In this bulletin:
1. PACIFIC — Pasifika AI creator warns AI cannot speak for Pacific communities without a mandate
2. MARSH — UN rapporteur flags nuclear legacy, climate threats to Marshallese rights defenders
3. FIJI — Fiji loses $500m annually to climate-related disasters
4. COOKS — Cook Islands PM’s ultimatum to Angene: ‘Resign by end of the week’
5. PACIFIC — Tuvalu anticipates an impactful pre-COP
6. PACIFIC — Fijian Speaker calls for stronger Conmonwealth leadership in upholding International law and Parliamentary democracy
7. KIRIBATI — Kiribati Priest Inspires Pacific youths
8. AUST — Australian men and women ranking as more equal than ever
9. PACNEWS BIZ — Fiji’s tourism industry comes together for Industry Day 2026
10. PACNEWS BIZ — Fiji chefs strike gold at Australian culinary challenge
11. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Climate finance must leave stronger Pacific communities and institutions beyond the funding cycle
12. PACNEWS DIGEST — Cook Islands promotes safe care for noncommunicable diseases
13. PACNEWS DIGEST — Opinion – From Hurricane Melissa to Antigua: A Commonwealth standard for climate-resilient debt clauses
PACIFIC – ARTIFICIAL INTELIGENCE: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Pasifika AI creator warns AI cannot speak for Pacific communities without a mandate
By Pita Ligaiula
SUVA, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—The creator of Pasifika AI says the biggest risk in developing Pacific-focused artificial intelligence without formal community ownership is that the technology could eventually become an unofficial authority on Pacific people and cultures without anyone having agreed to that role.
Kevyn Wahuzue, creator of Pasifika AI and founder of Kanaky Tech, said he has deliberately stated that the project has no institutional partner or community mandate because its availability alone could give it an authority it has not been granted.
“The risk is real and it is not hypothetical.
“A tool that speaks about a people without their mandate can become a de facto reference simply by being available and convenient.
“Convenience is authority’s cheapest route,” Wahuzue told PACNEWS.
Wahuzue said that over time, an AI interface could influence how people outside the Pacific understand the region, even though no Pacific community had agreed that the system should represent its knowledge or perspectives.
He said measures had been put in place to reduce that risk, including restricting the sources used by the system, publishing its limitations and making clear that Pasifika AI does not speak for Pacific communities.
Wahuzue also stressed that an AI-generated answer does not replace a speaker, teacher or knowledge custodian.
But he said these safeguards do not resolve the underlying issue of governance.
“What would resolve it is governance that I do not currently have a mandate that can constrain me, including the power to require that something be removed.
“I would rather say that openly than let the project’s existence imply an endorsement that nobody gave,” he told PACNEWS
Wahuzue said Pasifika AI also does not attempt to resolve differences between Pacific communities over cultural knowledge, languages, traditions or historical interpretation.
“I do not resolve them, and I do not think a system like this should try,” he said.
Where accounts differ, the system is designed to present the sources and allow those differences to remain visible rather than combine them into a single answer.
Wahuzue said averaging different accounts into one response could erase the disagreement and obscure who held a particular position.
“The averaging is where the damage happens, because it quietly erases the fact that there was a disagreement and who held which position,” he said.
Wahuzue said identifying the sources allows users to see which institution made a particular claim and follow the reference themselves.
The more difficult cases, he said, involve knowledge where the issue is not whether there is a published record but who has the standing or authority to tell a particular account.
“There the tool has nothing useful to contribute, and I would rather it point to references and stop than perform a judgement it has no basis for,” Wahuze told PACNEWS.
Wahuzue said Pasifika AI currently searches a finite list of 59 institutional domains rather than attempting to search the entire internet.
He said the approach was designed to make the system’s sourcing policy visible and open to challenge.
“Because a published, finite list can be argued with.
“A model that searches everything cannot be held to anything you cannot inspect it, you cannot contest an inclusion, you cannot notice an absence,” Wahuzue told PACNEWS.
The 59 domains include language academies, universities, museums, archives and regional organisations.
Wahuzue said the institutions were selected using deliberately conservative criteria, including whether they publish under their own name, maintain accountable material and can be cited.
However, he acknowledged that the initial list was created by him and therefore reflects his own judgement about what constitutes an authoritative source.
“That is a limitation I want stated plainly.
“It reflects one person’s judgement about what is authoritative, and it will carry the blind spots of that judgement,” he told PACNEWS
He also stressed that inclusion of an institution on the list does not mean the institution endorses Pasifika AI or has a relationship with him.
“The list is a sourcing policy, not a partnership claim,” he said.
Wahuzue said the list was also not a guarantee that every sentence generated by the system was correct, and users should still open and examine the references.
