High Seas Treaty exempts deep-sea mining from stricter rules
Deep-sea mining will be exempted from environmental impact assessment (EIA) measures established under a landmark international oceans treaty, a move campaigners fear could undermine protection for the seabed. The High
Forum Chair calls for adoption and ratification of high seas treaty to be fast tracked
Pacific Islands Forum Chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister, Mark Brown has welcomed the conclusion of the negotiations on the key substantive issues that will frame a new International Treaty on the conservation and
Historic deal to protect high seas finally reached at UN
It has been almost two decades in the making but on Saturday night in New York, after days of gruelling round-the-clock talks, UN member states finally agreed on a treaty to protect the high seas. A full day after the
UN head says high seas treaty must be ‘ambitious’
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged countries Wednesday to agree a “robust and ambitious” treaty to protect the high seas, as time starts to run out for negotiators. After 15 years of formal and informal
UN sets date for loss and damage talks
The United Nations has set a date for crunch talks over funding for climate victims despite Asia-Pacific developing countries’ failure to nominate their two representatives. The move piles pressure on the block to
Worry, frustration as UN tries to finally agree high seas treaty
UN member states have much work to do to finally agree a treaty to protect the high seas before scheduled negotiations close in five days, participants and observers say. After 15 years of formal and informal talks,
UN House will bolster Fiji’s image as hub of the Pacific: Vosarogo
The construction of a United Nations House in Fiji will bolster our image as the hub of the South Pacific, says Filimoni Vosarogo, Fiji’s Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources. Vosarogo made these remarks
More funding needed for climate adaptation: UNEP
Countries must urgently ramp up action to adapt to the current and future impacts of climate change, as efforts now are too little and too slow, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in its latest report, published
Human rights and climate change are interlinked: Ian Fry
“Human-induced climate change is the largest, most pervasive threat to the natural environment and societies the world has ever experienced, and the poorest countries are paying the heaviest price”, says Ian Fry,
Marshall Islands to receive UN support over nuclear legacy
The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution Friday aimed at assisting the Marshall Islands in its efforts to secure justice for people suffering from the impact of the United States’ former nuclear testing
The Pacific at the UN: climate and Japan wastewater
Now it’s time for U.S. talks The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretary General, Henry Puna, says Pacific leaders stood strong at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA77) in New York, raising issues
Solomons ‘vilified’ since recognising China: Sogavare
The prime minister of the Solomon Islands complained on Friday that his country had been subjected to “a barrage of unwarranted and misplaced criticisms, misinformation and intimidation” since formalising
Fijian officer empowers women in South Sudan
A Fijian police officer has been recognised for her work in empowering women whilst serving in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). On August 10, the United Nations Police (UNPOL) Women’s Network
UN climate report: It’s ‘now or never’ to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees
A new flagship UN report on climate change out Monday indicating that harmful carbon emissions from 2010-2019 have never been higher in human history, is proof that the world is on a “fast track” to disaster,
UN experts sound alarm on serious West Papua abuses, call for urgent aid
UN human rights experts today expressed serious concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, citing shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans, including
Pacific Person of the Year: Unaisi Vuniwaqa
“As I look back on my life, I realise that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being re-directed to something better,” Unaisi Bolatolu Vuniwaqa posted on her LinkedIn
Insuring against disasters
As November nears, the thoughts of many Pacific islanders turn to preparations for the South Pacific cyclone season. Are there matches and candles, batteries and bottled water in the house? Are the hurricane shutters in
Pacific island leaders at the UN General Assembly call for solidarity on COVID-19 and climate change
Pacific Island leaders at the UN General Assembly on Saturday underlined the need for global solidarity, commitment and action to tackle COVID-19 and climate change, two crises which threaten sustainable development.
Fiji’s Minister for Women resigns
Fiji’s Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa has resigned from Fiji’s cabinet. Vuniwaqa’s resignation takes effect today, several sources close to cabinet have confirmed. She
UN States seek teeth and sting in the corruption fight
From the office of the Pacific Anti-Corruption Journalists' Network in Suva Transnational crime syndicates including those that work in the underworld market of money laundering would have been anxious over moves in the
Fiji’s Vuniwaqa vies for top UN Women job
Fiji’s Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa has applied to be the new executive director of UN Women, the United Nations agency dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of
Nauru commits to 50 percent renewable electricity by 2023
Nauru took a big step on energy Friday on the world stage, announcing its commitment to generate 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2023. The country’s Minister for Climate Change, Rennier Gadabu,
COVID-19 a wake up call on the need for regional cooperation
Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for the Pacific on the need for regional cooperation. “If the world ever needed confirmation of why multilateralism
