UN climate case could be global circuit breaker: Vanuatu official
Pacific Island nations hope the climate change case they’ve brought to the UN court will help overcome the shortcomings of international negotiations and spur greater
UN
COP16 confronts “huge” challenge of protecting 30 percent of world’s land and sea
The global target to protect at least 30 percent of the world’s land and water ecosystems by 2030 faces “huge”
Climate-hit Pacific Islands plot landmark UN Court case
Five Pacific nations on Thursday plotted how to prosecute a pivotal UN court case that aims to hold climate-polluting countries to
Marshall Islands calls for global accountability on Climate, Nuclear testing, and Human rights at UNGA
The President of Marshall Islands, Dr Hilda Heine delivered a powerful address at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), urging world leaders to confront the most pressing issues of climate change, nuclear
French Special Envoy urges Pacific preparation for UN Ocean conference
An international conference about ocean protection is incomplete without the voices of the Pacific region, says Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, Ambassador in charge of Poles and Maritime issues, Special Envoy of the French
UN experts alarmed by situation of Kanak indigenous peoples in the non-self-governing territory of New Caledonia
The French Parliament adopted a bill on 14 May 2024 that dismantles one of the cornerstones of the Nouméa Accord by unfreezing the electoral body in New Caledonia, a non-self-governing territory under French
UN Secretary-General Guterres to start Pacific swing
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is making his first visit to the Pacific in five years, taking in Samoa, New Zealand, Tonga and East Timor. The centrepiece of Guterres’ mission will be the
Key UN report lends weight to Pacific plan for shipping emissions levy
Pacific governments say an official UN report shows their push for a levy on all shipping emissions – with the revenues redistributed to poorer nations – is fairer, cheaper and more effective than other green
UN Rights chief ‘horrified’ at deadly PNG violence
Recent attacks on three villages in East Sepik province, Papua New Guinea, resulted in at least 26 deaths – including 16 children – an event that has left UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk
UN shocked over Sepik atrocities
The United Nations Papua New Guinea office has strongly condemned the recent brutal rapes and killings of women and children in East Sepik’s Angoram. The UN, in a statement called on the local authorities to, without
Fiji, PNG call for UN decolonisation mission to riot-struck New Caledonia
Fiji and Papua New Guinea have urged the UN’s decolonisation committee to expedite a visit to the French-controlled Pacific territory of New Caledonia following its pro-independence riots last month. Nine people have
Opinion: Fiji’s enormous contribution to global peacekeeping
29 May – the International Day of UN Peacekeeping – is an important day on the United Nations’ annual event calendar. It is a day that we mark with great pride, admiration, solemnity and honour for the men and
At ICJ, lawyer for Palestine rips U.S. and Fiji for defending whatever offenses Israel commits
An attorney representing Palestine at the United Nations’ highest court called out the U.S. on Monday for routinely defending Israel’s violations of international law, including its brutal 57-year occupation
First PNG woman for peacekeeping duties
Major Jacqueline Lilih has been posted to the United Nations Peacekeeping mission in Sudan, the first female PNG military officer to be deployed sent on such a tour of duty. Major Lilih departs for South Sudan today (21
The long, hard road to climate finance
It’s the classic Catch-22. Pacific and other small island developing states desperately need to access climate finance to survive the growing impacts of climate change. That much is well known. And the
We’re not trying to impress anyone: Tonga PM on UN truce
Tonga’s Prime Minister said, “We are not trying to impress anyone. This was a sovereign decision made by the Government of Tonga…,” when he was asked why Tonga had opposed the UN General Assembly
‘Tipping points’ of risk pose new threats, UN report warns
A new UN report launched on Wednesday has some useful insights on “risk tipping points” which are becoming an increasing challenge worldwide. Tipping points are reached when the systems we rely on stop functioning
Organisations call for swift ratification and implementation of BBNJ Treaty
The European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) are calling for a rapid ratification and implementation of the BBNJ Agreement to address the triple planetary crisis of
Abandon fossil fuels: UN SG told world leaders
UN Secretary General António Guterres has urged leaders “to ensure that projects deliver the green, sustainable infrastructure countries need to support people and ecosystems alike, while breaking free of failed
COP28: Boiling Point
It’s taken 70 years but some of the life is slowly coming back around Bikini atoll, ravaged by the United States’ nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands immediately after World War Two. For a team from the
Chinese grifters tie up UN, Marshalls in scam
The stakes could scarcely have been higher for Hilda Heine, the former president of the Marshall Islands. For years, her remote archipelago nation of just 40,000 people was best known to the world — if known at all
Opinion: High seas treaty too late to stop seabed mining
When the International Seabed Authority begins accepting applications for deep-sea mining operations in the coming weeks, there will remain a lingering question. How much control will authorities have over operations to
Temperatures off the charts, but more records imminent: WMO
Global sea surface temperatures reached a record high in May, June, and July – and the warming El Niño weather pattern is only just getting started – experts at the UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said