For questions involving Kanak languages, Wahuzue said Pasifika AI uses an index containing 19,655 dictionary entries across nine languages.
The dictionary material is retrieved before an answer is generated, rather than being used only to check the answer afterwards.
Kanak-language words produced in the response are then checked against the index.
When a word cannot be found, the intended behaviour is for the system to identify it as unverified rather than present it as an established word.
“The whole design is that an explicit gap is more useful than an invented answer that sounds complete,” Wahuzue said.
He cautioned, however, that an absent dictionary entry does not mean a word does not exist.
“It means our material does not cover it,” he said, adding that coverage is uneven across the nine languages.
Likewise, finding a word in the index does not establish that its translation is appropriate in every context.
“A dictionary is not a speaker,” he said.
Wahuzue said these limitations are central to how he wants Pasifika AI to be understood as a tool with defined sources and boundaries, rather than an authority on Pacific knowledge or culture….PACNEWS
MARSH – HUMAN RIGHTS: PACNEWS PACNEWS 2: Fri 18 Sep 2026
UN rapporteur flags nuclear legacy, climate threats to Marshallese rights defenders
By Pita Ligaiula
MAJURO, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Marshallese human rights defenders continue to face the long-term impacts of nuclear weapons testing, climate change, displacement, discrimination and limited access to information, UN Special Rapporteur Andrea Bolaños Vargas says.
Concluding her first official country visit to the Republic of the Marshall Islands(RMI), Bolaños Vargas said the country’s history of nuclear testing and the growing threat from sea-level rise were placing additional pressure on people defending human rights.
She said Marshallese communities had spent generations seeking truth, justice and reparations for the nuclear legacy while also advocating for stronger international action on climate change.
“The realization of their right to self-determination under colonial and occupation contexts, nuclear weapons testing, and the continuing threat posed by rising sea levels have put – and continue to put – their cultural and physical survival at risk,” she said.
Bolaños Vargas visited Majuro and Kwajalein atolls, including Ejit and Ebeye, from 07 September and met government officials, traditional leaders, civil society groups, community organisations and human rights defenders.
She said the Marshall Islands had an active civil society and that authorities were generally open to human rights work, with constitutional protections for freedom of speech, press, assembly and association.
However, she identified a number of barriers, including limited funding and capacity, lack of information and awareness, geographical isolation and social stigma.
The Special Rapporteur said the country’s nuclear history remained central to the work of many human rights defenders.
Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands.
She said affected communities continued to seek recognition and redress for impacts on health, land, culture, food security and displacement.
“Decades of pursuing these rights without adequate recognition or redress could generate psychological exhaustion and discouragement, ultimately undermining their capacity to continue their advocacy,” she said.
Bolaños Vargas also called for greater access to information on the nuclear testing programme, including archives, medical studies and information on affected lands.
She said younger generations also needed greater awareness of the nuclear legacy to ensure the struggle for recognition and redress was not lost.
The climate crisis was another major concern.
The Marshall Islands contributes only a small share of global greenhouse gas emissions but faces increasing risks from sea-level rise, flooding, coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion.
Bolaños Vargas said climate advocacy was directly linked to the defence of Marshallese rights to land, water, food, livelihoods, culture, health and self-determination.
“We are not who we are if we lose our land, and we are who we are because of our land and the connection to our culture,” she quoted one interlocutor as telling her.
She also highlighted the particular challenges faced by women human rights defenders.
Women advocating against violence and for gender equality have faced threats, harassment and criticism, including claims that they were “breaking families” and “going against their culture”.
“Culture is the most important for us, but culture is a barrier to defending women’s rights; culture always comes first in our work,” one woman defender told her.
Bolaños Vargas said human rights advocacy for LGBTIQ+ people remained extremely limited because of social stigma and entrenched norms.
She said some defenders had been forced to leave the country to find a safer environment in which to advocate for their rights.
Human rights defenders working on corruption and accountability also raised concerns about reprisals, threats and harassment.
Bolaños Vargas welcomed the establishment of an independent Ombudsperson Office and a whistleblower protection law, saying such mechanisms should protect people exposing alleged corruption.
She also welcomed progress towards establishing a national human rights institution, which is expected to be operational by December 2030.
The Special Rapporteur recommended that the Marshall Islands strengthen dialogue between traditional authorities, human rights organisations, communities and government, including in the outer atolls.
She called for greater participation of women, youth, older people and underrepresented communities in human rights decision-making.
She also urged the Government to strengthen protections for women and LGBTIQ+ rights defenders and improve access to funding, information and institutions for organisations operating in the outer islands.
