the statement said.
The Alliance argued that other major regional organisations already had structured mechanisms for civil society participation while the Pacific remained a “notable outlier”.
It also criticised the Forum system for failing to respond to formal civil society submissions.
The statement said a coalition of 10 regional networks had submitted a formal position paper to Forum officials and Foreign Ministers in August, proposing an annual civil society briefing, a 12-month engagement pilot and a joint working group.
But, it said, civil society did not appear in the outcomes, decisions or record of that meeting.
“The system generated no obligation to respond,” the Alliance said.
An Ocean of Peace must mean peace for everyone
Civil society’s second priority call focuses on peace and security, with the Alliance demanding that Forum Leaders apply the region’s Ocean of Peace principles consistently.
The organisations said a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile tested across the Pacific in July crossed the exclusive economic zones of several Forum members.
They said a region that could not speak collectively about a missile crossing its waters would struggle to convince Pacific people that it was serious about becoming an Ocean of Peace.
“A region which cannot name a missile fired across its own waters will struggle to be believed when it declares itself an Ocean of Peace,” the statement said.
The Alliance said it opposed all forms of militarisation and nuclear threats, regardless of which country was responsible.
It called for consistent opposition to missile testing, military build-ups, strategic military expansion and the growing foreign military presence in the Pacific.
“We reject the proposition that military deterrence delivers peace,” it said.
The organisations want Leaders to condemn all missile tests conducted in or across the Pacific, strengthen the Treaty of Rarotonga and ensure any regional security arrangements are Pacific-led and centred on human security, environmental protection, Indigenous rights, demilitarisation and denuclearisation.
They also want civil society involved from the design and negotiation of regional security agreements through to implementation and review.
Communities facing the real security threats
The PRNGO Alliance warned that the region’s expanding security agenda was increasingly focused on policing and law enforcement while communities were dealing with more immediate threats.
It said health, livelihoods and climate change were among the issues most keenly felt by Pacific communities.
Civil society called for the Regional Peace and Security Action Plan to be gender-responsive, disability-inclusive and people-centred.
It also called for affected communities to be represented in processes dealing with the legacy of nuclear testing and contamination.
The Alliance said militarisation was not simply a matter of competition between major powers.
“The ultimate burden of militarisation is carried by Pacific peoples, communities, and our environments,” it said.
From climate declarations to implementation
The civil society statement also called on Leaders to turn recent legal victories on climate change into regional action.
The Alliance said the Pacific entered the road to Pre-COP31 and COP31 with greater legal authority but little time to waste.
It called for a regional pathway to implement the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on climate change and a subsequent United Nations General Assembly resolution.
The organisations also urged Leaders to adopt a declaration for a just transition to a fossil fuel-free Pacific, building on the Port Vila and Tassiriki Calls.
They argued that the April regional energy crisis demonstrated the risks of the Pacific’s continued dependence on imported fossil fuels.
“The Regional Response Mechanism is a coordination response to a structural problem,” the statement said.
Civil society also wants the Pacific Resilience Facility to provide direct access for community-led, women-led, youth-led and disability-led organisations and to include civil society representation in its governance.
Health, gender and labour concerns
The statement raised concerns about sustainable financing for gender-based violence prevention and called for funding commitments to be reflected in national planning, budgeting and public investment.
It also urged Leaders to recognise the growing HIV crisis in the Pacific as a regional health, development and human rights priority.
The Alliance said the issue was absent from the Forum’s 2026 health agenda despite serious developments in Fiji.
It called for a regional response proposal to be prepared for Leaders in 2027, including evidence-based harm reduction and stigma-free services for key populations.
On labour mobility, civil society called for a regional safeguards framework covering ethical recruitment, workplace rights, grievance mechanisms, reintegration and support for families remaining at home.
It also proposed an independent regional labour mobility ombudsperson.
Ocean, mining and economic sovereignty
The organisations warned that climate change was already threatening Pacific economies, including tuna fisheries.
They said changes in ocean conditions could shift tuna stocks beyond national waters, reducing fisheries access revenues for Pacific island countries.
The Alliance also called for a regional assessment of potential investor-State dispute settlement risks linked to seabed minerals arrangements.
It said governments should not face legal or financial penalties for strengthening environmental protection.
While recognising that Forum members held different positions on deep-sea mining, the organisations called for a precautionary pause until sufficient scientific evidence was available.
