Some 30 cylinders of a banned refrigerant R22 Hyrochlorofluorocarbon HCFC that were seized by Tongan Customs at Queen Salote Wharf in September 2013 are still under the care of the Customs Department.
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Results for Environment
Tuesday 28 August 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Friday 17 August 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Artwork made out of recycled materials was exhibited to raise awareness of climate change, at the launch of Tonga’s Joint National Action Plan on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management (JNAP2), at the Queen Salote Memorial Hall today, 17 August.

Wednesday 15 August 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga took a major step to advance its commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global surface temperature rise to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” when the Privy Council endorsed the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on 21 June this year.

Thursday 2 August 2018
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Suva, Fiji
A toolkit aimed at empowering and encouraging Pacific Media to write more articles on the Pacific ocean’s health was launched at a two-day workshop by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) on 24 July in Suva, Fiji.

Friday 8 June 2018
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga is finding it difficult to manage illegal dumping of rubbish, including plastic bags, in Nuku'alofa, as it celebrated World Environment Day on 5 June with the worldwide theme "Beat Plastic Pollution". Filimone Lapao’o, the Tonga goverment's Senior Environmentalist, said after Cyclone Gita, the amount of rubbish at Sopu increased so much that his department cannot manage it properly. By Eleanor Gee.
Wednesday 16 May 2018
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Neiafu, Vava'u
Keep Vava’u clean and beautiful by keeping the environment clean, was the message HE Ms Tiffany Babington, New Zealand High Commissioner to Tonga, emphasized in a speech at the official opening of the 3Rs Waste Minimization Promotion and Proper Waste Management Project in Neiafu, Vava’u, on 14 May.

Thursday 1 February 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A rare "super blue blood" Moon lit up the sky last night in Tongatapu, followed by a full lunar eclipse in the early hours of this morning when the spectacularly bright moon went dark for over an hour.

Wednesday 13 December 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A video study showing a time lapse of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai island was published on Tuesday by America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The video study by NASA shows the transformation of the volcanic island from 2015 to 2017.

Wednesday 26 July 2017
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Toronto, Canada
Land that was once frozen in the Yukon Territory in Northern Canada is becoming agriculture friendly due to global warming and is being offered for free to small farmers. The Yukon borders on Alaska and its government has already given away nearly 8,000 acres of farmland over the last 10 years, with a dozen applicants currently being considered.

Thursday 8 June 2017
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Montreal, Canada
“Biodiversity conservation is a pre-condition for achieving sustainable development,” says Cristiana Pasca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity on World Environment Day, 5 June. “We know that human health ultimately depends on the ecosystem products and services – fresh water, food and fuel sources – required for human wellbeing and productive livelihoods.”

Tuesday 6 June 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Important questions over massive environmental damage caused by site works for the Va'epopua 18-holes golf course and its associated commercial developments remain unanswered, in spite of fears that the project is killing the reef and endangering the health and fishing livelihoods of its coastal communities.
Friday 2 June 2017
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Suva, Fiji
Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement is a “grave moral injustice” say Pacific civil society groups, asserting that “His decision is a clear sign of his continued support of the fossil fuel industry which directly threatens the lives of communities living in the Pacific islands.”

Friday 2 June 2017
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Suva, Fiji
"Deeply disappointing," is how the incoming President of COP23, Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, this morning responded to the decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Bainimarama said the impacts of climate change "are obvious, and humankind ignores these facts at its peril."

Wednesday 10 May 2017
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Geneva, Switzerland
Pacific Islands urgently need a Pacific-wide ban on asbestos and other toxic substances to protect our islands from being used as a dumping ground for products that other countries around the world have banned, SPREP's Director General, Mr Kosi Latu has warned, saying "The Rotterdam Convention has failed Small Island Developing States."

Thursday 4 May 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A plaque was unveiled at Maui's Rock (also thought to be a tsunami rock) at Kala'au, Tongatapu on Tuesday, 2 May to raise awareness on the significance of the site.

Wednesday 3 May 2017
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Geneva, Switzerland
“The pollution on this planet has never been worse. The impact of our people has never been more deadly. But the time to fix it has never been better,” said Mr Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, UN Environment in Geneva, Switzerland, on 24 April. Two toxic substances on the international "watch list", paraquat and chrysotile asbestos, are particularly relevant to Tonga.

Friday 14 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
If Pacific Islands Countries could improve the efficiency of their electric lighting, by replacing incandescent bulbs with new types of lights, it would reduce not only their Green House Gas emissions but also reduce the cost of electricity, and boost their economies, according to a report that was published this month by the Pacific Community (SPC).

Tuesday 11 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
It’s rare to find female sailors in Tonga, but 'Aunofo Havea Funaki is not your average Tongan woman - she has been working in a male dominated marine industry in the kingdom for the last 26 years. A passionate advocate of sustainable tourism, 'Aunofo is concerned about the amount of whale watching operators in Vava’u and how they operate. By Eleanor Gee
Tuesday 11 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Litterbugs have yet to fined for littering by the Environment Department in Nuku’alofa since the enforcement of an Environment Management (Litter and Waste Control) Regulations 2016, that came into force on 1 April, in Tonga - but they have been warned.

Friday 7 April 2017
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Whale watchers around the world can help scientists track the journey of individual whales by taking photos of the underside of their tails, said Ted Cheeseman, co-founder and CEO of Happywhale, a website platform used to help identify whales using pictures. “The underside of a whale’s tail has markings unique to each whale, just like finger prints are to humans."
