Surviving the tsunami: COVID-19 and Pacific economies
Papua New Guinea’s Treasurer, Ian Ling-Stuckey says his country has not had “an economic crisis of such complexity or magnitude since World War 2.” Samoa’s finance minister Sili Epa Tuioti calls it a “social
Region cooperating to get nationals home
Pacific Islands Forum members have heard nationals stranded in other member countries will be ‘treated fairly’ during their virtual meeting on a Pacific Humanitarian Pathway for COVID-19 this week. Tuvalu’s
Pacific fishing surveillance operation ending with 24 boardings
“Fishing doesn’t stop, so neither will our surveillance,” said Commander Robert Lewis, at the Forum Fisheries Agency’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre (RFSC) in Honiara as Operation Rai Balang
Gaining credits for Kyoto
The global coronavirus pandemic has pushed climate change off the front pages, but the challenge of responding to the climate emergency has not disappeared. Global emissions of greenhouse gases will likely
First case of Covid-19 in Tahiti
President of French Polynesia Edouard Fritch has announced the first case of Covid-19 in Tahiti – the first confirmed case of the coronavirus across the Pacific Islands. President Fritch said that Maina Sage,
Coronavirus travel restrictions: a Pacific wrap
There have been no cases of coronavirus reported in the Pacific Islands region, although Australia and New Zealand have reported cases, and in the case of Australia, one death. However the Pacific region has responded
Coronavirus: a Pacific wrap-up
An outbreak of a new coronavirus has killed at least 106 people in China, and has spread to some of the Pacific’s close neighbours, including Australia (with five cases) and Malaysia (with four). The United States,
Pacific predictions: 2020
As we enter not only a new year but a new decade, there is much to anticipate in the Pacific islands region. Elections and domestic politics A number of countries in the region will have elections during 2020: Kiribati,
Movers and shakers
Leo A. Falcam Jr. has been named as the Federated States of Micronesia’s Chief Negotiator for the upcoming Compact negotiations. Falcam is Chief of Staff to President David W. Panuelo and has now served in that
Trouble in the family
Climate divides Forum….again JUST before the 50th Pacific Islands Forum, the Wallabies thrashed the All Blacks 47-26 in the first game of the Bledisloe Cup. As a rugby fan, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
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
