In this bulletin:
1. PACIFIC — Pacific demands climate action as 1.5C limit comes under threat: UN deputy SG
2. PACIFIC — France urges big emitters to act as Pacific pushes climate agenda ahead of COP31
3. PACIFIC — EU backs Pacific as Commissioner Hoekstra warns climate impacts are already here
4. PACIFIC — Indonesia protests West Papua remarks at UN New Caledonia hearing
5. PACIFIC — Pacific nations insist world must increase efforts to meet global warming limit
6. PACIFIC — Pacific’s new climate fund gets $15 million boost but remains far below target
7. PACIFIC — Weather resistant: $3m fund to protect Pacific projects
8. PACIFIC — UK pledges $25.24m to Pacific Resilience Facility
9. PACIFIC — When climate change takes away a girl’s choice
10. FIJI — Fiji PM rejects claims he overstepped referendum powers
11. PACNEWS BIZ — ADB President joins Pre-COP31, Calls for faster resilience finance
12. PACNEWS BIZ — Australian High Court ruling in coal court case spooks miners
13. PACNEWS BIZ — Tonga welcomes kava declaration
14. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Empowering Pacific-led research and data, and youth leadership to shape climate decisions
15. PACNEWS DIGEST — Pacific Evidence on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Takes Centre Stage at SVRI Forum 2026
16. PACNEWS DIGEST — Nasaga Village Highlighted as Kiwa Initiative Enters Phase Two
PAC – PRE COP31: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
Pacific demands climate action as 1.5C limit comes under threat: UN deputy SG
By Pita Ligaiula
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—United Nations deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed has called on the world to match Pacific leadership on climate change with urgent action on emissions, adaptation and finance, warning that communities least responsible for the crisis cannot continue carrying its greatest costs.
Mohammed told Pacific leaders at the Pacific Pre-COP31 plenary in Nadi that the future Pacific nations had warned about for decades had arrived.
“For decades the Pacific has warned the world about the future of nations if we cross the planetary boundaries. And that future has arrived,” she said.
She said rising seas, retreating coastlines, saltwater intrusion, extreme heat, destructive storms and warming oceans were already threatening Pacific infrastructure, health, livelihoods, reefs, fisheries and food security.
Mohammed said the world was approaching an overshoot of the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature goal under the Paris Agreement, but stressed that the target must not be abandoned.
“For the Pacific, we believe this is not an abstract number, nor is it a polite conversation.
“It goes to the heart of a question that we put to the Pacific leaders in Palau last month: Can Pacific peoples continue to build good lives here, on their own islands, on their own terms, while protecting the land and the ocean that sustains them?”
“Our answer must be yes,” she said.
Mohammed said every year temperatures remained above 1.5C threatened development gains and the future of Pacific generations.
“Those who contributed least to this crisis cannot be expected to continue to carry its greatest costs.
“Responsibility, capability, justice and solidarity must shape the world’s collective response,” she said.
Mohammed also rejected the notion that Pacific countries were waiting for the rest of the world to rescue them, saying the region had already demonstrated leadership on climate action.
“You are not waiting to be saved, and that you are leading,” she said.
She highlighted Pacific efforts to keep the 1.5C target at the centre of global climate negotiations, advance ocean and climate justice, and bring the issue of sea-level rise before international institutions.
Mohammed also highlighted the recent adoption by the UN General Assembly of a political declaration on sea-level rise, which affirmed the continuity of statehood and preservation of maritime zones in the face of rising seas.
She said this record gave the Pacific “unique moral and political authority” to set the standard for COP31.
Mohammed welcomed the Taku Pakasoa Declaration, which Pacific leaders are expected to sign following their plenary, saying it reflected Pacific solidarity and called for collective action on 1.5C, the ocean and climate finance.
As leaders prepare for COP31 in Türkiye, Mohammed called for three immediate priorities.
First, she said countries must keep the 1.5C goal alive.
“Overshoot is not a reason to surrender. It’s a call to accelerate, make the overshoot as short and small as possible, bringing temperatures back down as quickly as possible,” Mohammed said.
Second, she said vulnerable countries needed urgent investment in adaptation, including resilient infrastructure, secure water supplies and healthy ecosystems.
“Adaptation is not optional.
“Warnings alone cannot hold back the sea,” Mohammed said.
Third, she called for climate finance commitments to be delivered, saying developed countries must lead.
She said the US$300 billion annual climate finance goal should be central to efforts to mobilise US$1.3 trillion a year for developing countries by 2035.
“Finance still has to be predictable, accessible, and at a scale, especially for the most vulnerable,” she said.
Mohammed also called for a fully resourced Green Climate Fund(GCF) and Loss and Damage Fund, noting that requests to the Loss and Damage Fund stood at US$2.8 billion, while pledges received so far amounted to just over US$800 million.
She welcomed Pacific-led initiatives such as the Pacific Resilience Facility and called for it to be fully funded.
Mohammed said delivering a 100 percent renewable Pacific by 2030 would require US$10 billion in resources leveraged with another US$15 billion in co-financing.
“Resources do exist,” she said, arguing that the challenge was political choice.
“What is needed is a political choice to invest in resilience and mitigate that risk,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed said the UN would continue to stand alongside Pacific island countries.
“The Pacific has shown what solidarity can achieve.
“Now the world must stand together with the most vulnerable of its family members, lest they become the collateral damage,” she said….PACNEWS
PAC – PRE COP31: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
France urges big emitters to act as Pacific pushes climate agenda ahead of COP31
By Pita Ligaiula
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—France has called on major emitting countries to accelerate emissions cuts and submit stronger climate plans, warning that a world heading towards 3 degrees Celsius of warming would leave little room for adaptation.
French Minister for Ecological Transition, Biodiversity and International Climate and Nature Negotiations, Monique Barbut, told Pacific leaders at the Pacific Pre-COP31 plenary in Nadi that climate impacts once seen as distant threats were now being felt across all regions, including Europe.
“Around the world, the impact of climate change is a daily reality. We are seeing it in the Pacific and we are seeing it all around the world.
“In France this summer, we experienced record-breaking and unprecedented heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. The urgent need for adaptation has reached France and, more globally, Europe,” Barbut said.
Barbut said adaptation alone would not be enough unless countries strengthened efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“In a plus-three-degrees world, there is no possible adaptation.
