Independence leader takes top job in New Caledonia
By Nic Maclellan After months of delay, New Caledonia finally has a new leader. Louis Mapou was elected as President of New Caledonia on 8 July, the first time in nearly 40 years that a Kanak independence leader will
The Forum after Dame Meg
Nic Maclellan As Henry Puna takes the reins at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Dame Meg Taylor has ended her term as Secretary General after more than six years in the job. In an interview with Islands Business
“When we stand together,we have the greatest voice”
Leaving her post after six years as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Dame Meg Taylor spoke with Islands Business correspondent Nic Maclellan about the state of Pacific regionalism. Here are excerpts from
Summits on the road to Glasgow
By Nic Maclellan As countries prepare for the next round of global climate negotiations in Glasgow, major powers are organising a series of summits and initiatives to ramp up ambition towards the targets set by
The Unfinished business of Pacer Plus
Despite the regional agreement PACER Plus coming into effect on 13 December 2020, serious weaknesses are still being pointed out, as in the influential ANU publication Development Policy Blog (DPB 25 and 26 Nov. 2020),
Remember Hiroshima…and the Pacific
In Japan, they’re called hibakusha – the survivors of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, and the bombing of Nagasaki three days later. Seventy-five years on, the survivors remember those days, and
InDepth: New Caledonia’s President Thierry Santa
Common interests New Caledonia’s President wants closer regional ties THIERRY Santa attended his first Pacific Islands Forum in August, just weeks after his election as president of the Government of New
Forum marathon reveals tensions over climate policy
By Nic Maclellan in Funafuti, Tuvalu In a marathon leaders’ retreat that continued well into the night, with often heated debate, the Pacific Islands Forum has issued a joint communique and a new declaration on
Pacific leaders want action on West Papua human rights issues
By Nic Maclellan in Funafuti, Tuvalu Members of the Pacific Islands Forum have urged Indonesia to take action on human rights violations in West Papua, and strongly encouraged Jakarta to facilitate a long-mooted visit
Pacific seeks partnerships in climate finance
By Nic Maclellan in Funafuti, Tuvalu. Most Forum island countries have already accessed funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the global climate finance mechanism created under the UN Framework Convention for
