In this bulletin:
1. PACIFIC — ‘1.5°C is not just a number for the Marshall Islands’
2. PACIFIC — Pacific aid “doesn’t really matter” next to Australia’s fossil fuel subsidies, Tuvalu climate minister says
3. PACIFIC — Pacific communities strengthen homes ahead of cyclone season
4. NZ — ‘Should we be concerned as New Zealanders?’ Expert responds to Fiji’s HIV emergency
5. FIJI — Fiji Cabinet backs legislation to establish Great Council of Chiefs
6. NZ — Labour pledges wider visa-waiver travel for Pacific visitors
7. FIJI — Fiji Cabinet endorses new criminal records regulations
8. UN — Candidate for UN chief calls for AI regulation akin to nuclear weapons
9. FIJI — Fiji drought response underway as dry conditions hit parts of Fiji
10. PACNEWS BIZ — ADB backs Fiji’s crisis response and long-term resilience with $210 million
11. PACNEWS BIZ — Australia boosts Vanuatu aviation safety with new ground equipment
12. PACNEWS BIZ — Solomon Islands Met Service conducts aviation services quality audit
13. PACNEWS BIZ — Perfume Fiji eyes export growth after decade of development
14. PACNEWS BIZ — Shipping alert from IMO
15. PACNEWS DIGEST — Powerful voices, powerful solutions: Niue’s Loss Damage stories shown on screen
PAC – LOSS & DAMAGE/CLIMATE CHANGE: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
‘1.5°C is not just a number for the Marshall Islands’
By Pita Ligaiula
MAJURO, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Keeping global warming within the 1.5°C limit is a matter of survival for low-lying Pacific island nations such as the Marshall Islands, where climate change is already affecting homes, food, water and culturally important sites.
This is the message from Marshall Islands climate practitioner Jerolynn Myazoe as the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM ExCom) meets in Majuro this week.
The WIM ExCom meeting, being held from 14–18 September, brings one of the key UN climate bodies dealing with loss and damage to a Pacific island nation on the frontline of climate change.
Myazoe, Project Manager for the Strengthening Manit (Heritage) for Addressing Loss and Damage project under the Marshall Islands Climate Change Directorate, said the impacts of a changing climate were already being experienced by communities across the country.
“For countries like the Marshall Islands, where our atolls are very low-lying, and our communities are very closely connected to the ocean, even just a small change in climate can have significant consequences.
“We’re already seeing some of these impacts. More importantly, we’re living it,” Myazoe said.
She said communities were facing land loss, changing fisheries, drought affecting crops and damage to culturally significant sites.
“Our communities are seeing it through land loss, changes in fisheries, droughts impacting our crops, and more importantly, our culturally significant sites,” Myazoe said.
For the Marshall Islands, she said the 1.5°C temperature limit was not simply a target contained in an international agreement.
“1.5 isn’t just a number or a target in an international agreement. It has very real implications on our homes, our food and water security, and our connection to land,” she said.
The WIM ExCom meeting in Majuro is taking place ahead of the Pre-COP31 meetings in Fiji and the Leaders event in Tuvalu in October, as well as COP31 later this year.
It provides Pacific countries an opportunity to put their experiences and priorities at the centre of global discussions on loss and damage.
The meeting is expected to provide further visibility to the Pacific’s call for climate action that responds to the impacts being experienced by communities and reflects their lived realities.
For the Marshall Islands and other low-lying island countries, Myazoe’s message is that limiting warming to 1.5°C remains directly linked to the future of their communities, culture and way of life…..PACNEWS
PAC – FOSSIL FUEL/CLIMATE CHANGE: RENEW ECONOMY PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Pacific aid “doesn’t really matter” next to Australia’s fossil fuel subsidies, Tuvalu climate minister says
SYDNEY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (RENEW ECONOMY) —Australia’s subsidies for fossil fuels since 2020 were almost six times the amount the nation gave in aid to the Pacific, underscoring the importance of halting new coal and gas expansions, Tuvalu’s climate and environment minister, Maina Vakafua Talia said.