“This is why we urge all big emitters to accelerate their mitigation efforts, and the 40 countries which have not presented their Nationally Determined Contributions must do it now,” Barbut said.
She said the European Union was reducing emissions each year and called on other major economies to match that pace.
Barbut said France had already decarbonised 95 percent of its electricity sector and had adopted a legally binding roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, ending coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050.
France also backed the Turkish COP31 Presidency’s proposal to increase the share of clean electricity in global final energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035.
Barbut identified methane as another priority for COP31, describing action on methane emissions as one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to limit short-term warming.
“Resolving this issue is the fastest, most effective and cheapest level of action to limit short-term warming.
“Methane must be dealt with in COP31 and should be written into the final decision of Antalya,” she said”
On climate finance, Barbut said developed countries had made progress in meeting commitments, with OECD figures showing climate finance flows to developing countries reached US$136 billion in 2024.
She said Europe remained the world’s largest provider of climate finance, while France contributed €7.3 billion (US$8.17 billion) in 2024, with 40 percent directed to adaptation efforts.
“At the international level, it is US$3.1 billion that we are putting into developing countries for adaptation,” she said.
But Barbut said all major emitters and economies must contribute more.
“It is time for all major emitters to step up and do their fair share,” she said.
She also called for adaptation to become a central political priority at COP31, noting that France itself was preparing infrastructure and public systems for a possible 4C temperature rise.
Barbut ended by stressing that climate decisions must continue to be guided by science and backed the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“Our action must continue to rely on science.
“We must support the work of the IPCC rather than sabotage its calendar,” she said.
Pacific leaders are expected to sign the Taku Pakasoa Declaration following the conclusion of the Pre-COP31 meeting, setting out regional priorities on climate ambition, adaptation, oceans and finance ahead of COP31 in Türkiye….PACNEWS
PAC – PRE COP31: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
EU backs Pacific as Commissioner Hoekstra warns climate impacts are already here
By Pita Ligaiula
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— European Union Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra has warned that the loss of land in Tuvalu is a sign of what climate change could bring to other countries, as he pledged continued EU support for Pacific climate action and resilience.
Hoekstra made the remarks at the Pacific Pre-COP31 plenary in Denarau after visiting Tuvalu during the leaders’ meeting, where Pacific leaders are expected to sign the Taku Pakasoa Declaration ahead of COP31 in Türkiye.
“It also showed us the intimidating reality of literally losing your land.
“This is not an incident, an anomaly or a one-off. As the Prime Minister said, it is a bellwether, a proxy for what awaits,” Hoekstra said.
Hoekstra said the EU would continue supporting Pacific island countries and recognised the region’s leadership in pushing for stronger global climate action.
“The European Union will continue its unwavering support for the islands in the Pacific, the Caribbean and beyond.
“We commend the strength, the courage and the leadership of the islands in advocacy for climate action,” Hoekstra said.
He said Europe would work with Pacific countries to advance climate action despite growing divisions and resistance to stronger climate policies.
“Europe will stand shoulder to shoulder in jointly advancing climate action, no matter how difficult that may be in today’s fractured world full of hesitation and outright denialism,” he said.
Hoekstra said the EU also had a responsibility to accelerate cuts to its own emissions, warning that every fraction of additional warming would increase risks to health, economies and security.
“Our responsibility is to continue to cut our emissions rapidly and deeply.
“It is important to recall that every fraction of a degree has increasing negative impacts on our health, our economy, our security and our prosperity,” Hoekstra said.
Hoekstra said the EU would continue pushing for the world to stay as close as possible to the 1.5C temperature goal and ultimately return below it.
“In the European Union, staying as close as possible to 1.5 degrees and getting back below 1.5 remains the non-negotiable goal,” he said.
Hoekstra called for stronger Nationally Determined Contributions and greater use of science in climate policy, while urging countries to accelerate clean electrification at COP31.
“That means pushing ambitious NDCs. That means embracing everything science tells us.
“And that means we need to do whatever we can on clean electrification in Antalya,” Hoekstra said.
Hoekstra also identified climate resilience as a priority for the Pacific, saying the EU would continue supporting countries to prepare for worsening climate impacts.
“Resilience is a must-have,” he said.
Hoekstra said support would include early warning systems and investment in infrastructure capable of withstanding increasingly severe climate impacts.
“We will further push to achieve the great finance goals and ensure better access on the ground, because that is clearly needed,” he said.
The Pacific Pre-COP31 meeting concludes in Denarau today with leaders expected to endorse the Taku Pakasoa Declaration, which will set out regional priorities ahead of COP31 in Türkiye….PACNEWS
PAC – DIPLOMACY: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
Indonesia protests West Papua remarks at UN New Caledonia hearing
By Pita Ligaiula
NEW YORK, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Indonesia has protested after West Papua was raised during a United Nations Fourth Committee hearing on New Caledonia, calling for the remarks to be ruled out of order and removed from the official record.
The issue arose during the 81st UN General Assembly Fourth Committee meeting on Special Political and Decolonisation, when petitioner Roland Arnold was addressing the committee on the question of Kanaky New Caledonia.
Arnold called for the Kanak people to be given the opportunity to freely determine their political future and referred to a study on decolonisation in the Pacific by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
He then extended his remarks to West Papua, arguing that there were grounds for its reinstatement on the UN list of non-self-governing territories.
“According to the study, there are clear grounds for the General Assembly to support reinstatement of West Papua on the United Nations list of decolonization,” Arnold told the committee.
He said West Papua had met criteria under UN General Assembly Resolution 1541 and that the right to self-determination was also articulated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Indonesia immediately intervened, asking the chair to stop the statement and rule the West Papua remarks outside the scope of the hearing.
“Chair, my delegation would like to make a point of order,” the Indonesian representative said.
“The petitioner is being heard under the question of New Caledonia. His remarks concerning West Papua relate to a matter that is not before the committee under this agenda item and falls outside the scope of this hearing.”
Indonesia said Papua was an integral part of the Republic of Indonesia and was not among the non-self-governing territories currently under consideration by the committee.
“The opportunity accorded to a petitioner does not provide a basis to introduce matters unrelated to the territory under consideration,” Indonesia said.
The Indonesian delegation requested that the chair direct Arnold to confine his intervention to New Caledonia.
