Results for Pacific Islands

Joe Mataele, a Leading Marine Technician (LMT) who grew up in Kolomotu'a Tongatapu, was named the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) 2024 Sailor of the Year. He is a son of the late Joe Tu'ilatai Mataele and Aiona Saluni Mataele, and has family ties to Fo'ui and Kolomotu'a, Tongatapu; Leimatu'a, Vava'u; and Koulo, Ha'apai.

With COP29’s conclusion, the stage shifts to the Hague, where Vanuatu’s landmark International Court of Justice climate change case, will start on 2 December - with 110 UN member states and intergovernmental organisations testifying. Vanuatu's Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment, stated yesterday that: “The commitments made in Baku — the dollar amounts pledged and the emissions reductions promised — are not enough. They were never going to be enough. And even then, based on our experience with such pledges in the past, we know they will not be fulfilled.”

Tonga remains among the most aid-reliant countries in the world, ranking second among 127 developing countries with aid accounting for 55% of national income, says a new report published by Australia's Lowy Institute today. It reports a recent sharp decline in overseas development finance to the Pacific islands and forecasts that aid from major bilateral donors will flatline in coming years in the region.

“Investing in climate-resilient health facilities is not a luxury. It is a lifeline,” Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala warned. “We urgently need accessible and equitable climate-health financing for the Pacific. Current funding is simply insufficient to meet the unique needs of these Small Island Developing States. I am here at COP29 to help change that,” he said in the keynote speech in a side event at COP29’s Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion on Friday.

As the Pacific heads into COP 29 in Azerbaijan, today, Pacific Islands Forum Chair, Prime Minister Hon, Hu’akavameiliku says the key goal for the negotiations must be to keep the 1.5 degree Celsius goal alive.

The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the World Bank launched a handbook to strengthen coastal State enforcement of fisheries law in the Pacific region, today, at the FFA Headquarters in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

A state-of-the-art design for a new Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre (RFSC) was unveiled at the Pacific Island Forum Agency (FFA) headquarters in Honiara, Solomon Islands, on 25 October 2024.

Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku is leading a high-level Forum Troika in New Caledonia this week, on a mission to conduct fact-findings on the situation on ground in New Caledonia.

Australian Tongans will welcome HRH Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tuku’aho as their guest of honour on Queensland Tonga Day, a day-long celebration commemorating the establishment of the Tongan Constitution, to be held at the Bill Norris Oval in Beenleigh, Australia, on 2 November 2024.