In this bulletin:
1.PACIFIC — Samoa calls for climate finance reform as island states face mounting pressures
2. PACIFIC — Fiji to ‘hold the line’ on 1.5°C at Pre-COP31
3. SOL — Solomon Islands calls for predictable financing for pandemic preparedness
4. PACIFIC — Experts say AI scams are getting harder to spot as Pacific families urged to slow down
5. NAURU — U.S congratulates Naoero on ICC withdrawal decision
6. PNG — 2027 polls in PNG behind schedule
7. FIJI — Fiji registers interest to lead aid response
8. PACNEWS BIZ — Tax crimes account for 86pc of financial intelligence value, Parliament hears
9. PACNEWS BIZ — Bougainville passes laws to tighten mining safety and prosecutions
10. PACNEWS BIZ — FSM, World Bank discuss development priorities and skills investment
11. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Why Fiji is urging the world to slow down on deep-sea mining
12. PACNEWS DIGEST — What Pacific women want global climate advocates to hear before COP31
SAMOA – DIPLOMACY: PACNEWS PACNEWS 1: Tue 29 Sep 2026
Samoa calls for climate finance reform as island states face mounting pressures
NEW YORK, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Samoa has called for a major overhaul of the international financial system, warning that small island states are being forced to finance both development and survival as climate disasters increase pressure on already constrained economies.
Samoa Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molioo told the UN General Assembly that climate finance must be scaled up, made easier to access and tailored to the needs of countries most vulnerable to climate change.
“Climate change remains the single greatest threat to Samoa and the global community.
“Climate finance is the bridge between ambition and action. It must be scaled up, easily accessible, devoid of burdensome conditions and responsive to the needs of the most climate vulnerable,” she said.
Molioo said resources intended for education, health, water and social protection were increasingly being diverted to disaster recovery.
“Small nations are being asked to finance both development and survival. No nation should have to borrow its way out of a crisis it did so little to create.”
She said the widening gap between international commitments and delivery was contributing to a growing development financing crisis.
“The current international financial architecture was designed for a different era. It struggles to adequately recognise vulnerability and fails to fully account for the realities faced by SIDS.”
Molioo called for the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index to be incorporated into financing decisions, saying it was essential to better reflect the circumstances of developing countries.
She also called for a fairer debt regime, including a robust mechanism for debt restructuring.
“Debt forgiveness must be linked to measurable progress on resilience.
“Building and investing in resilience today will reduce the cost of disasters tomorrow,” she said.
Samoa also supports the inclusion of state-contingent clauses in debt instruments, allowing debt payments to be suspended during crises.
Molioo said the world was being shaped by uncertainty, disruption and rapid change, but also by “hope, innovation and opportunity”.
For Samoa, she said, the global challenge was whether trust could be restored and whether transformation could protect vulnerable people.
“The answer lies in the first words of our UN Charter — ‘We the peoples’.
“We must always put people at the centre of our decisions,” she said.
She said Samoa’s approach was underpinned by Samoan values including respect, dignity, love, protection and service.
“Every decision in this hall shapes the world that every child inherits,” she said.
Molioo said profound changes to the international system were necessary and inevitable, as people increasingly questioned whether global institutions were delivering on their promises.
Samoa remained committed to multilateralism and the United Nations as the central forum for addressing global crises, she said.
On UN reform, she said changes should improve delivery, eliminate duplication, strengthen coherence and accelerate impact.
She cautioned against reforms that could weaken UN Multi-Country Offices or the Resident Coordinator system, and said decisions should not be taken prematurely without the full consideration and endorsement of member states.
Molioo said energy security had become a defining issue for many small island nations.
While Samoa has one of the highest shares of renewable electricity in the Pacific, it remains heavily dependent on imported fuel.
She said successive energy crises and the 2026 fuel crisis had exposed the economic cost of that dependence.
Samoa was working towards a more reliable and affordable energy system that would reduce imported fuel dependence, strengthen resilience and support sustainable development.
Digital transformation, including artificial intelligence and data analytics, could help accelerate that transition, particularly through off-grid solutions and smarter energy planning, she said.
Molioo said the ocean remained central to Pacific identity, livelihoods and development but was under growing pressure from pollution, biodiversity loss, over-exploitation and climate change.
“Pursuing economic growth has come at a great cost to our marine ecosystem,” she said.
She also warned about the risks associated with deep seabed mineral exploitation.
“Our oceans face a crisis of limitless proportion,” she said.
“Weak governance frameworks threaten what remains. Without urgent action, small island states face a future without land and no usable ocean.”
Molioo called for a shift in how the world values the ocean — “from a resource we exploit to one we protect and cherish”.
She said Samoa had ratified the BBNJ Agreement and remained engaged in negotiations towards a global treaty on plastic pollution.
Samoa also remains committed to implementing the Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration, the 2026 Pacific Islands Forum Ocean Statement and its own Samoa Ocean Strategy, which she said were important to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 14 on life below water.
Molioo also warned that Samoa’s maritime domain was increasingly being exploited by transnational criminal networks involved in illegal trafficking, including illicit drugs moving through the Pacific.
“Illicit drugs enter homes, harm young people, fuel violence and place increasing pressure on communities and essential services,” she said.
She identified non-communicable diseases as one of Samoa’s most serious development and public health challenges.
Samoa was responding through stronger health literacy, reforms to school nutrition and food environments, and early intervention programmes.
Water security was another priority, with Molioo saying Pacific water systems remained highly vulnerable to disruption.
She called for urgent investment in climate-resilient water systems, improved access to finance, stronger capacity and partnerships, and a transnational water governance regime informed by outcomes from global water conferences.
Molioo said Samoa remained committed to peace, human rights and justice and expressed concern over ongoing conflicts and the loss of civilian lives, displacement and destruction of infrastructure and the environment.
“The continued supply of weapons to fuel conflicts must end,” she said.
She also reiterated Samoa’s call for meaningful reform of the UN Security Council to make it more effective, credible and representative of current global realities.
“At its heart, Samoa’s development journey is about investing in people,” she said.
Samoa was strengthening social protection, investing in youth, supporting women and persons with disabilities and building a resilient economy through its District Development Programme across all 51 districts.
“Our greatest source of resilience will not be our infrastructure or our institution alone. It will be our people — healthy, skilled, educated and empowered.”