Bolaños Vargas called on the National Nuclear Commission to continue public education on the nuclear legacy, including through the K–12 Nuclear Legacy Curriculum and Nuclear Legacy Summer Program.
She also urged the new Ombudsperson Office to ensure people exposing alleged corruption could work without retaliation or intimidation.
For the international community, she called on the United States to fully recognise the rights to truth, justice and reparation of people and communities affected by nuclear testing and ensure their meaningful participation in related processes.
She also called on major greenhouse gas-emitting states to support Marshallese human rights defenders advocating for climate justice.
“The international community should provide sustained financial and technical support to address the physical, mental health and psychosocial impacts of the nuclear legacy, including its intergenerational consequences,” she said.
Bolaños Vargas will further analyse her findings before presenting her full report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2027…..PACNEWS
FIJI – CLIMATE CHANGE: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 2: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Fiji loses $500m annually to climate-related disasters
SUVA, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Fiji is losing about $500 million(US$250 million)every year to climate-related disasters, with floods and cyclones making up about 80 per cent of the events.
This was revealed by Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr Sivendra Michael while making submissions to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.
He said the loss was equivalent to about 5 per cent of Fiji’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“That is the cost we carry now out of the same fiscal space that funds our National Development Programme,” Dr Michael said.
The issue came under questioning from committee members as they examined Fiji’s new partnership with Australia under the Vuvale Union and Ocean of Peace Alliance.
Committee member and Assistant Minister for Sports Aliki Bia questioned whether climate finance would actually reach communities or remain difficult to access.
“We don’t want an agreement or a treaty that just looks good on paper, but when it’s time for practical solutions on the ground, this complex in terms of getting the funding, it’s very hard,” Bia said.
Dr Michael responded by clarifying that Fiji had not secured a national project through the Green Climate Fund since 2017.
Opposition MP Virendra Lal also questioned how Fiji could align its climate targets with Australia’s.
“The ministry should not be in a position to tell this committee that the treaty solves it, because it does not,” Lal said.
He said Fiji could use the treaty’s provision for written consultation to ask Australia how it was meeting its climate obligations.
Meanwhile, Opposition MP Rinesh Sharma questioned whether the more than $1.5 billion(US$875 million) Australian commitment over 10 years would be enough to address Fiji’s climate needs.
Dr Michael said Fiji’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) were costed at about $10 billion(US$5 billion).
“The funding that we are talking about is going to be a small portion of it,” he said.
He added that most NDC targets were conditional on funding and other requirements.
Sharma stressed that the funding must result in real benefits for communities.
“We should really know what the number of people that actually benefit from that,” he said, adding that spending must be transparent and audited.
The $500 million (US$250 million) annual climate loss comes as Fiji works to strengthen flood protection, coastal protection, resilient water systems, renewable energy and early warning systems…. PACNEWS
COOKS – POLITICS: COOK ISLANDS NEWS PACNEWS 2: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Cook Islands PM’s ultimatum to Angene: ‘Resign by end of the week’
RAROTONGA, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (COOK ISLANDS NEWS) —Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has given Minister George “Maggie” Angene an ultimatum to resign from his ministerial role by the end of the week.
The request comes after Angene, the former Tupapa Maraerenga MP from the governing Cook Islands Party (CIP), contested and won the Manihiki seat as an independent in the 2026 general election.
Angene defeated incumbent CIP MP Akaiti Puna, wife of CIP president and former PM Henry Puna, 56–51 in the 12 August 12 election.
Before the recent political developments and elections, his cabinet responsibilities included:Minister Responsible for Corrective Services (Corrections)Minister for Cultural Development (Culture)Minister Responsible for the House of ArikiPunanga NuiHead of State portfolio oversight.
Two election petitions are also expected against CIP, involving Avatiu-Ruatonga-Palmerston and Pukapuka-Nassau….PACNEWS
PACIFIC – PRECOP: ABC PACIFIC PACNEWS 2: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Tuvalu anticipates an impactful pre-COP
SYDNEY/FUNAFUTI, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (ABC PACIFIC)—Tuvalu’s climate minister, Dr Maina Vakafua Talia, says he wants to see Australia do more to ensure the survival of people in the Pacific by stopping the expansion of fossil fuels.
It comes as Tuvalu and Fiji prepare to co-host a pre-COP31 meeting in October, with global leaders set to visit Tuvalu for a special climate event.
Dr Talia says it will be an opportunity for leaders to see the reality of the climate crisis firsthand, instead of just talking about it.