The comparison in subsidies was made in a report by The Australia Institute. It found Australian governments funnelled $62 billion(US$43 billion) into fossil fuels subsidies between 2020 to 2025, dwarfing the $11 billion(US$7.79 billion) in aid to Pacific neighbours. Just $1.3 billion(US$920 million) of those funds were climate-specific aid.
“It doesn’t really matter how much money we subsidise, if we don’t put a stop to the real problem,” Minister Talia told a climate integrity summit run by The Australia Institute in Sydney on Tuesday.
“The logic is very simple,” he said. “We should put a stop to the expansion of coal mines and gas to ensure the survival of those who continue to live in the small island states.”
The aid from Canberra is partly intended to stem growing Chinese influence in the Pacific region to Australia north-east. Some of our Pacific neighbours, though, are less worried about geopolitical issues than environmental ones, a point Prime minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged during his visit to Palau three weeks ago.
“Climate change is an existential threat to the very existence of some of the countries who are represented here,” Albanese told the Pacific Islands Forum gathering.
Low-lying Tuvalu is also preparing to host a special leaders’ segment as part of a pre-COP summit in Fiji that will run 5-8 October.
Australia has helped fund the pre-COP events after it lost out to Turkiye in a bid to host the full Conference of the Parties (COP) in November.
During Question Time in Parliament on Wednesday, climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen said he would be “spending time” with Talia in the next few weeks “as the Prime Minister will be, to elevate the issues of the Pacific on the global stage.”
Concerns about Tuvalu’s future have been heightened by record global sea-surface temperatures and the recent release of a major United Nations report showing temperature increases would likely soar past the Paris climate agreement’s 1.5-degree target.
“The UNEP report on the overshoot didn’t just bring data, it brought sleepless nights filled with the faces of my people and the uncertain future of my children,” Talia said in a statement accompanying the release of The Australia Institute report.
“As climate minister, I carry the heavy burden of full responsibility. This is not about politics; this is about our very survival – it is a matter of life and death,” he said. “That is why transitioning away from fossil fuels is not just necessary, but non-negotiable.”
The TAI’s report, Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: A Roadmap for Australia, set out a five-point plan for Australia to meet its own COP28 commitment to transition of fossil fuels in line with the 1.5-degree goal.
Since signing the Paris agreement in 2015, Australia had more than doubled its gas exports. The Albanese government had also approved 37 new coal and gas projects, the Australia Institute said.
Canadian Senator for Quebec Rosa Galvez, another of the speakers at the Tuesday event in Sydney, blasted the lack of subsidy transparency in fossil-fuel-exporting democracies.
“We are told markets are free,” Galvez, an independent senator for Quebec province, said. “Markets are not free, because we are giving huge subsidies and we are favouring this industry.”
In a separate Guardian opinion piece, Senator Galvez drew parallels between Canada and Australia as two wealthy, resource-exporting democracies with similar resource bases and fossil-fuel subsidy debates.
“Canada and Australia have focused on reducing emissions from fossil fuels while avoiding the harder conversation about reducing our dependence on them,” she said in the article. “That distinction matters. It determines whether we are managing decline or genuinely transforming our economies.”
Tuvalu will also co-host the Second Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, along with Ireland, next April….PACNEWS
PAC – WEATHER WATCH: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Pacific communities strengthen homes ahead of cyclone season
SUVA/WELLINGTON, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—Communities in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga are strengthening homes, improving access to safe water and building local disaster preparedness as the Pacific prepares for another cyclone season.
Habitat for Humanity says its community-led resilience programmes are helping families identify risks, strengthen housing and develop local plans to reduce the impact of severe weather.
Alan Thorp, Group Chief Executive Officer of Habitat for Humanity New Zealand, said communities were being supported to take the lead in identifying shelter risks and developing practical solutions.