“We therefore respectfully request you, Chair, to rule such remarks out of order and to direct the petitioner to confine his intervention to the questions of New Caledonia,” the representative said.
Indonesia also asked the committee to disregard the West Papua remarks and have them omitted from the official record.
“Therefore,Chair, my delegation requests that the Fourth Committee disregard the statement by this petitioner and that his statement be omitted from the official record of this meeting,” Indonesia said.
The chair subsequently reminded petitioners that they were required to focus on the territories listed under the relevant agenda item.
The exchange occurred as the Fourth Committee considered the political status and decolonisation of New Caledonia, one of the Pacific territories on the UN list of non-self-governing territories.
The hearing featured sharply differing views on New Caledonia’s future, with pro-independence petitioners calling for stronger UN action on self-determination, while other petitioners argued that New Caledonians had chosen to remain part of France.
Pacific governments, including members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and Papua New Guinea, separately reaffirmed support for New Caledonia’s right to self-determination and called for a UN visiting mission to assess the situation in the territory.
The West Papua issue has previously featured in broader Pacific decolonisation discussions, but Indonesia has consistently rejected calls to treat the territory as a non-self-governing territory and maintains that Papua is an integral part of Indonesia.
The Fourth Committee continued its consideration of New Caledonia following the exchange…..PACNEWS
PAC – PRE COP31: REUTERS PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
Pacific nations insist world must increase efforts to meet global warming limit
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (REUTERS)—- Global governments must increase efforts to reduce emissions because the planet is “hurtling pas” a critical temperature target that would restrain sea level rises and extreme weather, delegates at a major climate conference in Fiji said on Wednesday.
Pacific nations, which are among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change, are trying to lock their priorities into global climate negotiations at the ministerial meeting in Fiji, a precursor to the COP31 forum in Turkey in November.
Among those priorities are securing better access to climate finance, protecting oceans, and making sure the target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is honoured, despite projections from the UN that it will soon be exceeded.
“We are hurtling past the 1.5-degree temperature limit,’ Fijian climate minister Lynda Tabuya told representatives from more than 50 countries at the start of pre-COP ministerial negotiations.
The data simply confirm what Pacific nations can see, she said: “The tide that reaches our homes, the pale reef our grandmothers no longer recognise, the villages we have already had to relocate.”
“Overshoot (of the target) is not a verdict we accept quietly … keeping 1.5 alive is the primary legal obligation and duty we are here to uphold.”
On Tuesday, representatives from around 30 nations gathered in Fiji after a visit to the vulnerable atoll nation of Tuvalu and adopted a declaration calling for “deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions.”
The delegation, which includes Pacific island leaders and representatives from countries including France, India and the United Arab Emirates, saw heavy machinery digging sand and creating new land that can withstand rising seas.
“Every fraction of a degree of warming accelerates the impacts of climate change and increases the risk of irreversible loss and damage,” said the declaration, whose title, Taku Pakasoa, is the Tuvaluan concept of the strength found in unity and collective action.
Exceeding a 1.5-degree rise — and significant environmental damage — was now unavoidable, said Dechen Tsering, director of the Regional Office of Asia Pacific at the UN Environment Programme.
“Pacific risks will outlast the temperature peak,” she said. “Each additional 100 years above 1.5 degrees would commit the world to around 40 centimetres (15.8 inches) of additional median sea level rise by 2300 compared with the pathway without overshoot.”
Turkey is hosting COP31 in the coastal city of Antalya and Australia is leading the negotiations.
The pre-COP events in Fiji and Tuvalu this week will shape what is possible at COP31, said Australian climate minister Chris Bowen.
“This region is home to some of the world’s strongest climate voices,” he said, adding that Pacific advocacy was vital in the adoption of the 1.5 degree goal at COP21 in Paris in 2015. “It’s also experiencing the most direct impacts.”
Turkey’s environment minister Murat Kurum, who is president of COP31, said limiting overshoot of the target was the summit’s clear common goal.
“I believe in this wholeheartedly,” he said…. PACNEWS
PAC – PRE COP31/PRF: REUTERS PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
Pacific’s new climate fund gets $15 million boost but remains far below target
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (REUTERS)—- Nations including Fiji and Ireland said on Wednesday they were donating about US$15 million to a fund to finance climate resilience and adaptation projects in Pacific islands, but pledges remain far below the fund’s target.
Pacific islands face acute risks from rising seas and volatile weather but say they struggle to access money from global funds. They are pushing for more donations at the pre-COP climate conference in Fiji.
“This is the moment to invest,” Mark Brown, prime minister of the Cook Islands, told delegates at the meeting. “Your investment buys us time.”
The Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) is owned by island governments and aims to have US$500 million after COP31, the UN’s flagship forum for coordinating climate action, has wrapped up in November. It ultimately wants US$1.5 billion.
Pledges by Fiji, Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark on Wednesday took its pot to slightly under US$200 million, said PRF CEO Finau Soqo.
Roughly half of that has come from Pacific island governments, New Zealand and Australia, according to the Pacific Islands Forum.
“More is needed now,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“Every investment now will make a difference and mean less cost of remediation tomorrow and in the future”
Albanese was among representatives of 30 countries who on Tuesday visited the tiny atoll nation of Tuvalu, where they saw white sand dredged from the atoll lagoon to create new land that could withstand ever higher tides.
The PRF aims to invest its capital and spend the earnings in what Soqo called a “small grants at scale” model.
Its first two projects – restoration of a mangrove-fringed taro patch farmed by women in Palau and the restoration of a World War Two-era aquifer in the Federated States of Micronesia – were funded in recent months. It has since funded 12 more, she said on Wednesday.
Over time, the PRF hopes to attract private investors alongside government donors, and eventually borrow money on international markets by issuing its own bonds, said Soqo, a former senior banker at ANZ, one of Australia’s major banks.
Asked if the PRF would reach its US$500 million goal during this year’s COP process, Fiji’s climate minister Lynda Tabuya said she was optimistic.
‘This will be our take to COP31, and we hope our global leaders will come on board to support us.”.
Fiji Wednesday pledges US$10 million towards the Pacific Resilience Facility….PACNEWS
PAC – PRE COP31: AAP PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
Weather resistant: $3m fund to protect Pacific projects
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (AAP)—Australia will spend $3 million (US$2 million) to buffer Pacific nations against the devastating effects of climate change as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls on more nations to help the region.