“So it is important not just for Tuvalu, but for the Pacific, to ensure that we are not just making noise at the COP negotiations, but we want to show some practical solutions that we have been developed for the past many years,” he said…. PACNEWS
PAC – PARLIAMENT: FIJI PARLIAMENT PACNEWS 2: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Fijian Speaker calls for stronger Conmonwealth leadership in upholding International law and Parliamentary democracy
CAPE TOWN, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI PARLIAMENT)—Fijian Speaker of Parliament Filimone Jitoko has called on Commonwealth Parliaments to strengthen their commitment to international law, democratic governance and accountable institutions in response to growing global challenges.
Speaking during the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) General Assembly Debate on “Strengthening International Law and Parliamentary Democracy in a Changing World Order: Commonwealth Leadership” in Cape Town, South Africa, the Speaker, on behalf of the Pacific region, acknowledged the increasing pressures facing democratic institutions, including conflict, climate change, rapid technological change, misinformation and widening inequalities.
Jitoko emphasised that Parliaments play a critical role in giving effect to international commitments by translating them into national laws, policies and oversight mechanisms that improve the lives of citizens.
“Whilst international agreements are negotiated between governments, it is through Parliament that these commitments are translated into laws, policies and oversight mechanisms that make a tangible difference in the lives of our people.”
Drawing from Fiji’s experience, the Speaker highlighted Parliament’s support for international human rights commitments and pointed to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act as a practical example of how international obligations can be transformed into meaningful protections and opportunities for citizens.
“International law has its greatest value when it delivers meaningful outcomes for communities. What matters most is not simply what is agreed to in international forums, but how those commitments are translated and put into practice at home.”
“As Commonwealth Parliaments, we share a collective responsibility to uphold democratic governance, strengthen accountable institutions, safeguard the rule of law, and ensure that all citizens have a voice in public life.”
“Our diversity is one of the Commonwealth’s greatest assets. Through parliamentary dialogue, co-operation and the exchange of experiences, we can better respond to emerging challenges whilst remaining grounded in our shared values and aspirations.”
The Speaker reaffirmed the enduring importance of democracy, human dignity and the rule of law, describing them as essential foundations that help societies navigate uncertainty and change.
He encouraged Commonwealth Parliaments to continue working together to ensure these values are reflected in the experiences and opportunities of the people they serve….PACNEWS
KIRIBATI – CHURCH: ISLANDS BUSINESS PACNEWS 2: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Kiribati Priest Inspires Pacific youths
TARAWA, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (ISLANDS BUSINESS) —A childhood calling, a father’s loss, and years of faithful preparation came together in a defining moment for Kiribati when Father Tokabwebwe Tabanea celebrated his first Mass as an ordained priest.
Ordained on Saturday, Father Tokabwebwe is one of the young men of the Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru who have chosen to devote his life serving the Catholic church.
His journey carries a wider message for young men across the Pacific: a dream first recognised in childhood can become a life of purpose through faith, discipline and perseverance.
Speaking after his ordination, Father Tokabwebwe said his desire to serve God began when he was a young boy.
“I felt that divine calling when I was in class 5 at Primary school and have been reflecting on it ever since. I became devoted to prayer, praying the rosary before my exams and even when I had no exams,” he said
His parents did not initially realise that he hoped to become a priest, but once they understood his calling, they gave him the support he needed to continue.
The death of his father in 2017 brought deep personal loss, but it did not stop him from pursuing his vocation.
On 12 September2, Bishop Simon Mani ordained him as a priest for the Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru. His mother and uncle accompanied him down the aisle.
Father Tokabwebwe said the meaning of his childhood dream became fully clear when Bishop Mani ordained him.
He wished his father had been alive to witness the occasion and to walk beside him and his mother. The newly ordained priest thanked Vicar General Father Kanoua Iotebwa, his family and people of Teaoraereke parish and the wider catholic community for helping make his ordination possible…..PACNEWS
AUST – GENDER EQUALITY: AAP PACNEWS 2: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Australian men and women ranking as more equal than ever
CANBERRA, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (AAP)—Australia has achieved a record global gender equality ranking, but there are areas where it is outstripped by more than half of the nations surveyed for a global report.
Despite climbing an impressive five places to eighth on the 148-nation global ladder, Aussie women are not flying as high as their peers overseas on life expectancy, and lag surprisingly far behind on some school outcomes.
While Australian women live longer than men, the gap between them was narrower than elsewhere, dragging its ranking on that metric down to 107th.
Its parity on school outcomes also came in a lousy 79th place, after a drop in women’s secondary school enrolment the study picked up in 2022 that has not rebounded.
Parity on estimated economic income is still worse than it was at its peak in 2006, when it sat at 72.1 per cent, the ladder revealed, but the measure was on the up.
It was Australia’s first appearance in the top 10 since the index debuted. New Zealand, the only country in East Asia and the Pacific to do any better, has never slipped below 10th.