“Through our work, we help communities be as prepared as possible before the next disaster strikes,” Thorp said.
“We take a community-led approach: community members identify their shelter risks and create an action plan to address them.”
Over the past five years, Habitat has worked with 49 communities across Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, supporting efforts to improve housing conditions and strengthen preparedness.
Thorp said safer housing was central to community resilience.
“Home is where everything begins,” he said.
In some communities, resilience measures have included practical improvements such as footpaths and solar lighting to improve safe access within villages.
Others have focused on construction and plumbing training, giving community members skills to strengthen their own homes and support others ahead of severe weather events.
Habitat said 42 communities have undertaken Build Back Safer training over the past five years, with 848 participants learning basic construction and home repair techniques designed to make homes more resilient to extreme weather.
A further 24 plumbing training sessions have been delivered for women in communities across Samoa and Fiji, covering practical skills including identifying and repairing leaking pipes.
The organisation said 49 communities have also participated in safe shelter training, where residents identify risks and develop plans to reduce them.
“By strengthening local knowledge and practical skills, we support Pacific families to create safer homes and become more self-reliant over the long term,” Thorp said.
“A decent, climate-resilient place to live can improve people’s health, well-being and overall quality of life.”
He said adequate shelter could reduce families’ exposure to extreme weather and natural disasters while helping them adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Habitat for Humanity has worked in the Pacific for more than 20 years, focusing on shelter and housing.
Its key regional programmes include Participatory Approach to Safe Shelter Awareness (PASSA), Build Back Safer (BBS), Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and vocational training.
The programmes are primarily funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with additional support from public donations….PACNEWS
NZ – HIV/AIDS/HEALTH/TRAVEL: RNZ PACIFIC PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
‘Should we be concerned as New Zealanders?’ Expert responds to Fiji’s HIV emergency
WELLINGTON, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (RNZ PACIFIC)—A New Zealand traveller planning to visit Fiji on a promotional trip in November says she is waiting for more information after the country declared a national HIV emergency on Tuesday.
The New Zealand government website SafeTravel has warned people travelling to Fiji to avoid activities that could increase their risk of infection.
The traveller, who RNZ Pacific has agreed not to name, said she contacted the organisers of the trip but had yet to receive a response.
She said she is not considering cancelling her trip but wants more information so she can make an informed decision.
“I hope this trip goes ahead without issue,” she said.
“But hey, how will we know that someone isn’t going to play roulette with our lives?”
RNZ Pacific has sought comment from MediaWorks NZ, which is involved in the promotional trip.
University of Canterbury senior health lecturer Dr Jalal Mohammed said the declaration would not be a significant issue for most New Zealanders travelling to Fiji.
However, he told Pacific Waves that it provided a way to reinforce basic health messages.
“Should we be concerned as New Zealanders? I mean, we do have strong familial ties with Fiji. A number of our citizens have connections to Fiji, a large number go to Fiji and travel.”
“There is a few tourists that will engage in risky behaviours. So I think there is an opportunity to provide key messaging around Fiji is undergoing a HIV epidemic – don’t share needles, don’t have unprotected sex, those sorts of key messaging.”
Mohammed said the declaration is a “positive step” in helping the country to tackle the epidemic.
Fiji’s government current estimates indicate that one in every 60 adults in Fiji is living with HIV.
Speaking to Pacific Waves, Mohammed said in the past five years the number of HIV cases has increased by 1400 percent.
He said the epidemic is affecting all communites across Fiji, with the pattern of transmission changing as cases continue to climb.
“It’s becoming a more generalised outbreak,” Mohammed said.
“It is impacting other segments of society so we are seeing sexual transmissions, we are seeing mother-to-child transmissions. So what this declaration does is that it recognises the seriousness of this issue.”