The announcement at the pre-COP31 event in Fiji on Wednesday will fund four projects in island nations Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and Kiribati, including road and communication infrastructure.
But the news comes as a report warned the funding gap for climate finance in Pacific nations could be as large as $5.7 billion (US$3.96 billion) a year, leaving nations struggling to adapt to the warming environment.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced Australia’s programme at the event, revealing Climate Infrastructure for Resilient Coastlines and Riverbanks was designed to protect against damage caused by rising sea levels and erosion.
The projects would focus on roads in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and communication cables in Kiribati and Tuvalu.
Climate threats and natural disasters were becoming more frequent and damaging, Mr Bowen said, reinforcing the need to protect assets in small nations that were more vulnerable to harm and less able to rebuild.
“We know that this is taking an increasing proportion of the (gross domestic product) of Pacific islands, both in terms of disaster recovery and also the need to invest in resilience,” he said
“Without action, climate-driven damage would sever these vital links and cut off the communities that rely on them.”
The pre-COP31 event in Nadi has hosted international speakers including Timor-Leste president Jose Ramos-Horta and former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, and will act as a precursor to the headline COP31 climate event held in Turkey in November.
The announcement comes after Fiji unveiled a US$10 million contribution to the Pacific Resilience Facility, a fund designed to collect US$500 million to support climate adaptation projects in the region.
Australia has committed $100 million (US$69 million) to the facility and Albanese called on other governments, financial institutions and investors to use COP31 to back the Pacific-led climate project.
“Investing in resilience today is far better than paying the cost tomorrow – it actually saves money.
“It always astonishes me that people who call themselves economic rationalists aren’t terribly rational about (the) cost-benefit analysis of investments,” he said.
The call came as aid agency Caritas Australia released research into the Pacific economy that found small nations could face a much larger climate finance funding gap than expected.
The Turbulent Waters report, based on research from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), estimated the current annual gap was between US$4.3 billion and US$5.7 billion.
The report found climate adaptation projects alone could cost US$4.7 billion, and Caritas Australia CEO Kirsten Sayers said larger nations needed to invest to prevent these countries suffering an unfair burden.
“This new research suggests the scale of that challenge is far greater than previously understood,” she said.
“”This COP, the message from Pacific communities is clear: climate finance must be fair, accessible and grounded in the priorities of the people it is intended to support,” Sayers said…PACNEWS
PAC – PRE COP31/PRF: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
UK pledges $25.24m to Pacific Resilience Facility
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—The United Kingdom has pledged £10 million (FJD$25.24 million) towards the next phase of the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), reaffirming its commitment to helping Pacific communities withstand the growing impacts of climate change.
UK Government special representative for climate Rachael Kyte announced the pledge during a Pre-COP31 panel in Nadi
It builds on the UK’s initial contribution of £1.3 million (FJD$3.86 million) in 2023 to help establish the regional climate resilience financing facility.
“We have been proud to be a partner of the PRF since 2023, when we committed $3.6m (US$1.8 million) to its initial establishment, helping with the difficult work of getting something on its feet and standing proud,” she said.
“We’re pleased to have pledged $10million euros(FJD$25.24 million) to the next phase of the PRF.”
The UK will also work to encourage other countries to come on board and increase their financial commitments to the facility.
Kyte said conventional financing and support systems had not delivered the results needed, making the PRF increasingly important as Pacific nations faced mounting climate threats and geopolitical tensions.
She warned that the impacts of a severe El Niño were placing further pressure on governments and vulnerable communities, particularly women.
“The pressure keeps building on the same government boundaries, the pressure keeps building on the same communities, on the backs of the same women,” she said.
The PRF, she added, offered an opportunity for the UK to demonstrate its commitment through a financing institution that was “Pacific-imagined, Pacific-owned, and Pacific led ”.
She said the UK was looking forward to supporting the facility’s grants and its ambition to attract additional financing to reach vulnerable communities.
“We commit that the UK will be a partner for the PRF in the next phase,” she said.
The importance of such support was highlighted by Komave Development Committee lead Unaisi Lelewale, who described the daily challenges faced by her community as climate change affected water security and food production.
Komave Village in Nadroga Province has about 330 people living in 43 households.
“For us in Komave, climate change is not something we only hear about in meetings or read about in reports. It is part of our everyday lives,” Ms Lelewale said.
“We see it when heavy rain turns our water into mud and makes it unsafe.”
Lelewale said prolonged dry seasons had also left families worried about securing enough water for drinking, cooking, washing and caring for their loved ones.
She said El Niño conditions were drying up water sources, damaging crops and forcing schools to close early.
With food security under threat, she said children, mothers and infants were among those suffering the most.
Through support from the PRF and the Government, water tanks had been installed in Komave, bringing safe water closer to households.
Lelewale said the initiative had eased access to water for children, elderly residents and people living with disabilities, while helping families prepare for droughts, floods and extreme weather.
“But what touched us most was knowing that our voices have been heard. It was knowing that even a small village like Komave matters,” she said.
“When you invest in a village, you are not only investing in infrastructure. You are investing in people. You are investing in hope. You are investing in the future of our children.”
She thanked the PRF and the Government for working alongside the community….PACNEWS
PAC – PREPCOP31: ISLANDS BUSINESS PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
When climate change takes away a girl’s choice
By Sera Tikotikovatu- Sefeti
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (ISLANDS BUSINESS)—“We need to acknowledge that when a community experiences loss and damage, especially children and girls, they don’t only experience the loss, but very often they are expected to absorb it.”
That’s Solomon Islander and founder of Kastom Keeper, Millicent Barty, speaking at a Tide Remembers Pre-COP side event on the impacts of climate change and loss and damage on girls and young women.
Barty drew on her work with communities across Solomon Islands to describe how climate change is affecting girls in ways that are often not captured by assessments of physical damage.
In 2018, while working on a project documenting climate change, loss and damage in Malaita Province, Barty travelled to communities including Fanale and Walande.
At Fanale, she said, around 15 families were living on the island at the time.
“Today, I’m told there are only two families who refused to move,” she said.
Walande, she said, has since disappeared, with a new Walande established on the mainland.
“These communities have been living with the question of where do we go when our island can no longer hold us,” Barty said.