Molioo said the ‘āiga’, or family, remained at the heart of Samoa’s development pathway.
“Before I am a leader, I am first and foremost a mother.
“History may record our titles, but our children will inherit our choices,” she said.
She said this was why the United Nations mattered and called for countries to continue working together as “one United Nations family”….PACNEWS
PAC – PRE-COP31 MEET: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 1: Tue 29 Sep 2026
Fiji to ‘hold the line’ on 1.5°C at Pre-COP31
SUVA, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Hold the line on science and 1.5, is the first position Fiji will take into Pre-COP31, as Ministry of environment and climate change permanent secretary Sivendra Michael, unveiled the country’s four-pillar plan for the Nadi meeting from 05 to 8 October .
The pillars are keeping 1.5 degrees within reach, climate finance, oceans, and Pacific leadership.
Michael said the science position was under threat because some countries wanted other scientific bodies to guide decisions instead of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“That limits participation of small countries like Pacific because we don’t have such kind of scientific bodies like a NASA,” he said.
He said the International Court of Justice had ruled the IPCC was the highest scientific authority.
On finance, Fiji wants money to reach communities faster. Mr Michael said the fund to be reformed should turn into “real access” for the Pacific and that solutions should be Pacific-owned.
Fiji also wants an answer on how climate displacement will be paid for.
“It shouldn’t take you 18 months to disperse a fund when a community is waiting for another 18 months,” he said.
He said Fiji would push to place oceans on the formal negotiating agenda.
The Pacific chief negotiators meet at Tanoa on 0 – 02 October to finalise the region’s positions.
Michael said 56 countries had yet to submit their national climate plans.
“This is a legally binding commitment under the Paris Agreement.”
He said 1817 people had registered for the Vale ni Vanua programme, up from about 500 at the 2017 Pre-COP.
Another 550 will be in the red zone at the Sheraton.
The Vale ni Vanua, or green zone, will host civil society, media and cultural exhibits. Side events will be at the Sofitel and the Crowne Plaza.
Julia Gillard, head of the Wellcome Trust, will speak on health and climate on Monday at 9.30am.
Youths will present a declaration from their October 1 to 3 meeting.
Meanwhile, Fiji has spent very little of the $200,000(US$100,000) allocated for co-hosting Pre-COP31, with the remaining funds to be redirected to other Ministry of Environment and Climate Change costs.
Permanent secretary Sivendra Michael said Australia was hosting and funding the summit, reducing the amount Fiji needed to spend from its allocation.
“Our utilisation is very little on this budget. It will be repurposed for other costs that the ministry needs,” he said.
Fiji’s biggest cost is setting up the Vale ni Vanua, a space for civil society and other groups attending the summit.
Michael said the aim was to give those in the Vale ni Vanua the same level of interaction as participants at the Sheraton.
Australia’s reported AUd$20 million (FJD$31.2 million) expenditure on the summit has drawn criticism from Opposition figures in Canberra.
Michael also responded to questions about whether attending international climate meetings provided value for money.
“If you are not on the table, you are not part of the decision-making process,” he said.
He said decisions affecting issues such as board representation and the timing of funding could otherwise be made without Fiji’s participation.
“We are civil servants. We are here paid by the taxpayers’ funds. We are here to serve our people,” he said.
Michael said negotiators carried the concerns of communities with them, including those raised through phone calls and emails to the Prime Minister and permanent secretaries.
“Sometimes we shed tears,” he said…..PACMEWS
SOL – HEALTH: SOL GOVT PACNEWS 1: Tue 29 Sep 2026
Solomon Islands calls for predictable financing for pandemic preparedness
NEW YORK, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (SOL GOVT)— Solomon Islands has called for predictable, multi-year international financing to help small island developing states strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Solomon Islands Minister of Health and Medical Services Morris Toiraena told the High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response at the 81st United Nations General Assembly that SIDS faced unique challenges because of their geography, limited health workforces and growing climate-related health risks.
He said Solomon Islands had strengthened its national preparedness since 2023 by institutionalising its Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, establishing national medical assistance teams and expanding disease surveillance to remote provinces.
“These systems were tested during Tropical Cyclone Maila earlier this year, when the Solomon Islands Medical Assistance Team (SolMAT) was rapidly deployed and surveillance systems monitored potential disease risks in displacement sites,” Toiraena said.
The Minister said Solomon Islands was also integrating climate and health preparedness through its Health-National Adaptation Plan, including digital disease surveillance, vulnerability assessments and workforce training.
He welcomed the WHO Pandemic Agreement, amendments to the International Health Regulations and the establishment of the Pandemic Fund.
He also called for the swift conclusion of negotiations on Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing.
Toiraena urged development partners to provide predictable and pre-positioned financing for SIDS, warning that pandemic preparedness could not rely on emergency funding after a crisis had already begun.
“Health security infrastructure, much like climate infrastructure, cannot be built through fragmented, one-off emergency response cycles,” he said.
He also called for closer alignment between climate and health financing, noting that Pacific countries were increasingly dealing with health emergencies and climate-related disasters at the same time.
Toiraena said sustained investment before crises occur was critical to building resilient health systems across small island states…..PACNEWS
PAC – ARTIFICIAL INTELIGENCE/MEDIA: PMN PACNEWS 1: Tue 29 Sep 2026
Experts say AI scams are getting harder to spot as Pacific families urged to slow down
AUCKLAND, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PMN)—A cybersecurity expert is urging Pacific families to slow down and check what they are seeing online as artificial intelligence (AI) makes scams and fake content harder to recognise.
The warning comes after an AI agent gained unauthorised access to non-public files on an Australian government Medicare statistics portal, prompting an urgent review.
Australian officials say no personal Medicare information has been accessed.
The issue is also being raised at the United Nations where Tonga has warned that AI is rapidly changing the cybersecurity landscape and called for greater understanding of the risks it creates.
“AI may increase the speed, scale, and accessibility of malicious cyber activity, including through more convincing social engineering, automated vulnerability discovery, disinformation, and the abuse of AI-enabled tools by criminal and other malicious actors,” a Tongan government representative told a UN session on international security.
Speaking on Pacific Mornings, cybersecurity expert Luke Makutu says the incident shows how quickly AI is changing the online risks people face.