Mohammed said a large portion of Fiji’s budget is spent on the country’s health system, but that the infrastructure is ailing. He added that discussions of safe needle exchanges need to be actioned.
He added that stigma plays a role in preventing people from accessing treatment.
“There are elements of society that are saying, that if you provide safe needle exchanges, you are promoting drug use – that is not the case.”
“We know from evidence that providing safe needle exchanges does not increase drug use but it will certainly decrease the number of cases.”
Fiji’s development partners could also do a lot more to help the country in its response, Mohammed said.
In July last year, New Zealand gave NZD$4 million (US$2.28 million) to Fiji, but Mohammed said the support should go beyond funding.
He said New Zealand’s experience in managing HIV could provide Fiji with technical expertise to help strengthen its response.
The focus, he said, should be on helping Fiji expand prevention, treatment and public health measures….PACNEWS
FIJI – GCC: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Fiji Cabinet backs legislation to establish Great Council of Chiefs
SUVA, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Fiji’s Cabinet has endorsed the start of a standalone legislative process to formally establish the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs) under the Constitution and legislation.
The Ministry of iTaukei Affairs will now undertake the required process under Section 11 of the iTaukei Affairs Act 1944.
This will include further consultation with relevant iTaukei institutions before the proposed Bill is returned to Cabinet for final consideration.
Subject to Cabinet approval, the Bill will then be introduced in Parliament for consideration.
The legislative process is intended to provide a statutory framework for the Great Council of Chiefs in accordance with the Constitution and relevant legislation…PACNEWS
NZ – VISA WAIVER: PMN PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Labour pledges wider visa-waiver travel for Pacific visitors
WELLINNGTON, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PMN)—The Labour Party is promising to make it easier for people from Pacific countries to visit family in New Zealand through an expansion of visa-waiver access to citizens of Pacific Islands Forum nations.
Labour Deputy Leader and Pacific Peoples spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni announced the policy on PMN’s Pacific Mornings today.
Sepuloni says the current system can place a financial burden on families in New Zealand who sponsor relatives visiting from the Pacific.
“When the cost of living is putting pressure on many Pacific families, the cost of travelling to see loved ones can make being together feel out of reach,” she said.
“We know that too often, it will fall on families here in New Zealand to sponsor loved ones from the islands for a visit. Families shouldn’t have to choose between meeting their everyday costs and being able to welcome loved ones from the islands to New Zealand.”
Sepuloni says the policy could also help prevent relatives from missing important occasions because of visa costs or delays.
“I’ve seen firsthand the heartbreak of loved ones missing weddings, funerals and other important moments, because they couldn’t secure a visa in time due to cost and other barriers,” she said.
Further details about how the proposed visa-waiver system would operate are yet to be released…..PACNEWS
FIJI – CRIMINAL RECORDS: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Fiji Cabinet endorses new criminal records regulations
SUVA, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Fiji Cabinet has endorsed the Criminal Records Regulations 2026, paving the way for implementation of the Criminal Records Act 2026 and changes to how police clearance applications are assessed in Fiji.
Under the new framework, the Fiji Police Force will assess police clearance applications involving adverse criminal records in accordance with the Act.
The assessment will take into account spent convictions, expiated fixed-penalty offences and expunged historical convictions.
People who have previously applied for a police clearance and received an adverse record will be required to submit a new application to the Fiji Police Force.
The Government said Fijians travelling overseas for employment, including under seasonal worker schemes, must continue to comply with the employment and immigration laws of the country where they intend to work.
The Ministry of Justice will be responsible for assessing applications to expunge historical convictions.
Under the Act, historical convictions refer to homosexual offences under the now-repealed Penal Code (Cap. 17).
A person with a criminal record for a historical homosexual offence, or an eligible relative of a deceased person with such a record, may apply to the Permanent Secretary for Justice to have the record expunged.
The Ministry will make the expungement application form available to the public.