“Australia’s recent performance follows a clear inflection point: consecutive gains since 2023 have lifted what had previously been a largely flat trajectory,” the study said.
The index evaluates gender gaps rather than absolute outcomes, meaning Australia could still fare poorer than countries where women live shorter lives, earn less and are not as well educated.
Advertisement
It leads the world on gender equality in literacy rates, women in ministerial positions, sex ratio at birth, enrolment in primary and in tertiary education, and gender ratios of professional and technical workers.
On the whole, Iceland topped the ladder for the 17th year in a row – no non-Nordic country has ever broken the top three.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the report.
“When we first came to government we were ranked 43rd – and slipped to an all-time low of 50th under the previous coalition government,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
“The job is not done.”
Minister for Women Katy Gallagher highlighted violence against women as a continuing black mark on Australia’s gender parity record.
“We know there is more work to do across our priorities,” she said.
“This is just one measure that shows Australia is moving in the right direction,” said Gallagher….PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
FIJI – TOURISM INDUSTRY: ISLANDS BUSINESS PACNEWS BIZ: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Fiji’s tourism industry comes together for Industry Day 2026
SUVA, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (ISLANDS BUSINESS) —Fiji’s tourism industry is shifting its focus from record visitor numbers to creating greater economic value, strengthening competitiveness and widening community participation.
Industry leaders gathered at Tourism Fiji’s Industry Day 2026 in Denarau to review the sector’s performance, discuss emerging challenges and opportunities, and consider priorities for the year ahead.
The annual event brought Tourism Fiji together with industry partners and regional teams to share insights into international markets and changing traveller trends.
The discussions follow another strong period for Fiji tourism, with the country welcoming a record 986,367 visitors in 2025.
Fiji also reached a new monthly milestone in July this year, recording 105,791 visitor arrivals the first time arrivals have exceeded 100,000 in a single month.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Viliame Gavoka said the figures represented more than tourism statistics.
“These are not simply numbers. They represent jobs, businesses, communities, and opportunities for our people. They also tell us that Fiji remains a destination the world wants to visit,” Gavoka said.
He said the industry now needed to ensure continued tourism growth delivered greater value for Fiji while strengthening the country’s competitiveness and enabling more communities to share in the sector’s benefits.
“Growth must come with purpose. Our focus should not only be on how many visitors we welcome, but on the value tourism creates for Fiji and our people,” he said.
Tourism Fiji chief executive officer Dr Paresh Pant said Industry Day provided an opportunity for the organisation to engage directly with tourism operators and share information gathered from its international markets.
“Industry Day gives us an opportunity to share the trends and challenges shaping the tourism landscape, reflect on what we have achieved together, and look to the year ahead,” Pant said.
He said Tourism Fiji’s regional teams played an important role in helping the local industry understand developments in key visitor markets.
“A key part of the day is hearing directly from our regional teams, who bring a strong understanding of their respective markets and the changing needs of travellers,” Pant said.
“These insights help our industry partners better understand where we see opportunities and how we can work together to capture them.”
The gathering comes as Fiji’s tourism sector looks beyond increasing arrival numbers and places greater emphasis on competitiveness, innovation, sustainability and the economic value generated by tourism.
Tourism Fiji said Industry Day also formed part of its efforts to keep tourism operators informed and connected as opportunities emerge across Fiji’s international visitor markets…. PACNEWS
FIJI – TOURISM INDUSTRY: ISLANDS BUSINESS PACNEWS BIZ: Fri 18 Sep 2026
Fiji chefs strike gold at Australian culinary challenge
NADI, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (ISLANDS BUSINESS)—Fijian chefs Isireli David Chong and Filipe Miramira have won gold at the Australian Culinary Federation Restaurant Challenge in Melbourne, delivering another international achievement for Fiji’s hospitality industry.
Chong, Chef de Partie at Club Wyndham Denarau Island, teamed up with Miramira of Yasawa Island Resort in the Team Challenge Category 2 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
They competed against 12 teams from across the region, securing the top award after preparing and presenting a three-course menu under strict competition conditions.
Teams were required to produce a vegetarian entrée, lamb loin main course and coconut purini with nuts for dessert. They had three hours to prepare and plate four servings of each course.
Club Wyndham Denarau Island Resort Manager Craig Simpson said the achievement demonstrated the strength of Fiji’s culinary sector.
“Chef Isireli and Chef Filipe’s gold medal victory highlights the depth of culinary talent within Fiji’s hospitality industry,” Simpson said.
“We are exceptionally proud of Chef Isireli for his outstanding efforts and remarkable talent. His success is a proud achievement for Fiji and an inspiration to aspiring chefs across the Pacific.”
