Dodging the digital divide
It will be two long months before Fijian children are back at school; classrooms are scheduled to reopen on June 15 Like them, children in many other Pacific nations and territories are learning at home, or taking
Tuvalu
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
PIF countries to cooperate on medical assistance, flights and shipping
Pacific Island Forum Leaders will establish a Pacific Humanitarian Pathway on COVID-19 which could see the expediting of medical assistance and customs clearance of medical supplies, and facilitating of diplomatic
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
Tuvalu to declare state of emergency
Tuvalu looks set to declare a state of emergency due to the level of destruction caused by Tropical Cyclone Tino last week. A full assessment of the extent of damage is still unclear, however reports emerged as TC Tino
Small states push for climate change resolution at fisheries meet
By NETANI RIKA in Port Moresby THE world has gathered in Madrid, Spain to discuss the existential threat which climate change presents to the environment through rising temperatures and melting ice. Halfway across the
Climate change worry for Tuvalu tuna
By NETANI RIKA in Port Moresby CLIMATE change threatens Tuvalu’s national survival through direct impact on tuna stocks. The small atoll state told members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission that
Tuvalu’s new PM is Kausea Natano
By Samisoni Pareti Tuvalu’s new prime minister Kausea Natano is expected to name a strong cabinet lineup after defeating the incumbent Enele Sopoaga in the election for the top job in the island parliament today.
Natano gets PM nomination
By Samisoni Pareti A career civil servant and now veteran politician has been nominated for the position of Prime Minister of Tuvalu. Kausea Natano’s nomination was lodged with the office of the
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
PM Morrison denies being isolated as Forum ends
By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Funafuti After a marathon meeting, Pacific Islands Forum Leaders have issued a communique and a climate change declaration with qualifications in Tuvalu Chairman of the Pacific
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
RMI’s Heine asks Australia to reconsider coal
By Nic Maclellan in Funafuti, Tuvalu As leaders gather in Tuvalu for the 50th Pacific Islands Forum, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine has criticised Australia’s reluctance to undertake a rapid transition
Fiji calls for sea-bed mining moratorium as Nautilus restructures
By Nic Maclellan in Funafuti, Tuvalu Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has again called for a 10-year moratorium on sea-bed mining, at a time that many Pacific island nations are preparing for new frontiers of
Island leaders says new climate funds don’t let Australia off the hook
By Nic Maclellan in Funafuti, Tuvalu As Prime Minister Scott Morrison heads to this week’s 50th Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, Australia has announced that it will commit new climate funding to the Pacific. Morrison
Swimming in rising waters
By Nic Maclellan (Islands Business magazine) in Funafuti, Tuvalu As Pacific leaders and officials begin arriving for the 50th Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, they’re greeted by Tuvaluan children waving flags. But the
Pacific islands ramp up engagement with United Nations
By Nic Maclellan (Islands Business magazine) in Funafuti, Tuvalu Under “the New Pacific Diplomacy”, Pacific island governments are looking to international arenas to advance their regional agenda. Following
Tuvalu prepares for Forum meeting
By Nic Maclellan in Funafuti A giant crane hoists the flagpoles into place outside Funafuti’s Sir Tomasi Puapua Convention Centre. Four go up, with another fourteen to go. Tuvalu is getting ready to host the 18 member
Tuvalu seeks declaration on resource ownership
AS the sun sets over Tuvalu, children shriek in the lagoon of the main atoll – Funafuti. This is the way life has been in the Pacific for as long as people can remember. But sea levels in the lagoon are rising and
Tuvalu ain’t sinking
REMOTE island nations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have for many years been considered extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change and, in particular, rising sea levels. However, new research by the
Tuvalu rejects NZ study on expanding land
FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu — The government of Tuvalu has rejected findings of a research conducted by scientists at the Auckland University that says the tiny island nation may not be sinking due to the impact of climate
Installation of early warning system inTuvalu
CLIMATE change has become a global phenomenon impacting the whole world. There are cynics who say that there is no such thing as climate change believing that climate is just a natural procession of evolution, a natural