Eligible relatives of a deceased person include a spouse, child, adopted child, parent or step-parent, sibling or step-sibling, grandparent, grandchild, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, or the headman of a mataqali.
Applicants whose expungement applications are unsuccessful will have the right to appeal through the Mercy Commission.
The Government said there will be no compensation for individuals whose historical criminal records are expunged….PACNEWS
UN- ARTIFICIAL INTELIGENCE: AFP PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Candidate for UN chief calls for AI regulation akin to nuclear weapons
NEW YORK, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (AFP)— A contender to lead the UN called Wednesday for artificial intelligence to be regulated like nuclear weapons, warning that a Third World War would be fought with the emerging technology.
The issue of AI looks set to dominate a week of talks and meetings between world leaders due to get underway at the UN amid dire warnings of the technology’s potential danger.
‘We are almost at the brink of a Third World War…and it’s a more dangerous one. This time, it’s not going to be just the nuclear danger, but AI as well,” Ivonne A-Baki, an Ecuadoran-Lebanese diplomat nominated by Tonga to be the next UN Secretary General, told AFP.
“The things that are most important now for humanity is no nuclear and a regulated AI. It’s going to be a big gap if we don’t regulate it…So it has to be starting now. You have to create awareness of it.
“It’s not difficult to do that, because everybody knows that now AI is the problem.”
A-Baki’s intervention came as the current UN chief Antonio Guterres, who will bow out at the end of the year, called for “global coordination” on the future of AI.
“The world cannot afford a race to the bottom on AI safety,” he warned Wednesday.
Concerns about AI safety have escalated in recent weeks, with workers at major AI developers resigning over concerns about the dangers posed by the technology.
A-Baki said humanity was “not controlling” AI’s development “because we are depending on it instead of being the ones that have been creating it independently.”
Agreement on the future of the technology between tech superpowers Washington and Beijing would be essential to protecting humanity, she said.
“President Trump and President Xi Jinping, they are becoming, in a way, friends for a better world. They shouldn’t be competing. They should be cooperating,” she said.
A-Baki, a former Ecuadoran trade minister, acknowledged that paralysis of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, was an issue but stressed “they should be working together for the benefit of everyone.”
“I think that’s when the Secretary General has the mandate to be able to interfere on those things and to help,” she said without committing to pushing for change to the composition of the five veto-wielding countries, currently Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
“Everybody has to have a voice.”
A-Baki’s close ties with Trump, forged during multiple stints as Ecuador’s Ambassador to Washington, could help her stand out from a crowded field of eight candidates vying to lead the UN. The next round of the process to pick the UN’s next leader will be held Friday.
“I’m very good friends with President Trump… (he) will be important for the United Nations, and I think he loves the United Nations.
“What he’s seeing is it’s not being effective on preventing wars,” she said …. PACNEWS
FIJI – WEATHER WATCH: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 2: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Fiji drought response underway as dry conditions hit parts of Fiji
NUKUA’LOFA/NADI, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Fiji’s drought response plan is being put into action as reduced rainfall begins to affect parts of the country, with some remote islands already requesting water and parts of the Western Division recording significant rainfall deficits.
Fiji Meteorological Service director Misaeli Funaki said the Met Service had already informed Government and stakeholders that the country was experiencing less rainfall.
“In the case of Fiji, we already have a drought plan and in the drought plan it says that from the side of the MET offices, we monitor the rainfall.
“We have already been informing government and every stakeholder that we are experiencing less rainfall.”
Funaki spoke following the conclusion of the Pacific Meteorological Council meeting in Nuku’alofa, Tonga.
He said Government agencies were monitoring conditions and mobilising resources as the dry conditions continued.
“The government as well, in mobilising its resources, is talking to the people of the Department of Lands to monitor the water sources.
“We are also talking with good friends from the water authority, the energy sector and even the agriculture sector.”
Information from the different agencies would feed into the Government’s response through the National Disaster Management Office.