The medal adds to Chong’s growing list of culinary achievements. In 2025, he was named Chef of the Year at the Fiji Chefs National Salon Culinaire Competition, where he represented Club Wyndham Denarau Island.
Born in Tailevu and raised in Naceva, Chong developed an interest in cooking from an early age, influenced by his father and aunt.
His career has included positions at hotels and resorts around Fiji before he joined Club Wyndham Denarau Island as a pastry chef in 2017.
Chong later moved to Vanuatu, serving as Executive Chef at Nasama Resort, before returning to Fiji and rejoining Club Wyndham Denarau Island.
His latest medal places him among Fijian chefs gaining recognition through regional and international culinary competitions….PACNES
PACNEWS In Focus
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Climate finance must leave stronger Pacific communities and institutions beyond the funding cycle
HONIARA, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (SPREP)— Australia and New Zealand have used a climate finance dialogue at the 5th Pacific Oceans Pacific Climate Change Conference (POPCCC), in Honiara, to emphasise that transformative climate finance must be shaped by Pacific priorities, strengthen local institutions and deliver changes that communities can see and feel in their everyday lives.
The session brought together representatives of two of the Pacific’s major bilateral development partners to discuss how climate finance is supporting resilience across the region, and what needs to change for investment to become genuinely transformative.
Prue Pickering, who leads Australia’s Climate Finance and Disaster Resilience bilateral programme in Solomon Islands, and Darren Paki, Deputy High Commissioner for New Zealand in Solomon Islands, emphasised that climate finance needs to go beyond delivering individual projects.
“Transformative climate finance is not defined by the size of the investment. It’s defined by what remains after the funding cycle ends,” said Paki.
He said infrastructure and practical adaptation measures remain important, but climate finance should also leave Pacific countries, communities and institutions better able to respond to future climate challenges. This includes strengthening Pacific organisations rather than establishing parallel systems, combining generations of Pacific knowledge with science and research, building local skills and creating livelihood opportunities alongside resilience.
A recurring theme throughout the session was the need to judge climate finance from the perspective of the communities it is intended to support.
Paki said investments in water security, coastal protection, transport, disaster preparedness, forests and oceans were already making a difference across the region but argued that success should ultimately be measured through people’s everyday experience.
“The most effective climate finance is financing that communities can see and feel in their daily lives,” he added.
He framed this through the practical questions communities face: whether they can access safe drinking water, continue to grow food and earn livelihoods, remain safe in their homes, protect the forests and oceans they depend upon, and maintain connections with places, traditions and identities for future generations.
This perspective also shaped New Zealand’s discussion of its support to provincial institutions in Solomon Islands.Through the LoCAL programme, climate finance is being used to strengthen provincial governments’ ability to understand climate risk, make investment decisions and manage finance for priorities such as water security, transport links, coastal protection and local infrastructure.
Paki said the value of this approach extended beyond individual investments.
“It’s not just about delivering a project, it’s about making sure the institutions that support communities are better able to work alongside them and respond to challenges ahead together.”
Australia similarly emphasised the importance of ensuring that climate finance responds to Pacific priorities and supports initiatives led and owned within the region.
Pickering noted that considerable climate programming is already underway, including investments in early warning systems and renewable energy. However, she said good projects need to be scaled up, particularly given the much larger pools of global climate finance available internationally.
The challenge, she said, is ensuring those resources actually reach the Pacific.
Australia has embedded climate finance advisers within Pacific governments to support access to international funding processes and proposal development.
In Solomon Islands, Australia is also supporting development of the country’s first National Adaptation Plan, including an investment pipeline intended to provide donors with a clearer picture of national adaptation priorities and practical investment opportunities.
Yet Pickering cautioned against donors defining transformational change on behalf of the people receiving that finance.
“We can’t answer the question of what transformative change look like alone, because it’s really up to the communities, beneficiaries of investments to tell us, ‘yes, this really helped… this changed, this fixed a problem.’”
She added: “Our job as donors is to work in close partnership, to listen to Pacific governments and communities on their priorities and then to respond to those priorities.”
Australia highlighted its AUD$100 million (US$71 million) contribution to the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) as one example of this approach. The PRF is designed as a Pacific-led and owned mechanism, governed within the region and focused on supporting community-level resilience investments.
Pickering said the significance of the Facility was not only in the projects it could finance, but also in demonstrating that climate finance managed within the Pacific can be managed effectively.
The discussion also went beyond financing mechanisms to consider who actually makes decisions about climate investments.
Paki challenged participants, including donor agencies themselves, to examine what is meant when projects describe themselves as “community-led”.