During that work, she met a father and his 15-year-old daughter.
The family had found a way to secure somewhere to relocate on the mainland. The arrangement involved the girl marrying the son of a landowner.
Barty remembers the father speaking with relief about the arrangement.
“My family will finally have somewhere to go,” he told her.
But Barty also remembers looking at the girl standing beside him.
“She looked so sad, almost helpless, but she stayed silent and bowed her head,” she said.
Barty said the issue was not customary marriage itself, which has traditionally played a role in strengthening relationships between families and clans.
“What stayed with me was what was driving this particular decision,” she said.
“Our island is disappearing. We need somewhere to go. We need access to land, and sitting in that middle, sitting in the middle of that survival strategy, was a young girl. Her marriage, her choices, her future.”
“That, for me, is gendered loss and damage.”
Barty said loss and damage does not begin only when an island disappears.
“For many of our island communities, it begins years before, before we were even born,” she said.
“It begins when families can see what is happening and what is coming, and they start making these impossible decisions to survive it.”
She said the same pressures continue to emerge in communities today.
“Different girls, different families, but the same pressure around land, belonging, and survival.”
She said the issue had also become personal.
“One of my nieces is now also that same girl, arranged, compromised her future just to secure a place to go,” she said.
“So when we talk about loss and damage, don’t only look at what has physically disappeared.”
“Look at what our people are being forced to do in order not to disappear with it and look carefully at who is carrying the cost.”
“Because sometimes, long before the sea takes the island, the first thing it takes from is a girl and her choice.”
The cost of a disaster
The discussion also heard how climate-related disasters are affecting girls in Fiji.
Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change Engagement and Outreach Lead Abdul Mufeez Shaheed describes the experience of a 14-year-old girl living in a coastal village who wanted to become a nurse.
“When a cyclone struck, her family’s home was destroyed, followed by the schoolroom and for three weeks, she slept in a church hall with about 60 other people,” he said.
There was no lock on the toilet, no light inside or outside and when her monthly menstruation came she had no supplies and stopped drinking water because of the fear of going out in the dark.
“Her parents were rebuilding their home, and she was needed to care for her younger brother.”
The family was also forced to travel for clean water after saltwater contaminated their local source.
“Her older brother went back to school. She did not,” Shaheed said.
The story showed how loss and damage can be “quiet”, building up over time and lasting across generations.
When the fishing songs stop
For Tima, she describes a different kind of loss being experienced by girls and women in Fiji and shares a memory passed down from her grandmother about women and girls returning from fishing.
“In the olden days, when the young girls and women of their village returned from a day of fishing, they didn’t walk in silence,” she said. “They would sing songs, sing out loud as they walked in the paths.”
The singing signaled that the fishing catch was plentiful.
The women and girls would stop at other households and share their catch with neighbors before returning home.
“Today the ocean is changing,” she said. “Climate change has changed that singing into silence.”
Women and girls now sometimes hide behind houses as they make their way home because their catch is too small to share.
“It is stealing our joy and it is eroding our culture.”
For girls, she said, the loss and damage was a daily reality.
“They are growing up in a world of scarcity instead of abundance,” she said.
“Loss and damage isn’t just about damaged infrastructure. It is about the loss of our girls’ rights, their culture, and their spirit.”
The panel called for climate finance to reach communities directly, particularly women-led and grassroots organisations.
That includes evacuation centres with adequate washing facilities, menstrual health supplies, privacy, sexual and reproductive health services and mechanisms to prevent and respond to gender-based violence….PACNEWS
FIJI – REFERENDUM/POLITICS: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 1: Thu 08 Oct 2026
Fiji PM rejects claims he overstepped referendum powers
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has rejected claims that he overstepped the roles of Parliament, the President and the Electoral Commission in announcing key dates for the 09 December referendum, saying the Government is acting within the law.
The criticism has come from SODELPA, National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad and former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
abuka said he only announced the writ, polling and results dates for the referendum, not the campaign period.
He said today that he had received sound legal advice.
“No, I have not been ill-advised. We are very clear on the legal processes and the necessary steps we must take,” he said.
Rabuka said Monday’s announcement covered the date for issuing the writ, the polling date and the date by which results must be returned.
He said the Government had informed the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights, the Fijian Elections Office, the Electoral Commission and the Office of the Solicitor-General of its plans.
“Because this is Fiji’s first referendum, we are navigating uncharted waters. However, we are strictly operating within the provisions of our electoral and referendum legislation.”
Rabuka said announcing the date early would help voters.
Section 68 of the Electoral Act opens postal voting applications once an election date is announced. Section 6(1) of the National Referendum Act 2026 applies those provisions to referendums.
Voters who will be away from their polling station, or who have another lawful reason, can now apply and register as postal voters.
On the Electoral Commission, Rabuka said the Government could make recommendations, but the final decision rested with the Commission.
“We fully respect their independence,” he said.
Rabuka said the Coalition Government “remains completely intact” despite concerns raised by its two partners.
He said the select committee would receive all submissions and deliberate on them.
“In a healthy democracy, there is room to agree to disagree, but we will ultimately move forward with the business of implementing the necessary changes for our people, strictly within the confines of the law,” he said…PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
PAC – PRE COP31/RESILIENT FINANCE: ADB PACNEWS BIZ: Thu 08 Oct 2026
ADB President joins Pre-COP31, Calls for faster resilience finance
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (ADB)— Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda attended Pre-COP31 in Fiji and Tuvalu, where he met Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo and many other leaders, and called for faster financing to protect vulnerable island states from rising seas and other worsening impacts.
“The Pacific is among the world’s most vulnerable regions, and in Tuvalu I saw how rising seas are affecting communities, livelihoods, and coastlines,” said Kanda.
“Pacific leaders I met with made clear what is needed. Financing must reach vulnerable countries faster and support the practical work of protecting people and their futures.”
Speaking at the Leaders’ Plenary, Kanda said recent adaptation finance flows would meet only 26 percent of projected annual needs in the Pacific, while governments face complex requirements to access available funds.
He noted that ADB delivered a record US$13.5 billion in climate finance last year and is building stronger resilience into every project it finances.
Kanda also highlighted a major regional resilience programme ADB has been developing with its 14 Pacific members. The program is due to go before the Green Climate Fund Board later this month for US$250 million in financing, leveraging ADB projects to deliver US$1 billion for adaptation.