“All of these entities, they report to government on the effects on the ground and we collectively, through the National Disaster Management Risk Office, on how we can approach it as government.”
Funaki said the effects of reduced rainfall were already being felt in some communities.
“Some weeks ago, we were told that some islands have been asking for water from remote islands.
“Some had been asking and praying for rain.
“Even in the Western Division, you will be surprised that, even in Nadi, until two weeks ago, we were having probably just 35 percent of the rainfall that we normally get. That’s the reason why, very recently, we’ve been seeing some videos of cane farms being burned.”
Funaki said the conditions were signs that the dry season was already affecting the country.
“These are all indications that the dry season is upon us and those things are happening.”
The drought preparations come as Fiji experiences El Niño conditions and prepares for the upcoming tropical cyclone season.
PACNEWS BIZ
FIJI – FUEL SUBSIDY: ADB PACNEWS BIZ: Thu 17 Sep 2026
ADB backs Fiji’s crisis response and long-term resilience with $210 million
MANILA, 27 SEPTEMBER 2026 (ADB)— The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will deploy US$210 million to help Fiji contain the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict, protect households and businesses, and prepare for future economic and environmental shocks.
“Readiness is a duty owed to every family whose livelihood can be upended by the next shock,” said ADB President Masato Kanda.
“Fiji is acting on that duty now. This US$210 million package will help keep essential services running, protect people under pressure, and give the government the power to mobilize when every hour counts.”
Fiji faces challenges common to small island developing states, such as remote locations, small and dispersed populations, the outward migration of skilled workers, high costs of doing business, and limited access to finance. Persistently high energy prices due to the Middle East conflict and the anticipated impacts of El Niño are likely to slow economic growth this year.
The financing is for the second phase of the ADB-led Fiji Sustainable and Resilient Growth Program, and comprises a US$200 million loan for policy reforms and a US$10 million loan for disaster financing.
The first phase of the program helped Fiji improve tax administration, strengthen public financial management, modernise digital payment systems, and reform its disaster response framework.
To further boost resilience, the second phase builds on those reforms while supporting new measures to expand access to finance, strengthen disaster risk management, advance digital transformation, and enhance fiscal sustainability. It also introduces financing to help the government respond rapidly to future emergencies.
ADB designed the programme in close coordination with key development partners, including the governments of Australia and New Zealand, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank……PACNEWS
VAN – AVIATION: PACNEWS PACNEWS BIZ: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Australia boosts Vanuatu aviation safety with new ground equipment
PORT VILA, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Australia has strengthened Vanuatu’s aviation safety and disaster response capacity with the handover of ground support equipment worth VUV127 million(US$1,075,506)
The equipment, provided under the Australia-Pacific Partnerships for Aviation programne, includes a new air starter unit for Bauerfield International Airport and three combination ground power and air-conditioning units for Bauerfield, Whitegrass and Pekoa airports.
The support is aimed at improving airport safety and reliability while ensuring the airports can remain operational during emergencies, including the movement of emergency flights, medical supplies and humanitarian assistance.
The importance of resilient aviation infrastructure was demonstrated following the December 2024 earthquake, when airports played a critical role in supporting emergency response operations.
The new equipment will reduce aircraft delays and maintenance downtime and allow aircraft to be serviced on the ground without relying on onboard systems.
It will also help reduce aircraft fuel consumption at a time of high jet fuel prices.
Technical staff from Airports Vanuatu Limited and Vanuatu Terminal Services received training as part of the support.
Australian High Commissioner to Vanuatu Max Willis said the equipment was part of Australia’s wider support for the country’s aviation sector.
“This equipment forms only part of Australia’s broader support to Vanuatu’s aviation sector to improve aviation safety, quality and reliability,” Willis said.
“Together, these initiatives help strengthen connectivity, support economic growth and ensure airports can continue serving communities during times of crisis.”