“We often talk about community-led approaches, but we should be honest enough to ask whether communities are actually shaping decisions, or whether we’ve become very good at consulting them.
“There’s a difference between asking communities what they think and genuinely sharing power over decisions. The best outcomes usually happen when solutions are designed with communities, not just delivered to them.”
The issue returned during audience discussion, when participants asked how authentic engagement could be achieved in communities experiencing repeated consultation.
Paki stressed the importance of returning to communities after engagement and explaining what had happened with the knowledge and ideas they shared.
Pickering similarly acknowledged the tension between meaningful engagement and the time pressures associated with project and funding cycles.
“We have to allow more time for engagement. It’s quicker to consult when you have just asked a direct question, and it takes a longer time to really speak, to understand and to listen.”
Both speakers also emphasised that Pacific communities have been adapting to environmental and social change for generations. Climate finance, Paki argued, should therefore reinforce rather than displace existing resilience.
“Climate finance should not replace this resilience. It should support it.”
Australia similarly highlighted the role of the Pacific Climate Change Centre in bringing together traditional knowledge with contemporary climate science to develop Pacific-led approaches to resilience.
The session also explored direct access to finance, budget support, youth participation and the role of research in shaping policy. Both Australia and New Zealand expressed support for strengthening the systems that allow funding to move more directly through Pacific governments and institutions while ensuring it ultimately reaches the communities it is intended to benefit.
The discussion reinforced a broader message emerging from POPCCC: the future of Pacific climate finance cannot be assessed only through dollars committed or projects delivered.
“This is not about projects or funding cycles, it’s about whether our children and grandchildren can drink clean water, earn a living, feel safe in their communities, and remain connected to the places, traditions and identities that make them who we are,” Paki said.
The session pointed towards a model of climate finance in which investment strengthens Pacific institutions, knowledge and decision-making, while ensuring communities have a greater role in defining what resilience and transformational change mean in their own contexts…..PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Cook Islands promotes safe care for noncommunicable diseases
RAROTONGA, 18 SEPTEMBER 2026 (WHO PACIFIC) —Amid the halls of Rarotonga Hospital, we meet Dr Koko Lwin, Chief Medical Officer at Te Marae Ora, Cook Islands Ministry of Health, to discuss one of the country’s greatest public health challenges, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which affect communities across the Cook Islands and the wider Pacific.
As the world marks World Patient Safety Day 2026, the focus on safe care for NCDs shines a spotlight on an issue that resonates deeply in the Cook Islands. Safe care for NCDs means ensuring that people living with chronic conditions receive quality care throughout their lives, while reducing the risk of harm across the continuum of care. This is particularly important in the Cook Islands, where NCDs such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory conditions continue to place a significant burden on Cook Islands’ communities and health systems alike.
The scale of the NCDs challenge is evident in the latest country health data. Survey results from the 2022 STEPwise approach to NCD risk factor surveillance (STEPS) in Cook Islands found that nearly half of adults had hypertension (44.3 percent), almost half were current alcohol users (49.8 percent), one-third were current smokers (34.5 percent), and just over one in five did not meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations for physical activity (22.6 percent).
WHO data also show that 68.9 percent of adults were living with obesity in 2022, while obesity affected 37.5 percent of children and adolescents aged 5-19 years. These risk factors continue to drive the burden of NCDs and reinforce the need for prevention, early detection, and safe care throughout life.
“NCDs are the main cause of death in the Pacific. The Cook Islands is one of the countries affected by NCDs,” said Dr Koko Lwin.
“That’s why, as a country or as the Ministry of Health, we need to give priority to dealing with the patients living with NCDs.”
Across the Cook Islands, Te Marae Ora is working with communities to address these risk factors through health promotion and community outreach. These efforts encourage healthier lifestyles, including increased physical activity, healthier food choices, and reducing tobacco and alcohol use. They are complemented by stronger policies and programmes that support healthier environments and help reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases, including the tobacco tax increase last year.
For Dr Lwin, helping people understand how NCDs develop, recognise risk factors, and know when to seek care are critical to ensure people can make informed decisions about their health.
“When we talk about safe care, it starts with health promotion for people to understand what the risk factors are and then how to deal with them, how to prevent them, rather than treating the complications,” explained Dr Lwin.
Identifying conditions early before complications develop can improve health outcomes and reduce avoidable harm and is part of safe care.
“Early detection of particular diseases, like hypertension and diabetes, is important,” he said. “The health department needs to proactively go out to the community, do the screening to the community, to the work sites, and pick up early detection.”
Across the Cook Islands, health services are also ensuring patient-centred approaches to care. This means understanding each person’s circumstances, ensuring they have the information they need, and supporting them to manage their own health confidently.