“I do get concerned with the ability that AI has these days, be used by these hackers and scammers and or infiltrate, you know, secure systems or what we, what should be secure.”
Makutu says people should not assume they will always recognise an AI-generated scam just because it looks familiar.
New research from Avast found 66 per cent of New Zealand adults believe they could spot an AI-generated fake while 40 per cent have shared, or considered sharing, sensitive information with an AI tool.
Makutu says that confidence can be dangerous as scammers become better at copying the people and situations we trust.
“I think in the old days, and I say old days, but this is just a couple of years ago, things looked pretty silly with the AI technology.
“But what we’re not realising is these tools that scammers are using have developed so quickly that it really is now looking like you can see who you’re talking to as if it’s someone you know.”
Pacific AI creator Kevyn Wahuzue says the problem goes beyond scams, with AI systems also capable of presenting incorrect information with confidence.
“Under-representation in training data does not show up as silence. It shows up as confident invention,” Wahuzue told PACNEWS.
For Pacific communities, that can mean messages appearing to come from a cousin, nephew, auntie or another family member.
Makutu says the first step is to stop and ask questions before responding.
“Is that our cousin? Is that our nephew? Is that our auntie?”
He says the same caution is needed when people use AI tools such as chatbots to help with CVs, work documents or other personal information.
Wahuzue says users also need to know where an AI system gets its information and what it does when it cannot verify something.
Makutu says the same caution applies to the personal information people put into AI tools.
“Unfortunately, the data that we share on the AI bot and the apps that we’re using, you know, we might like to think it’s private, but it’s going somewhere,” Makutu says.
AI-generated image illustrating the growing risks of artificial intelligence, including scams, fake content and cybersecurity threats. Photo/AI generated
He says people should think about what they would be comfortable telling a stranger before putting information into an AI tool.
“So let’s think of it as, what would we share with a stranger that we’re just meeting for the first time?”
He says families can also play an important role in helping older relatives navigate increasingly realistic AI-generated content.
“I really encourage your audience in our whanau communities to listen to what you’re saying around the AI is out there. Not everything we see online is what it is.”
“Not everything we see online is what it is. And really talk amongst your whanau from generation to generation.”
For Makutu, the key is making those conversations part of everyday family life.
“Our digital lives are every moment of our lives now. So to share what we’re seeing, what we’re talking about.”
His message is simple: technology is changing quickly, but people still need to look out for each other.
“What’s the most important thing, my bro? It is people. So let’s make sure that they are having those conversations.”…PACNEWS
NAURU – DIPLOMACY: RNZ PACIFIC PACNEWS 1: Tue 29 Sep 2026
U.S congratulates Naoero on ICC withdrawal decision
NEW YORK, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (RNZ PACIFIC)—The United States has congratulated Naoero on its decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
At the United Nations General Assembly last week, Naoero’s President David Adeang announced his country’s intention to revoke its membership in the ICC, calling it an irrelevant institution.
“A multilateral agency with which we see of increasing irrelevance to the Naoero, namely the International Criminal Court, is one which calls for Nauru to end its participation and to revoke its membership,” Adeang said.
“Before I depart New York, Naoero will be depositing our instruments of withdrawal with the Rome Statute repository.”
This followed U.S President Donald Trump using his speech at the UN to attack the ICC, while his administration is reported to be considering issuing sanctions against the Hague-based court as an institution.
The U.S Assistant Secretary of State Michael George DeSombre has now met with the small Pacific country’s Deputy Foreign Minster Russ Kun to offer congratulations.
A Facebook post about the meeting from the US Embassy in Suva said: “Naoero joins a growing number of nations standing up for their sovereignty against the ICC’s illegitimate overreach.”
Tensions between the Trump administration and the ICC have increased after the court issued arrest warrants in late 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others in his cabinet over alleged crimes related to the Gaza war.
Naoero’s government has recently developed closer ties with Israel, becoming one of the few countries who have diplomatic ties with Israel to open an embassy in Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv….PACNEWS
PNG – ELECTION/POLITICS: THE NATIONAL PACNEWS 1: Tue 29 Sep 2026
2027 polls in PNG behind schedule
PORT MORESBY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2-26 (THE NATIONAL)—Preparations for General Election 2027 (GE27) are “critically behind schedule”, according to Papua New Guinea Electoral Commissioner, Dr Nicole Haley.
It has necessitated a crisis-management approach, including the displacement of several key management staff members of the Electoral Commission.
“Whilst acknowledging that preparations for General Election 2027 (GE27) are critically behind schedule, the Electoral Commission wishes to assure the public that this is something it is actively working to address.
“Serious under-resourcing across the election cycle, financial mismanagement within the Electoral Commission, indecision on the part of previous management to trial and adopt new technologies, the failure to prioritise and progress election reform, and to undertake necessary boundary remediation work have all contributed to the current state of preparedness,” Heley said in a statement.
Since assuming office last month, Haley has worked to reduce the election readiness gap, while addressing legacy issues related to internal governance, human resources management, and financial compliance.
With respect to election preparedness, the commission welcomes the inclusion of K150 million (US$133 million) for election preparations in the recent Supplementary Budget, and ongoing efforts by the Treasury Department and administrative services minister to ensure the timely receipt of those funds.
“The current state of election preparedness has, however, necessitated the adoption of a crisis management approach towards the preparation and delivery of the (GE27), including through the establishment of a dedicated, delivery orientated crisis management team under the auspices of Inter-department Election Committee to focus efforts, streamline coordination and drive accelerated decision-making as we work to close the existing election-readiness gap,” Haley said.
“The crisis-management team is also working to address the legacy issues impeding effective election preparation. These include financial mismanagement, procurement irregularities, data integrity issues (ghost workers), an ageing workforce (numerous officers who have reached compulsory retirement age), negligible workforce planning and unresolved disciplinary cases.
“Key here are a series of audit activities, including a HR and payroll audit, a cybersecurity and information and communications technology infrastructure audit, and audit preparation activities ahead of an independent financial audit (2020-2025) by Auditor-General’s Office.”
Haley confirmed that among the interim administrative actions were the suspension of several senior officers “in the interests of sound public financial management”.
“It has done so based upon the findings from its ongoing audit preparation activities, including its initial review of the commission’s financial and administrative records for the period 2020–2026, wherein the commission identified serious administrative and financial irregularities, demanding immediate intervention,” she said.