They also called for free, prior and informed consent to be treated as a binding standard for activities affecting Indigenous lands, waters and livelihoods.
Civil society also accepts responsibility
The PRNGO Alliance acknowledged that civil society itself needed to improve its coordination and accountability.
It said civil society engagement had at times been “uneven, personality-driven and concentrated around major events”.
The Alliance committed itself to stronger coordination, transparent selection procedures, better representation, intergenerational leadership and regular reporting back to communities.
“We do not ask of Leaders what we are unwilling to ask of ourselves,” the statement said.
In its closing message, the Alliance said the real test of Pacific regionalism was not the number of initiatives or declarations produced at regional meetings.
“The measure of regionalism should be what is changing in our villages, communities and islands,” it said.
“Closing the distance between declarations and action requires communities and civil society to be part of informing and shaping decisions from the beginning, not invited in after those decisions have already been made.”
The Alliance said the future of the Blue Pacific could not be decided for Pacific peoples.
“The Blue Pacific is our shared home. Its security, peace and future cannot be decided for Pacific peoples but must be shaped with and by them.”….PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Weather Ready Pacific strengthens ICT capacity at Solomon Islands Met Service
HONIARA, 02 SEPTEMBER 2026 (SPREP)—The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service (SIMS) has strengthened its Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) with the recruitment of a dedicated ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Officer.
Funded through the Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP),Edward Paohawe’s appointment adds to the number of Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) building in-house ICT capability under WRP support, with Tonga Meteorological Services being the first to recruit an ICT Officer earlier this year, and other Pacific Islands Countries to follow.
Paohawe joined SIMS as ICT Project Officer on 1 August, 2026. He holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Technology, Lae, Papua New Guinea, and a Diploma in Project Management from the University of the South Pacific. He brings extensive ICT experience from roles with the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund and Bemobile (SI) Limited.
“I am very pleased to take up this role with the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service under the Weather Ready Pacific Programme,” he said “It brings together my background in ICT operations and project management with work that matters for our communities – making sure the systems behind our forecasts and warnings are reliable when people need them most. I look forward to applying my experience to support the Service’s work and the broader goals of the Weather Ready Pacific Programme.
His role will focus on maintaining and strengthening the ICT systems that underpin forecasting, data management and warning dissemination.
For Solomon Islands, and many Pacific islands facing rising risks from tropical cyclones, flooding and other hazards, reliable ICT infrastructure is essential to getting accurate, timely warnings to communities. By building this expertise in-house, SIMS will improve system reliability and reduce downtime during severe weather events.
“The recruitment of a dedicated ICT Project Officer through the Weather Ready Pacific Programme comes at an important time for our operations as we are upgrading our ICT system to meet current and future computing needs,” said the Director of SIMS, Alick Haruhiru.
“Reliable ICT systems are the backbone of everything we do: from generating forecasts to getting timely warnings out to our communities. Having this expertise in-house strengthens our ability to keep those systems running when they matter most, and we are grateful to the WRP Programme and SPREP for their continued support.”
WRP Programme Manager, ‘Ofa Fa’anunu, congratulated SIMS and Mr Paohawe on the new appointment.
“Building ICT expertise in-country is central to what the Weather Ready Pacific Programme is about, ensuring our Pacific meteorological services have both the systems and the skilled people they need to deliver reliable early warnings,” said Mr Fa’anunu “Edward’s experience will strengthen SIMS’ operations and support the region’s shared goal of protecting lives and building climate resilience. We wish him every success in his new role.”
The WRP Programme was developed by Pacific nations for their own needs and received significant backing during the 51st Forum Leaders Meeting held virtually in 2021. It focuses on strengthening Pacific NMHSs by improving early warning systems, and ensuring that critical weather, climate, and emergency information is disseminated effectively to communities during crucial times
The Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme is a regional initiative supporting Pacific island communities. Financial support for the programme is provided by the Governments of Australia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom. Implemented by SPREP, the programme works closely with Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, regional organisations and technical partners to strengthen Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems and improve the delivery of weather and climate services across the Pacific….PACNEWS
For more information about the WRP Programme, or SIMS’ ICT development capabilities, please visit the SPREP website or contact WRP Programme Manager ‘Ofa Fa’anunu, ofaf@sprep.org , or WRP Programme Communications & Knowledge Management Officer Ms Angelica Salele-Sefo, angelicas@sprep.org