“Our approach has now changed to patient-centred care,” Dr Lwin emphasised. “We explore the understanding of the patient first. The aim is to empower patients and the public to understand and manage themselves.”
Informed and engaged patients are an important part of safe care. By understanding their conditions, asking questions, and sharing their experiences, patients can help health workers identify gaps, improve communication, and strengthen the quality of care provided.
“Patient feedback allows us, as a health system, to improve and to provide safe care,” Dr Lwin said.
WHO works closely with Te Marae Ora to provide technical support to prevent and manage NCDs and to strengthen the safety and quality of care.
“Safe care for people living with NCDs begins with prevention, early detection, and continued access to quality care throughout their lives,” said Dr Wendy Snowdon, WHO Representative to Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau.
“We are encouraged by Cook Islands’ ongoing efforts to build healthier communities and the WHO remains committed to supporting Te Marae Ora in helping Cook Islanders lead healthier lives.”
Across the islands and health facilities, the Cook Islands continues to advance safe care for NCDs by helping people and communities to understand their health, reduce their risks, and take an active role in their wellbeing….PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Opinion – From Hurricane Melissa to Antigua: A Commonwealth standard for climate-resilient debt clauses
By Charles Ho Wang Mak
LONDON, 18 SEPTEMBER 202(THE ROUNDTABLE)—When Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica as a Category 5 storm in late October 2025, it activated several instruments designed for precisely such events, including a World Bank-arranged catastrophe bond and the regional facility operated by CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility).
In 2024, Grenada triggered a hurricane clause in its sovereign bond after Hurricane Beryl, suspending scheduled interest payments.
Climate-resilient debt instruments are no longer an experiment. They function in Commonwealth small states, and the question for the Antigua and Barbuda Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November 2026 is whether the Commonwealth will treat them as the standard rather than the exception.
The Commonwealth contains 33 small states and over 20 small island developing states, the very constituency for whom climate-resilient debt clauses (CRDCs) were designed. Adoption remains uneven. The United Kingdom, through UK Export Finance, has offered a CRDC template in its sovereign loans (UK Export Finance, Citation2023).
The World Bank issued its CRDC product note (World Bank, Citation2024). The Inter-American Development Bank now offers similar terms, and Japan piloted CRDCs in lending to Pacific Island states in May 2024 (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Japan International Cooperation Agency, Citation2024).
On the borrower side, Barbados, Grenada and the Bahamas have CRDCs in privately placed bonds. Most bilateral lending to Commonwealth members in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, however, does not include such clauses, and Chinese policy-bank loans rarely do. The technical drafting has matured, supported by the Sustainable Sovereign Debt Hub (Sustainable Sovereign Debt Hub, Citation2026). The instruments exist. What is missing is a coordinated Commonwealth position.
Two objections recur.
The first is that CRDCs raise borrowing costs. The 2022 UK-chaired Private Sector Working Group concluded that they are broadly ratings-neutral, and secondary trading in Barbados and Grenada bonds has not borne the cost objection out (International Capital Market Association, Citation2022).
The second is that contingent clauses crowd out grants. They do not. CRDCs release fiscal space at the moment of disaster, in addition to concessional finance, not in place of it (Landers & Aboneaaj, Citation2023).
CHOGM 2026 in St John’s, under the theme ‘Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth’, offers a natural forum for a Commonwealth Debt Resilience Compact.
Three planks are needed. First, a model Commonwealth CRDC, drafted by the Secretariat with the Sustainable Sovereign Debt Hub, which all Commonwealth borrowers commit to seeking by 2028 and which all Commonwealth official creditors, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India and Singapore, commit to offering.
Second, operational support through Commonwealth Meridian, the Secretariat’s debt management platform, which is used by more than 40 countries and which Sri Lanka adopted in October 2024 (Commonwealth Secretariat, Citation2025). Meridian can track triggers, suspended cash flows and disclosure obligations across the membership in a way no comparable system can.
Third, a coordinated Commonwealth position at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings, and the Financing for Development follow-up process, building on the multidimensional vulnerability index work so that CRDCs are priced as ratings-neutral.
The practical path is short. The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Shirley Botchwey can task the Secretariat to publish a draft Compact by the September 2026 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting.
Prime Ministers Mia Mottley of Barbados and Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda, working with the United Kingdom and Canada, can carry it into the leaders’ communiqué. Antigua is the right place, and 2026 is the right year.
The challenge of governing sovereign debt in a climate-disrupted world is large, but the Commonwealth has the opportunity to lead and to set the terms on which its small states borrow….PACNEWS
Charles Ho Wang Mak, is from University of Bristol Law School, Bristol, UK.