“As departmental head, the electoral commissioner acted to safeguard public funds, state assets, and the integrity of the institution to which she has been entrusted.”
Haley the suspensions enacted were both lawful and necessary and undertaken in strict accordance with the Public Services (Management) Act 1995, Public Service General Orders, and in consultation with the Secretary, Department of Personnel Management, as a precautionary measure to ensure further independent investigation can proceed without interference.
Further administrative action will follow, including the issuance of formal disciplinary charges.
Haley said while the commission recognised the public interest in the specific details of this matter, it would not be releasing any further details at this time.
Doing so prematurely would compromise the investigations underway and prejudice the rights of the officers involved, she said…..PACNEWS
FIJI – DEFENCE: FIJI TIMES PACNEWS 1: Tue 29 Sep 2026
Fiji registers interest to lead aid response
SUVA, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI TIMES)—Fiji has declared its readiness to lead regional humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts through the newly formed Pacific Response Group, following defence talks between regional partners.
Defence and Veteran Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua confirmed Fiji had formally registered its interest to spearhead the initiative, pointing to its existing infrastructure such as naval assets and air transport capabilities.
Speaking on the strategic focus of regional defence cooperation,Tikoduadua stressed that disaster preparation sits at the heart of the joint endeavour.
“We want to lead the effort in the Pacific and we registered our interest now,” he said.
“We have the facilities, we’re doing it already anyway, we’re developing the capability, in addition to our naval platforms, our maritime platforms.
“We’re also looking at the air capability that will deliver this assistance to the places not only within the Fiji islands, but also to the region.”
ikoduadua highlighted the strategic role of Blackrock Camp in terms of facilities on site being prepared for the next crisis or the next disaster to happen.
Australia Assistant Minister for Defence Peter Khalil commended Fiji’s leadership.
He said upcoming seasonal weather challenges underscored the necessity of joint readiness, ensuring participating nations pool assets to complement one another’s operational strengths across the Pacific…..PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
FIJI – TAX CRIME: FIJI SUN PACNEWS BIZ: Tue 29 Sep 2026
Tax crimes account for 86pc of financial intelligence value, Parliament hears
SUVA, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Tax crimes accounted for about 86 per cent of the total transaction value linked to financial intelligence cases disseminated in 2024, Parliament heard Monday.
This revelation has raised concerns about the impact on Fiji’s revenue collection and public finances.
The figure was highlighted by the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs in its review of the 2024 Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit (FFIU) Annual Report, which was tabled in Parliament.
Assistant Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister and chairperson of the committee, Sakiusa Tubuna, said the level of tax-related financial crime showed significant exposure within Fiji’s financial system and posed risks to national revenue collection, fiscal sustainability and public confidence.
“FFIU handled an enormous volume of financial information in 2024. “It managed a database of about 87 million financial transactions and received 6.14 million transaction reports during the year,” Tubuna said.
He noted that there were 304 suspicious transaction reports and that intelligence products were disseminated to law enforcement agencies and Government stakeholders.
However, while the figures showed the scale of financial information being monitored, the committee raised questions about what happened after intelligence was passed on.
The committee identified a gap between intelligence generated by the FFIU and actual outcomes, such as investigations, prosecutions, convictions and asset recovery.
“There are concerns about the quality, timeliness and operational usefulness of some intelligence products,” he said, adding that additional investigative work was often required before they could support enforcement decisions.
“We called for stronger feedback mechanisms and closer coordination between the FFIU and agencies receiving its intelligence,” Tubuna said.
The committee also noted that the FFIU annual report did not include annual performance targets, measurable indicators or clear benchmarks.
It recommended that future reports focus more on measurable outcomes so Parliament and the public can assess the effectiveness of the unit’s work.
“Strengthening intelligence, technology, oversight, performance measurement and cooperation between agencies would be critical in tackling financial crime,” Tubuna said….PACNEWS
B/VILLE – MINING LAWS: ABG GOVT PACNEWS BIZ: Tue 29 Sep 2026
Bougainville passes laws to tighten mining safety and prosecutions
BUKA, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— The Bougainville House of Representatives has passed two laws aimed at strengthening mining safety standards and the prosecution of offences under Bougainville law.
The two Bills were passed during the House sitting from 22 to 24 September 2026.
The Bougainville Mining (Occupational Health & Safety) Bill 2026, tabled by President and Minister for Mining and Petroleum Ishmael Toroama, establishes a dedicated occupational health and safety framework for the mining sector.
The legislation strengthens the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s ability to regulate health and safety standards across mining operations.
The House also passed the Interpretation (Prosecutions and Interim Arrangements) Amendment Bill 2026, which was tabled by Atolls member Amanda Masono on behalf of Attorney-General, Minister for Justice and Legal Services and Vice-President Ezekiel Massat.
The amendment strengthens the legal framework governing the prosecution of offences under Bougainville laws.
The ABG said the two laws marked significant steps in strengthening Bougainville’s legislative and institutional framework, particularly in mining regulation, enforcement and prosecution.
The legislation is part of ongoing efforts by the ABG and the House of Representatives to develop Bougainville’s laws and institutions.
Copies of the Bougainville Mining (Occupational Health & Safety) Act 2026** and the Interpretation (Prosecutions and Interim Arrangements) Amendment Act 2026** will be made available to the public once they commence….PACNEWS
FSM – BANK: FSM GOVT PACNEWS BIZ: Tue 29 Sep 2026
FSM, World Bank discuss development priorities and skills investment
POHNPEI, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FSM GOVT)—Federated States of Micronesia President Wesley Simina has met with World Bank Pacific Islands Regional Division Director Tatiana A. Proskuryakova to discuss development priorities and strengthening cooperation between the FSM and the World Bank.
The meeting focused on energy, infrastructure, digital development, resilience, human capacity and sustainable economic development.
Simina also discussed FSM’s priorities under the World Bank’s IDA21 financing cycle and the country’s transition towards blended financing.
Following the meeting, Simina and Proskuryakova attended a handover ceremony at the Pohnpei Island Central School for vocational equipment provided through the World Bank-supported Skills and Employability Enhancement Project.
The equipment will support Career and Technical Education at PICS, Nanpei Memorial High School and Madolenihmw High School, where students are beginning a new four-year progressive CTE programme.