Prime Minister Jotham Napat thanked Australia for the support, saying strong airports were critical to Vanuatu.
“On behalf of the Government and the people of Vanuatu, I thank the Australian Government and the Australia-Pacific Partnerships for Aviation program for this timely support,” Napat said.
“Strong airports are our lifeline. And in light of the recent disaster we must therefore continue to strengthen our safety standards, our infrastructure, our equipment, our regulatory systems and the capacity of the people who operate and maintain them.”
The handover reinforces the commitment by Australia and Vanuatu to strengthen aviation infrastructure and ensure airports can support communities during normal operations and emergencies….PACNEWS
SOL – MET SERVICE/AVIATION: PACNEWS PACNEWS BIZ: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Solomon Islands Met Service conducts aviation services quality audit
HONIARA, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service (SIMS) is conducting an internal audit of its Aviation Meteorological Services Quality Management System as part of efforts to strengthen service quality, compliance and aviation safety.
The audit is being held from 14 to 17 September 2026 and is assessing SIMS aviation meteorological services against national, regional and international standards.
These include ISO 9001:2015, CAR Part 174, SMS Part 100 and WMO/ICAO Annex 3, as well as SIMS quality procedures, records and relevant agreements.
The audit is reviewing follow-up actions from previous QMS and PASO audits, corrective actions and quality records, internal and external communications, meteorological equipment and instruments, infrastructure and operational facilities.
It is also examining faults, non-conformities and risk registers, along with observation, forecasting, climate and technical functions.
SIMS management, section heads, auditors and relevant staff from the Honiara Meteorological Stations and Offices are involved in the audit.
The process also includes engagement with aviation stakeholders, including ATS-SIACL.
SIMS said the audit forms part of its ongoing quality improvement and monitoring programme and is intended to ensure its aviation meteorological services continue to meet applicable national, regional and international requirements.
The service said maintaining a robust Quality Management System is essential to providing reliable meteorological information that supports safe aviation operations…..PACNEWS
FIJI – PERFUME INDUSTRY: FIJI GOVT PACNEWS BIZ: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Perfume Fiji eyes export growth after decade of development
SUVA, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI GOVT)—A decade of research, sacrifice and persistence is beginning to pay off for Perfume Fiji founder Rupeni Rokoratu, who is now looking beyond the local market and towards export growth.
Rokoratu met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Industries, Commerce and Business Development, Manoa Kamikamica, to discuss Perfume Fiji’s development, current operations, and the support needed to take the business to its next stage.
The former teacher began working on the venture around 2015 while teaching science and industrial arts. Over the years, he funded his research and product development through other business activities, eventually selling his bakery and other interests to focus on the venture.
Perfume Fiji is now in production and retailing locally, with Rokoratu telling the DPM that sales reached about $15,000 (US$7,500) in August.
With demand beginning to emerge beyond Fiji, his next challenge is expanding production and establishing reliable export channels.
Rokoratu said attempts to send products overseas had hit difficulties after a courier company classified shipments as dangerous goods.
Discussions also covered the need for larger production space, possible export support and Government grant programmes that could assist the business, subject to the relevant requirements and assessment.
Kamikamica encouraged further engagement with the Ministry and relevant agencies, including Investment Fiji, to help address the export issues and identify suitable support.
For Rokoratu, the goal is bigger than selling perfume locally; it is about developing a Fijian brand capable of reaching regional and international markets….PACNEWS
UK – SHIPPING: UN NEWS CENTRE PACNEWS BIZ: Thu 17 Sep 2026
Shipping alert from IMO
LONDON, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (UN NEWS CENTRE)—Amid a rising number of attacks on shipping in key waterways in the Middle East linked to the US-Iran war, the head of UN maritime agency, Arsenio Dominguez, has insisted that the conflict is not a “pretext” to target “innocent seafarers”.