As part of the Pre-COP31 programme, Kanda traveled with other leaders to Tuvalu to see firsthand the threat posed by rising seas and efforts to protect vulnerable shorelines.
The visit brought into focus both the climate challenge and the concrete solutions required to build lasting resilience. To help deliver these solutions, ADB is preparing the Funafuti Climate Adaptation and Disaster Resilience Infrastructure Project, which builds on previous work to expand essential coastal protection in the country.
On the event sidelines, Kanda and Rabuka witnessed the signing of a US$210 million ADB financing package to help Fiji manage economic pressures arising from the conflict in the Middle East and strengthen its resilience.
The financing will help Fiji respond to higher fuel, freight, and other costs while supporting reforms in digital payments, national identification systems, private sector development, and disaster resilience.
Kanda also held discussions with leaders and senior representatives from across the Pacific and beyond during Pre-COP31, with talks focused on resilience, access to financing, and the region’s priorities ahead of COP31 in Antalya in November…..PACNEWS
AUST – MINING: AAP PACNEWS BIZ: Thu 08 Oct 2026
Australian High Court ruling in coal court case spooks miners
SYDNEY, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (AAP)—A landmark Australian High Court ruling celebrated by environmentalists is causing consternation for coal miners and investors as they pore over its potential wide-ranging consequences.
Labor has meanwhile tried to hose down coalition demands for federal intervention to shore up black gold’s future.
The High Court on Wednesday delivered a 3-2 split ruling in favour of community environmentalists who challenged a major open-cut mine expansion in NSW’s Hunter region.
It upheld a ruling from the state appeals court that found planning authorities must consider climate impacts of downstream emissions when reviewing projects.
In his reasons, Justice James Edelman cited expert Professor Penny Sackett’s estimate that the project, if it went ahead, would be one of the 650 largest greenhouse gas-emitting projects worldwide.
The mining industry feared the judgment’s wider implications.
“Mines may have to work out how to reduce emissions from their export customers, or Scope 3 emissions,” Minerals Council chief executive Tania Constable said.
“Investors in Australia’s resource sector will carefully review the outcome from today’s High Court judgment and the potential ramifications for other projects.”
The mining body called on the NSW government – overseeing some of the nation’s richest coal deposits – to further protect planning approvals.
Reacting to the decision, Environment Minister Murray Watt said the “novel decision” did not automatically impact federal environmental approvals.
“The decision from the High Court is in relation to a NSW government decision based on NSW legislation” he told News24 on Wednesday.
“To my knowledge, that’s the first time the High Court has made that kind of a finding.”
But the coalition called on state and federal governments to intervene to leave no room for legal doubt among trading partners that Australia would still be a top coal exporter.
In a pointed message to the lucrative sector, NSW Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos calmed down fears about coal mine extensions
“”It does not mean the expansion cannot be reconsidered or that coal mine extensions cannot be approved.”
Muswellbrook landowner Wendy Wales led the case against the planned expansion of the Mount Pleasant mine.
The retired science teacher dubbed the decision a win for Hunter communities.
“We have experienced the change from a country town with a mine over the hill, to a town that is now encircled by mines,” she said.
“Especially when the temperature rises, that town bears that burden straight up.
“”We’re grateful to be in that position to actually be part of this today.”
A spokesman for MACH Energy said the mine’s workers had lived with fear and uncertainty for too long.
Lawyers involved in the case said the court’s decision would be groundbreaking for climate litigation in Australia.
“This decision is one that will be studied around the world,” Elaine Johnson said.
The ruling comes after MACH Energy, owned by an Indonesian conglomerate, sought to extend the life of Mount Pleasant coal mine in the Hunter by 22 years and nearly double its yearly output.
The state planning commission in 2022 approved the plans before local Hunter Valley residents launched a legal challenge.
They failed on their first attempt, before NSW’s highest court unanimously ruled the approval unlawful in 2025.
The appeal court found planning authorities are legally required to consider the climate impact of Scope 3 emissions – caused when the coal is eventually burnt, including when exported overseas – on local communities.
The court suggested that could involve conditions to refine the coal before export, only export to signatories of the Paris Agreement or require expected Scope 3 emissions to be offset.
MACH Energy took the finding to the High Court, which struck down the appeal on Wednesday.
As a stop-gap measure, NSW in August allowed the mine – employing about 500 full-time equivalent jobs – to operate until 2032, and slightly increase yearly production. …PACNEWS
PAC – KAVA INDUSTRY: ISLANDS BUSINESS PACNEWS BIZ: Thu 08 Oct 2026
Tonga welcomes kava declaration
NUKU’ALOFA, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (ISLANDS BUSINESS)—Tonga’s kava growers and exporters have welcomed a regional declaration by Pacific leaders on the ancient plant which has become a major agricultural commodity.
The Tonga National Kava Komiti (TNKK) described the declaration made at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Koror, Palau, as a landmark regional commitment to safeguard and promote kava as a unique Pacific cultural and economic asset.
This concept of the Kava Declaration was launched by Princess Angelika Tuku’aho in 2024 at the inaugural Pacific Kava Festival in Tonga.
“TNKK extends its sincere gratitude to the Pacific Islands Forum and its Leaders, and in particular to the Prime Minister of Tonga, the Honourable Fakafanua, for their endorsement of the KAVA Declaration and for recognising the importance of protecting Pacific KAVA’s origins, traditional knowledge, cultural identity, and heritage,” a statement from the group said.
TNKK chair, Feiloakitau Kaho Tevi, said a partnership with Nia Tero had been invaluable in amplifying the voices of Pacific kava-growing communities, and its support would remain vital as this work moved onto the international stage.
He said that with the Forum declaration and growers and communities who had held stewardship of the crop for generations at the centre of the effort, the political foundation for the kava market was secured.
“Our task now is to escalate the cultural and identity significance of kava onto the international stage with the focus now shifting to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland,” Tevi said.
“We remain deeply grateful for the support of our leaders and we look forward to their continued support in the work ahead for the PIFS Kava Working Group.”
Building on the endorsement, TNKK and the Technical Working Group will advance a coordinated programme of work including tabling the next phase of the regional kava agenda at the upcoming Pacific Islands Standards Committee Technical Committee on Kava meeting in Nadi next week….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
Empowering Pacific-led research and data, and youth leadership to shape climate decisions
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (SPREP)— Pacific leadership requires meaningful youth influences and the resources, skills and scientific evidence needed to shape regional and international climate decisions.