“The equipment we are handing over today represents something much greater than the equipment themselves – an investment in the skills, capabilities, and future of our young people,” Simina said.
He said strengthening technical and vocational education was an important investment in FSM’s human capacity and long-term development.
Simina thanked the World Bank for its continued support and reaffirmed FSM’s commitment to working with the institution to advance sustainable, resilient and inclusive development.
He said the partnership would also help expand opportunities for young people across the FSM….PACNEWS
PACNEWS In Focus
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Why Fiji is urging the world to slow down on deep-sea mining
By Sera Tikotikovatu – Sefeti
SUVA, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (ISLANDS BUSINESS)—It is a Friday afternoon, and the sun hangs high over the Yasawa Islands, pouring light across a vast expanse of ocean that shifts from deep blue to brilliant turquoise. The water glitters beneath the afternoon heat, while along the shoreline, fishermen and women prepare their boats, gathering their nets, check their equipment and head out towards the fishing grounds.
In the village of Nacula, Lavenia Naivalurua, a gonedau (a traditional fisher), says the ocean is also a place of sacred knowledge.
She remembers sitting with her grandfather and listening to his talanoa about venturing far beyond the shallow waters, into what they describe as the tuba ni bai ki Viti (the waters beyond the reef) and the familiar boundaries of home.
“He would talanoa (share stories) about how they would go out to the deep, deep waters,” she recalls. “Sometimes what they experience in the shallow waters is what is happening in the deep blue zone.”
Her grandfather would speak of signs, the movement of fish, changes in the water and other clues from nature that could tell experienced fishers what was happening beyond the reef.
Today, talk of what could happen in those deeper waters leaves Lavenia almost speechless.
“To mine something out of our ocean bed, you know, this is something sacred we hold dear to our heart,” she says. “I can’t even think about it.”
Lavenia is not alone in asking what could be lost beneath the Pacific. Fiji has called for a precautionary pause on commercial deep-sea mining, arguing that more science is needed to understand the risks before the industry moves ahead. But while Fiji has urged caution on mining, exploration in its waters has continued, exposing a tension at the heart of the country’s position: how do you decide whether an industry is safe when the ocean it could disturb is still being explored?
An Ocean Governed by Tradition
For Lavenia, the prospect of removing minerals from the seabed is not an abstract conversation about economic opportunity or resources beneath the ocean floor.
“The ocean is our life,” she says.
That relationship is reflected in the decisions the community makes today.
When hotels approach communities seeking ocean leases, she explains, giving away a portion of the sea is not as simple as signing a document because the ocean is not viewed merely as an economic space.
“It belongs to our people, our customs and therefore our responsibilities.”
In Nacula, where traditional stewardship remains woven into everyday life, conservation does not necessarily begin with a government gazette or a sign declaring a marine protected area.
The community has its own systems.
“There are no tabu (restricted) marine protected areas gazetted by government because we have our own traditional protected areas,” Lavenia says.
Traditional protocols still govern how marine spaces are used, while practices such as yararau — where men weave coconut leaves into nets used to catch fish at particular times of the year — continue to carry knowledge passed from one generation to another.
“They are traditional systems of conservation, handed down to us by our forefathers,” she says.
Now, as conversations about what lies beneath the Pacific Ocean reach her shores, Lavenia wonders where communities like hers fit into decisions about the deep sea.
She wants to see the science. She wants to understand the studies. And she wants the people whose lives are tied to these waters to have a voice.
“I’m keen to know about the studies on deep-sea mining and how we will be consulted as qoliqoli (traditional owners) of the deep-sea waters.”
It is a question that stretches far beyond Nacula.
Fiji’s Precautionary Pause Leaves the Door Open to Exploration
Thousands of kilometres from the village, Suva moves to a different rhythm.
Traffic crowds the streets, businesses hum and government offices drive the country’s daily affairs.
Inside Fiji’s Ministry of Minerals, Acting Assistant Director for Minerals Unaisi Rawaikela describes the government’s approach to deep-sea mining with a warning.
“Do not open a door that cannot be closed until we understand what lies behind it.”
Fiji’s position is often described as a moratorium or precautionary pause for 10years, but it is not a permanent ban on all activity associated with deep-sea minerals.
“The pause”, Rawaikela says, “applies to commercial mining and reflects Fiji’s position that baseline science, monitoring systems and governance must be strong enough to understand and manage the risks before extraction is considered.”
According to Rawaikela this applies only in waters under Fiji’s jurisdiction and guides their engagement internationally.
“The pause will remain until comprehensive, conclusive science can confirm whether seabed mining can take place without lasting harm.”
Yet beneath that position lies an important distinction, exploring the seabed is not the same as commercially mining it.
Over the years, the Fiji Government has issued exploration licences to Nautilus Minerals, Blue Water Minerals and the Korean Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), with KIOST currently the only active explorer.
Rawaikela says those activities can help build knowledge about an environment where information remains scarce.
“A moratorium does not mean we cannot give license to explore our ocean, the deep ocean is data poor, and these DSM explorations are a way to build the data for us,” she says.
The Ministry, together with the Fiji Law Reform Commission, is also reviewing the Mining Act 1965 and Quarries Act 1939, comparing Fiji’s legislation with frameworks in Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.
For the government, the pause holds while that knowledge and governance continue to develop.
For critics, however, allowing exploration while calling for a pause raises another question: where does exploration end and the road towards extraction begin?
Who Gets a Voice?
That tension surfaced in Suva in May when International Seabed Authority Secretary-General Leticia Reis de Carvalho visited Fiji for a Opening of the Pacific SIDS Regional Workshop , describing her mission as “long overdue and of great strategic importance”.
Fiji’s place in the debate is significant. Its central location and role as a regional centre for diplomacy, education, development agencies and civil society have long made Suva a meeting point for Pacific affairs.
But the ISA workshop drew criticism from Pacific civil society groups who said they had been excluded from the meeting.
At a press conference in Suva, campaigners condemning the decision and argued that sidelining grassroots voices and non-sponsoring states risked what they called “bluewashing”, presenting deep-sea mining as part of a cleaner or sustainable future while downplaying its potential environmental costs.
Rae Bainteiti, a social justice advocate of Banaban and Kiribati origin, was among those speaking out.
“Deep-sea mining is a risky investment that will negatively impact the Pacific the most and benefit them the least,” he said.