Since the current conflict in the Middle East began on 28 February, the International Maritime Organisation(IMO), IMO, has verified 80 attacks on international shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
This has resulted in the deaths of at least 22 seafarers and injuries to many others.
In the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, dozens of fatalities have reportedly resulted from attacks on international shipping in recent months, although precise numbers are difficult to verify.
Attacks in the Red Sea have also resumed, with four fatalities confirmed in the latest attack by the Houthis on a merchant vessel on 11 August, the UN agency said.
Roel Hoenders, Chief of Staff at IMO said :“Apart from putting seafarers’ lives at risk, attacks on merchant shipping are having a severe impact on global supply chains and people everywhere around the world. – And let’s not forget that 22 crew have already been killed since the conflict in the Middle East began on 28 February.”
Dominguez stressed that in the Strait of Hormuz, the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, “it is not only one country attacking merchant vessels”…..PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Powerful voices, powerful solutions: Niue’s Loss Damage stories shown on screen
ALOFI, 17 SEPTEMBER 2026 (SPREP)—Empowering Niue’s youth to tell their own stories of Climate Change Loss and Damage is at the heart of a project now underway.
Through the Loss and Damage Capacity and Capability Project funded by the Government of New Zealand and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in partnership with the Government of Niue, the camera lens is focused on an intergenerational approach to tell Niue’s stories.
Working with youth groups across Niue, concepts were submitted to develop short films that document the climate change impacts experienced across Niue from the perspectives of older generations, as well as to record Niue’s culture and traditions that are at risk of loss and damage from climate change.
The next steps are a range of workshops with Niue youth this week to help strengthen their capacity to produce these short films through to completion. SPREP are working in partnership with the Project Management and Coordination Unit (PMCU) of Niue to facilitate workshops across the week of 14 to 17 September 2026.
“When Niue stands strong, it is because our young people stand strong. When our ocean is protected, it is because our communities choose protection. And when our climate future is secure, it will be because you helped shape it,” said Sue Kulatea of PMCU Niue as the first workshop opened.
“Let this be the moment where your leadership rises, where climate action becomes personal, and where we commit together to safeguarding Niue for generations yet to come. Let’s dream up solutions and let’s make sure Niue’s Loss and Damage Stories are heard loud and clear both here and across the Pacific.”
Through the workshops Niue’s youth groups are being taught more about climate change and Loss and Damage, as well as undergoing story telling sessions. These will provide them with interview, filming and editing techniques and tips as well as prepare an action plan that will see them working with a mentor to complete the production of the short films.
All films will be showcased through a special event in Niue, followed by taking a preview of the short films to the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Antalya, Turkiye scheduled from 9 to 20 November this year.
“We have received powerful submissions which we are working with Niue to finalise and prepare,” said Ms Jessica Rodham, the LDCC Project Coordinator at SPREP.
“Climate change including loss and damage impacts is a Pacific reality that is impacting lives across the region. There are stories that must be told and we’re proud that these are stories being told by Niuean youth through short films, for the world to see. Their stories, told their way brought to life on film.”
The youth groups will receive grant funding to support them in developing and completing their films for community screening. They will also have access to digital content cration equipment and mentoring support. All films will be showcased in Niue through a special community screening before being shared across fhe Pacific and beyond. The workshops held this week in Niue are further support to help them navigate their journey ahead.
“For me, the short films we are going to produce will benefit our future generation as well as our elders – many of us know and see the changes, but don’t fully understand why or what may continue to happen. Our films will help educate us more on climate change, and also be the opportunity to tell the world about what we are experiencing,” said Ms Lesley Haletama of the Mutalau Youth Group.
The Powerful voices, powerful solutions: Telling our Loss and Damage stories in Niue workshop series are being held from 14 to 17 September. The workshop is being supported through the Loss and Damage Capacity and Capability Project (LDCC) funded by the Government of Niue and implemented by SPREP in partnership with the Government of Niue. The LDCC Project spans the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau and Tonga….PACNEWS