This was the resounding message at a side event focused on Pacific-led science and youth for climate action Pacific at the Vale ni Vanua – Knowledge Exchange Pre-COP31 in Nadi Fiji.
Organised by the University of the South Pacific(USP), panellists highlight three interconnected priorities, strengthening youth leadership in climate action, advancing Pacific-led research through better resourcing and data, and sustained support for research that can inform regional and international decisions.
The event was moderated by Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) Climate Change Resilience Director, Tagaloa Cooper, and panellists included Imogen Butler, Branch Manager, The Climate Reality Project Australia & Pacific, Ozayr Akbar, Climate Diplomacy Officer, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, Dr Awnesh Singh Associate Professor, USP, Professor Jason Evans, Researcher, University of New South Wales / WCRP CORDEX and GEWEX and Mr. Rufino Varea, Director, Pacific Islands Climate Action Network.
Pacific Climate EnvoyTina Stege set the scene for the event, spotlighting the strength of Pacific generated research and youth participation in climate action.
“Young people understand the urgency of the climate crisis and the opportunity they have to shape solutions. Pacific youth and youth leadership around the world have strengthened climate advocacy, research and innovation.
“There are a lot of challenges for scientists in our region, there is not enough funding, there are context specific challenges, transport and the weather, and despite that, we have excellent science coming out of our region on what a changing climate means and how that impacts the lives of our people.”
“We must invest in our youth for long-term resilience, by building the next generation of scientists, researchers, negotiators, policymakers who are essential to sustaining climate action beyond a single COP.”
Dr Awnesh Singh, Associate Professor of Climate Science at the Centre for Sustainable Futures at the USP echoed this sentiment.
He said the Pacific needs sustained investment in people. Training should be linked to real institutional tasks, supported by mentoring and opportunities to continue applying the skills. Institutions also need funded research time and career pathway so that expertise can develop and remain in the region.
“Pacific voices need sustained Pacific scientific capability behind them. We need investment that enables our institutions and young people to generate, interpret, and apply evidence over the long term”, Singh emphasised.
In closing, Tagaloa Cooper urged collaboration and capacity development between Pacific youth, civil society, academia and development partners.
“Science is the foundation of our work. In the Pacific region, we have the science and the scientists. What is required is the funding and the resourcing support to generate that science and ensure that it continues.”
She reaffirmed SPREP’s commitment to building the next generation of Pacific leaders through capacity building and resourcing support.
The Pacific-led Science, Data and Youth for Climate Action side event was held on 6 October 2026, at the Vale ni Vanua – Knowledge Exchange Pre-COP31 in Nadi, Fiji….PACNEWS
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The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Pacific Evidence on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Takes Centre Stage at SVRI Forum 2026
BANGKOK, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (SPC/UN WOMEN) — A 27-member Pacific delegation representing government, civil society, faith, sport, academia and development partners will take Pacific-led evidence on preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG) to the SVRI Forum 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand, from 5–9 October.
The delegation will deliver 16 formal interventions — including two panels, two five-minute presentations, one programme presentation and 11 posters — drawing on Pacific-led evidence and practice, including eight years of learning through the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership).
The SVRI Forum, convened by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, is a leading global platform bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers and funders to share evidence on what works to prevent and respond to violence against women and children. This year marks the largest and most significant Pacific presence at the Forum to date, reflecting a growing body of Pacific evidence on what it takes to prevent violence against women and girls. The Pacific is not only learning from the global conversation; it is increasingly helping to shape it.
The delegation reflects more than 20 organisations working through the Pacific Partnership. At SVRI, Pacific delegates will share evidence, practical tools and lessons from across the region, while engaging with global research and practice on what works to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.
The Pacific Partnership is funded primarily by the Government of Australia, and the European Union, since 2018, and is coordinated by UN Women and the Pacific Community (SPC), in strategic partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). New Zealand was a funding partner in the first phase of programming. Over eight years, the programme has worked across prevention, survivor services, and laws and policy, with governments, civil society, faith and sport organisations across the region.
The Pacific contributions to the Forum span prevention, response, policy, financing and community-led approaches. Sessions include a panel on rugby as a platform for prevention in the Pacific, featuring Olympian Rusila Naqasau and Fiji Rugby CEO Koli Sewabu; a panel on gender-based violence response amid climate change, with speakers from five Pacific countries; and a Fiji Government presentation on its National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against All Women and Girls (2023–2028).
Delegates will also present evidence and experience on costing prevention, faith- and sport-based approaches, and survivor-centred shelter models.
“What makes the Pacific experience powerful is partnership: governments, women’s rights organisations, faith leaders, sport and regional institutions working towards a shared goal. This delegation reflects eight years of collaboration through the Pacific Partnership, practical tools and hard-won lessons from across the region to share with the world,” said Alison Davidian, Representative, UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office.
A key focus for the Pacific delegation will be the challenge of financing prevention. Pacific Leaders have affirmed sustainable financing for national frameworks to prevent violence against women and girls, committing to reflect prevention priorities in national planning and budgets. Mereseini Rakuita, Principal Strategic Lead – Pacific Women and Girls, the Pacific Community (SPC), will present on“Costing across the continuum: Costing national prevention frameworks in the Pacific.”
“Prevention needs more than a policy commitment. Understanding what prevention costs, helps governments plan, resource and sustain action at the national level,” said Rakuita.
For civil society organisations working directly with communities, evidence and practice are closely connected. Filiga Taukiei Nelu, Founder and General Secretary of Tuvalu Women for Change (‘Fatu ‘Lei), will share experience from Tuvalu, including work at the intersection of violence against women and girls and climate change.
“Civil society has been at the heart of this movement from the start, particularly through both prevention and response work with communities, and increasingly at the intersection of climate change and violence especially against women in all their diversities, children and persons with disabilities. Being at SVRI gives us an opportunity to bring that community experience into the wider evidence conversation,” said Nelu.
Evidence is also informing national policy and action. Laisani Petersen, Coordinator of the Fiji National Action Plan to Prevent VAWG Unit, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection, Fiji, will present Fiji’s experience implementing its National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against All Women and Girls (2023–2028).