“Calling the destruction of our ocean floor ‘sustainable blue growth’ is deceptive, biased, and wrong.”
Civil society groups including the Pacific Network on Globalisation and the Pacific Blue Line Collective have campaigned against deep-sea mining for more than a decade.
But across the Pacific, there is no single position.
A Pacific Divided Over the Seabed
Fiji’s approach has not emerged in isolation.
Across the Pacific, governments, churches, youth organisations, Indigenous leaders and environmental groups have spent more than a decade questioning whether the region should become the testing ground for a new extractive industry before its consequences are fully understood.
Civil society in the Pacific, like Pacific Network on Globalisation which acts as the Pacific region’s watchdog and advocacy that monitors trade, investment and development policies and advocates for Pacific communities and their interests. This includes the Pacific Blue Line Collective and partners representing Pacific Civil Society collective have been advocating against deep-sea mining for more than a decade, employing diverse campaign strategies.
The movement has steadily gained momentum.
Palau was among the first Pacific nations to call internationally for a moratorium or precautionary pause and later helped launch the Alliance of Countries Calling for a Deep-Sea Mining Moratorium alongside Fiji and Samoa. Fiji soon became one of the first Pacific countries to introduce a moratorium on seabed mining within its own waters and is one of the 46 countries around the world that supports a moratorium on DSM in international waters.
The Federated States of Micronesia has also joined the alliance.
Melanesian leaders, have taken a similarly cautious position. Through the 2023 Udaune Declaration (UD)., members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group that includes members from Fiji, the Front De Liberation Nationale Kanak Socialiste (FLNKS), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu have agreed to a moratorium on deep-sea mining, citing gaps in scientific understanding and concern over potential impacts beyond national borders.
Melanesian leaders acknowledge there is a lack of information, scientific evidence and that the ongoing discussions about the mining code at the International Seabed Authority proves that the cautious approach is the right approach stressing the limited understanding of what seabed mining can impact beyond their national jurisdiction.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, governments have taken a different path.
The government of the Republic of Naoero (Nauru) involvement in deep-sea mining stretches back to 2011, when the International Seabed Authority signed a 15-year exploration contract with Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), sponsored by the Nauruan government, giving the company rights to explore 74,830 square kilometres of international seabed for polymetallic nodules.
Since then Naoero’s government has consistently framed deep sea mining as an economic opportunity, releasing a media statement in June of 2025, announcing the updated sponsorship agreement for NORI in a joint statement with The Metal Company (TMC).
President Adeang states that,” we have worked to establish a responsible pathway for deep-sea mineral development, one that can serve as a model for other developing states.”
“We believe the world must explore new sources of critical metals if we are to address the urgent realities of climate change. For small island nations like ours, this is not an abstract concern, it’s an existential one,” he said. “We seek practical, science-based solutions that allow us to participate meaningfully in the energy transition.”
The Cook Islands has also moved ahead with seabed exploration.
The contrasting positions reveal a Pacific wrestling with the same ocean but reaching different conclusions about how quickly or whether its mineral resources should be developed.
And beneath that debate are minerals increasingly sought far beyond the region.
A Legacy of Decisions Made Elsewhere
For decades, Pacific Islanders have lived with the consequences of decisions made elsewhere. From nuclear testing and the escalating impacts of climate change to overfishing and increasing geopolitical competition, the region has repeatedly been asked to shoulder risks in the name of global progress.
Deputy Coordinator of the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) and ocean campaigner Joey Tau says the Pacific is still living with the consequences of decisions made decades ago.
“Pacific people continue to live with the traumatic legacy of nuclear testing; its impacts continue across generations,” he said.
For Tau, that history offers a warning about how little was once understood about the ocean’s capacity to absorb human activity and how long the consequences can last.
“During the nuclear-testing era, there was an assumption, or rather an ignorance, that the ocean was so vast that it could accommodate large atomic and nuclear tests,” he said. “Fast-forward to today, and there is a leaking nuclear-waste dome in the Marshall Islands.”
This time the focus lies not on land, but thousands of meters beneath the Pacific Ocean.
What Lies Beneath the Pacific
Scattered across the deep seabed are polymetallic nodules, small rock-like lumps scattered across the ocean floor, rich in nickel, cobalt, manganese and copper. These minerals have been promoted for their potential use in vehicles, renewable energy technologies and the global transition away from fossil fuels. But these minerals are not only for the green economy. They can also feed data centres, electronics, military and weapons technologies, raising a more complicated question about who ultimately benefits from unlocking the seabed, and at what cost.
Supporters argue these minerals could support a cleaner future while opening a new source of revenue for Pacific communities, but for island communities whose source of food, traditions, livelihoods are tied to the ocean scientific evidence suggests that extracting them could irreversibly damage one of Earth’s least understood ecosystems.
But the ocean floor is not empty.
Deep-sea ecosystems support species adapted to darkness, cold temperatures and immense pressure, many growing slowly in environments where disturbance can persist for long periods.
What Scientists Know and What they Still Don’t
Today, more than 900 scientists and policy experts have signed a global statement calling for a precautionary pause on commercial deep-sea mining until enough scientific knowledge exists to understand its long-term environmental consequences. The statement draws on expertise from marine science, oceanography, ecology, environmental policy and related fields, giving weight to concerns that the deep ocean remains poorly understood and that the potential impacts of industrial-scale mining are not yet fully known.
Professor Carrie Pucko, a biologist at the University of Georgia,and a Researcher for the Environment and Science Desk at the US Embassy in Fiji presented on Deep Sea Mining in Fiji to the media in Suva.
According to Pucko the greatest concern is not simply mining itself, but how little scientists still know about the ecosystems that would be disturbed.
Pucko shares that, “the biggest ecological concern is to the deep-water ecosystems which are not well explored.”
“The density of organisms there is low, but they are very diverse, slow growing and slow to recover from damage, if they can recover at all since about half of the animals that live there need the nodules to survive.”
Many of the species living in these environments have yet to be named and entered into official scientific record and the marine species database.
According to Pucko, scientists remain concerned that some organisms could disappear before they are even discovered.
“The deep-sea environmental impacts are unavoidable, and some are permanent, but some impacts can be limited by regulations.”
