Results for Natural events

A global stocktake is a process for countries and stakeholders to see where they’re collectively making progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, and where they’re not. A series of high-level events at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) will help move the world’s first global stocktake closer to a conclusion. The global stocktake will inform the next round of climate action plans due in 2025.

King Tupou VI called for the creation of a Pacific-led community resilience financing facility and urged all partners to contribute to funding its establishment. The King expressed concern over the slow progress on the Paris Agreement, when he delivered a statement at the 28th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 1 December 5, 2023 in Dubai.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Mal has moved away from Tongan waters. Tonga Met reported that the cyclone system located to the southwest of Tonga had weakened to a low pressure, yesterday and will no longer directly affect Tonga. Previous gale warnings for Tele-ki-Tonga and Tele-ki-Tokelau coastal waters have since been downgraded to strong wind warnings.

It comes as no surprise that cyclones are forming outside of the normal tropical cyclone season, as a result of El Niño, Tonga’s Director of Meteorology, ‘Ofa Fa’anunu told Matangi Tonga this morning. As President of the World Meteorology Organisation (WMO) Region V, 'Ofa said that Severe Tropical Cyclone Lola that hit Vanuatu this week, marked an early beginning for the 2023/24 tropical cyclone season in the South West Pacific.

A new tsunami evacuation signboard was unveiled by the visiting UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Ms. Mami Mizutori, on ‘Apifo’ou College grounds today, 20 October 2023, followed by a tsunami siren drill exercise.

A cheque for $52,306 pa'anga was donated to Her Majesty’s Charity by the Peau Kula Art Fundraiser, yesterday, 17 October. Tanya Edwards, a local visual artist and New Zealand Artist, Benjamin Work, presented the cheque to HM Queen Nanasipau’u, at the Royal Palace.

Continuing volcanic activity at the Home Reef in Tonga poses low risk to the Vava’u and Ha’apai Communities, Tonga Geological Services stated today, after recording five recent eruptions - two in the past 24 hours and three during the last two days.

Disaster response requires effective coordination and communication, the participants in Exercise Longreach were told this week. More than 70 representatives from first responder agencies in Tonga are meeting in an ongoing collaboration between the Australian Defence Force (ADF), the National Disaster Risk Management Office (formerly NEMO) and His Majesty's Armed Forces, in an exercise to make sure all systems are in place for the next disaster response whenever it may strike in Tonga.

Tonga co-hosted a Climate Mobility Summit on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held under the theme “Harnessing Climate Mobility for Adaption and Resilience”, on 18 September, in New York, organised by the Global Centre for Climate Mobility.