“The Fiji National Action Plan brings together government, civil society and other sectors around a shared approach to prevention. We will be sharing what we are learning from this experience and contributing to the global conversation on how prevention can work in practice,” said Petersen.
The Pacific Partnership is also supporting approaches that work through trusted institutions and community spaces. Said Reverend Dr Cliff Bird, Pacific theologian from Solomon Islands, whose work on the intersection of sports and faith-based prevention will be presented at the Forum:
“Sports and faith are trusted spaces in our communities. Bringing this integrated approach from Solomon Islands on Project Golkipa pilot to SVRI shows how prevention can be grounded in institutions and relationships that people already know and trust,” said Reverend Dr Bird.
None of this is possible without the generous support of Pacific Partnership’s funding partners who have supported the programme for the last eight years.
“Australia is proud to stand alongside Pacific partners through the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls. Together, we will elevate Pacific leadership at SVRI and showcase Pacific-grown approaches to preventing violence against women and girls,” said Clemency Oliphant, Assistant Secretary, Pacific Development Branch.
“The European Union stands firmly to prevent and respond to gender-based violence – supporting survivor-centred services, challenging harmful social norms, and working with communities and institutions to build lasting change for women and girls. Guided by the EU’s fundamental values of human dignity, equality and human rights, we see gender equality not as a stand-alone issue, but as central to sustainable development and inclusive societies,” said Carine Hanssens, First Counselor – Head of Section Global Gateway – Enabling Environment, European Union to the Pacific.
Beyond its formal presentations, the delegation will engage in knowledge exchange, advocacy and networking throughout the Forum, bringing global learning back to the Pacific while sharing the region’s own experience and evidence with an international audience. The exchange will help shape the next phase of violence prevention in the Pacific – from national policy and financing to the approaches being implemented in communities.
The Pacific region has some of the highest rates of violence against women recorded in the world – twice the global average with an estimated two in every three Pacific women impacted by gender-based violence. Along with high rates of violence – a grave human rights violation – women and girls in the Pacific region experience constant and continual inequalities including low levels of participation in decision-making, limited economic opportunities, and restricted access to critical services and rights.
The Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) Phase II (2024- 2027) is a regional and multi-country programme promoting gender equality and preventing violence against women and girls in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories.
The Pacific Partnership brings together governments, civil society organisations, communities, and other partners to promote gender equality, prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG), and increase access to quality response services for survivors. The USD19.15 million partnership is funded primarily by the Government of Australia (USD10.7m), and the European Union (USD8.2m) and is coordinated by the UN Women, the Pacific Community (SPC), in strategic partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
Phase II of the programme aims to build on progress in transforming social norms at the community level achieved in Phase I (2018-2023) through innovative and strategic social influencers, including education, faith, and sports sectors, as well as lessons learned from the implementation of the Spotlight Initiatives in the Pacific. Based on lessons learned and emerging VAWG trends and gaps in policy and practice in the region, Phase II (2024-2027) will implement new cross-cutting strategic interventions that advance women’s economic and social empowerment and advance climate-centred efforts to prevent VAWG through data, advocacy, and partnerships.
More information: UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office, Shazia Usman, Communications and Media Specialist – EVAWG Programme, shazia.usman@unwomen.org, +679 9228389
Karine Gatellier, Knowledge and Engagement Officer, Human Rights and Social Development (HRSD) Division, Pacific Community (SPC), karineg@spc.int
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Nasaga Village Highlighted as Kiwa Initiative enters Phase Two
NADI, 08 OCTOBER 2026 (SPREP)—On Ovalau Island in Fiji, the people of Nasaga village have planted 675 trees and 400 vetiver grass along their riverbanks to hold back the erosion eating away at their land.
At a Nature Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation panel discussion during Pre-COP in Nadi, Fiji their story was highlighted as a national case study on nature-based solutions.
Opening the panel discussion, France’s Minister for Ecological Transition, Biodiversity and International Climate and Nature Negotiations, Monique Barbut, said Pacific community testimonies showed what happens when local action is backed by supportive policies.
“These solutions work because they are rooted in local knowledge, designed with the people who use them, and owned by those who maintain them,” she said.
Launched in 2020, the Kiwa Initiative is funded by the European Union, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with a budget of about 79.5 million Euros. Managed by the French Development Agency (AFD) with the Pacific Community (SPC), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), it supports nature-based solutions in 17 Pacific Island countries and territories.
Nasaga village is one of the sites supported by the Kiwa Initiative and implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Village headman (Turaga-ni-Koro), Noa Bolevakadinata said his community had watched climate change take its toll through riverbank and coastal erosion, flooding and low drinking water quality.
He added that through the Kiwa Initiative farmers were taught to cut chemical use and stop cutting trees near water sources.
“Our role is not only to participate in the process, but to take ownership of the lessons and practices that will benefit our community in the long term. Kiwa has reminded us that healthy people depend on a healthy environment,” said Bolevakadinata.
For Amena Yauvoli, SPREP’s Director of the Fiji Office and Biodiversity Conservation, the challenge is making such gains stick. Many Pacific projects are still “operating with limited technical and institutional support.” He added that there were capacity gaps at individual and organisational levels and at the negotiating table.
“What needs to be strengthened around those ecosystems to make restoration work, and what sustains it to make it last? This is a critical question. This is really at the heart of the technical assistance programme over the next three years.”
Yauvoli said phase two, supported through the French Development Agency (AFD), will take “a deliberate, practical and context-specific approach,” as low-lying atolls and coral islands face very different challenges.
Speaking about social inclusion, Josephine Kalsuak, Pacific Community (SPC) Team Leader, Mainstreaming and Capacity Building said “Phase one had also changed how partners approach social inclusion, which historically has always been an afterthought”.
“We come from different geographical areas, different abilities, different socio-economic stages. Social inclusion is important so that we can address the diverse needs of our people.”
“SPREP has developed a Gender equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) nature based solution community of partners, which is made up of the Kiwa partners. And it’s a community of partners who come together to learn and share best practices and lessons learned. So we’d be maintaining the support, providing the outgoing capacity building and technical support,” she added.
For phase two, SPC is developing a GEDSI analysis, while a GEDSI community of Kiwa partners formed in phase one will continue to share lessons….PACNEWS