Between 2016 and 2021, a group of scientists from New Zealand’s NIWA Taihoro Nukurangi, University of Waikato, and University of Wellington investigates what happens when the deep seafloor is disturbed including how clouds of sediment spread through the surrounding water and what happens when processed water is released back into the ocean.
Their research examined an area between 400m to 500m in depth on the Chatham Rise, comparing conditions before and after disturbance and studying the seabed, surrounding water and marine organisms.
Researchers found that sediment plumes can move away from the disturbance with ocean currents, increasing sediment in the water near the seafloor. Dense clouds can obscure the seabed, while material settling back down can cover organisms and alter habitat.
Suspended sediments can also interfere with biological functions.
The research does not replicate every condition that would exist during commercial deep-sea mining across the Pacific, but it offers scientists a closer look at how disturbance can move beyond the precise place where the seabed is touched.
In Fiji, scientists are still establishing a much more fundamental picture of what exists in the deeper ocean.
Mapping WHat Fiji Is Still Discovering
On board the research vessel Argo, scientists invited by the Fiji Government travelled from shallow reefs into waters rarely seen by people.
The National Geographic Pristine Seas expedition deployed deep-sea cameras capable of reaching 6,000 metres, while the Argonauta submersible carried scientists to depths of about 1,300 metres.
The expedition covered waters around Kadavu, the Great Astrolabe Reef, Great Sea Reef/Cakaulevu, the Melanesian Border Plateau, Rotuma, the Ringgold Islands and Yasawa.
.The Government of Fiji report in September 2025 states that the expedition includes the collection of eDNA sampling (Environmental sampling that involves collecting water sample, collecting DNA from what was captured, identifying different species,etc), submersible dives, seabird surveys, coral surveys and underwater imagery.
Marine ecologist and National Geographic Explorer Whitney Goodell says researchers encountered species in Fiji’s deeper waters that local communities did not know were there.
“Species were less abundant near the island compared to the offshore banks and in the deep there are some species that were discovered that the locals did not know lived in the depths of their ocean,” Goodell says.
The expedition was not an exploration of an ocean scientists already understood.
It was designed to fill some of the gaps in what is known about Fiji’s deeper waters.
And those gaps matter when decisions being contemplated could change the seabed itself.
From the Deep Ocean to the Reef
Fijian marine conservation practitioner and marine scientist Ulamila “Mila” Matairakula, has seen Fiji’s reefs from below the surface. As part of the Blue Prosperity Fiji scientific dive team, representing the University of the South Pacific, she travelled underwater from Malolo and Tivua along the Coral Coast to Serua, Beqa, Yanuca, Lami, Suva Harbour and Navakavu. The dives gave her a close view of reefs already under pressure from bleaching, predation and human activity.
For Matairakula, the ocean is not an abstract ecosystem on a research paper. Her work has taken her into the water and into communities that depend on it. She has also worked with people in Rukua Village, Beqa, on community-based coral-reef monitoring, helping develop ways to track changes in the reefs that support local marine resources.
That experience shapes how she views another potential disturbance to Fiji’s ocean: deep-sea mining.
She says, “any decision on commercial deep-sea mining needs to consider the full chain of effects from the animals living on the seafloor to the coastal communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy marine ecosystems.”
While she acknowledges the potential for economic and employment benefits, she argues that the longer-term consequences need to be understood before those benefits can be weighed against the risks.
An area of concern is biodiversity, “Fiji’s waters support corals, fish and other marine life, while larger species such as tuna and other marine megafauna move through wider ocean routes.”
According to Matairakula seabed disturbance could affect not only organisms living on or near the seafloor, but also species whose movements depend on interconnected marine habitats.
“Coastal communities significantly depend on marine resources for livelihood,” she says. If ecosystems that provide food and shelter for marine species are damaged, she argues, the consequences could eventually reach fishing communities and the people whose income depends on those resources.
But perhaps the biggest gap, Matairakula says, is what scientists still cannot answer.
“We do not know the extent of ecological loss that DSM will bring about,” she says, pointing also to unanswered questions about the socio-economic consequences for communities dependent on fisheries and Fiji’s ability to monitor the industry over the long term.
The Deep Ocean May Be Out of Sight, But Not Out of Reach
Back in Yasawa, Ratu Manasa Naikasowalo sits on his verandah as children play nearby.
His son walks down to the beach to collect kaikoso (ark shell or blood cockle) and returns with two fish.
“For us in the village life is simple,” Naikasowalo says. “What my son is doing is going out to collect enough just for dinner, we don’t need to go to the shop to buy food, it is right here in our ocean.”
Knowledge about when to fish, when not to fish, when cyclone season arrives and when crops should be planted and harvested has long shaped village life.
But Naikasowalo says the changing climate is already disrupting that rhythm, damaging corals and affecting harvests.
“I worry about our future. If we can feel the impact of climate change in our remote island, what would happen if it’s just outside our part of the ocean?”
For PANG the Pacific Ocean cannot be neatly divided into isolated ecological systems.
PANG’s Deep-Sea Mining Lead, Laisa Nainoka, believes many people underestimate the issue because its impacts occur thousands of metres below the ocean’s surface.
“Deep-sea mining happens far below the surface, so it becomes an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ situation,” she says. “But people do not always understand the possible scale of its impacts.”
For Nainoka, the greatest warning lies in what science still cannot answer.
“We know more about the moon than we do about the deep ocean. That alone should be enough reason for us to stop and think before entering this industry.”
According to Nainoka, we could possibly be harming an ecosystem that can be the solution to diseases.
“Yet, we are proposing to destroy the ecosystems and biodiversity that we barely understand, even though science continues to remind us that there is not enough knowledge of the ocean.”
That uncertainty sits at the heart of the Pacific’s civil societies argument.
This is not simply a debate about whether the world needs critical minerals, but whether we know enough, and have the governance and safeguards to mine one of Earth’s least explored ecosystems.
In a Pacific region that has repeatedly borne the costs of decisions made elsewhere, Fiji is calling for a precautionary pause not necessarily rejecting innovation but asking that evidence lead ambition, not the other way around….PACNEWS
This story was supported by Earth Journalism Network as part of the “Mining the Unknowns” cross-border collaboration.
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
What Pacific women want global climate advocates to hear before COP31
By Chelsea Huggett, Diana Gonzalez Botero, Doris Tulifau and Nalini Singh
SUVA/SYDNEY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 (DEVPOLICY.ORG)—Despite contributing less than 0.03% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pacific Island countries face some of the world’s most severe climate risks.
A strengthening El Niño is placing pressure on the region’s water security, with disproportionate impacts for women and girls. In October, Fiji and Tuvalu host the pre-COP31 meetings, the preparatory talks ahead of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. That is an opportunity to put water security, gender equality and climate justice on
agenda.
WaterAid established an advisory group of Pacific women’s rights groups, and partnered with the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS-ISF) to research what Pacific activists say is most urgently needed to connect gender equality, climate justice and water security. The research, “Rising Tides, Rising Voices: Building a Pacific Movement for Gender Justice, Climate and Water”, was undertaken in late 2025 and early 2026 and captured the views of 46 activists, practitioners and grassroots leaders: interviews with eight advocates from Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea, and an online survey of 38 practitioners working in or on 24 Pacific countries and territories. The research is intended to support the 18 climate justice commitments in the 15th Pacific Women’s Triennial outcome statement, agreed in 2024.
Respondents named the exclusion of women from decision-making, including from customary and traditional structures, as the root cause of every other gendered impact of climate change and water insecurity. It was the issue most often cited as urgent (53% of respondents), and the issue most often said to need more attention in global debates (79%). Advocates described how women hold the knowledge about household water needs but are absent from the meetings where water decisions are made, particularly at community and subnational level.
Disability equity showed the opposite pattern. Only 21% of respondents named it among the most urgent issues, and only 28% said it needed more attention in global debates — suggesting limited awareness, even within the sector, of how disability and water insecurity compound each other. At the same time, some interviews illustrated the challenge. One disability advocate described women with disabilities staying home through cyclones rather than using evacuation centres that are not wheelchair accessible, have unadapted washrooms and are too crowded for privacy or safety.
Water and climate justice is gender justice. Any solutions that ignore women, young women and gender-diverse people will fail. — Pacific advocate
Asked what was most urgently needed, respondents pointed to women’s leadership in climate and water governance (72%), gender-responsive financing (59%) and the protection of freshwater and ecosystems. Asked what was politically realistic now, they gave very different answers. Technical priorities, such as water, sanitation and hygiene in schools and health facilities, ranked highest, rising 33 percentage points between the urgency and realism rankings, while women’s leadership and gender-responsive financing fell by about 18 points. The priorities that would most directly redistribute power, including women’s leadership, disability equity, unpaid care work and diverse sexual orientation and gender identity, ranked lowest for political realism. Advocates described this as a considered response to a difficult political climate: in Vanuatu, for example, organisations have moved away from the word “feminism” in public work because it provoked a backlash that shut down conversations.
Advocates also called for a shift away from narratives of deficit and vulnerability, towards strength and resilience.
The talk is about us drowning, always making people feel so vulnerable. How do we get away from always feeling like the victim? How do we actually talk about things that show our strengths? — Advocate from Samoa
Health and wellbeing framing dominates current advocacy (55% of respondents) and respondents still judged it effective. Vulnerability framing was among the most common and the least effective. The largest untapped opportunity lies in narratives about leadership, resilience and cultural knowledge, including oral storytelling traditions such as Talanoa in Fiji and Storian in Vanuatu, which advocates said are underused. One advocate from Kiribati rejected the “sinking island” framing entirely, arguing that the country is changing shape rather than disappearing, and that the sinking narrative erases the agency of its people.
On who holds the power to drive change, grassroots and feminist organisations reported little influence over governments, climate finance and the private sector. They named local and subnational governments as their highest-priority advocacy targets (57%), yet also as among the institutions they influence least. International NGOs showed the opposite pattern: highest for current influence, lowest as a target.
Interviewees said Pacific governments receive money from the Green Climate Fund that does not reach communities or grassroots organisations. Funding largely flows from donors through national governments, and grassroots organisations must fit their work within externally set priorities to access it.
The biggest push at every Pacific meeting I’ve been at was for climate funding, for green funding to come to the projects that are community level. And getting community-level knowledge and traditional knowledge. People talk about it all the time, but there hasn’t been any funding for it. — Advocate from Samoa.
The research sets out five calls to action for practitioners, decision-makers and development partners to take into global climate discussions.
The first is to integrate water security into Pacific gender equality and climate justice action. Governments and development partners should make safe, reliable and inclusive water security a core measure of progress on gender and climate justice, and build it into agendas, policies, programs and financing.
The second is to treat Pacific women, women with disabilities and gender-diverse people as equal decision-makers. Pacific women in all their diversity, including adolescent girls, older people, people with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity, and women with disabilities, should hold paid, influential roles in governance, steering committees, program design and delivery. Participation also needs practical support: transport, childcare, accessible information and assistive devices.
The third is to invest in Pacific feminist and grassroots movement-building for the long term. Climate and development finance should provide direct, accessible and long-term funding to Pacific women-led, disability-inclusive and grassroots organisations to deliver locally led water and climate solutions. Funding should support feminist coalitions, youth leadership, peer education and community-based practitioners without forcing organisations to compete, merge or compromise their priorities.
The fourth is to shift Pacific climate and water narratives from vulnerability to strength and agency. Global advocacy should stop framing Pacific communities as passive victims of climate change and instead reflect their resilience, leadership, capabilities and knowledge. Water security narratives should value traditional ecological knowledge and show pathways to solutions that transfer power and maintain climate hope.
The fifth is to name and dismantle the structural barriers driving water insecurity and climate and gender inequality. Respondents named the effects of labour mobility schemes on families and care responsibilities, corporate water extraction, inequitable wealth distribution, inadequate regulation, and the lack of transparency and accountability among major polluters. They should be addressed through policy, regulation, financing and corporate accountability.
As global leaders gather in the Pacific for pre-COP31, Pacific advocates have set out a clear agenda: recognise water security as central to gender equality and climate justice, ensure women and people with disabilities shape decisions, and invest in Pacific-led movements for the long term….PACNEWS
The research was guided by an advisory group comprising the co-authors together with Dani Barrington, Pisey Chea, Sisi Coalala, Anne-Shirley Korave, Alice Ridge, Antoneta Soares, Hannah Sibley and Viva Tatawaqa, who validated early findings and shaped the call to action. …PACNEWS
