International: Pacific
Melanesian governments endorse call for a fossil fuel free pacific
29 Aug 2023
The Melanesian Spearhead Group released their resolve to address the climate crisis which is undermining human rights, destroying ecosystems and upending development.
China, Australia raise climate change, security at Pacific leaders summit
29 Aug 2023
Australia and China pledged more support for the Pacific Islands against climate change, as the leaders of four nations debate declare the strategic region "neutral" as China and the US jostle for influence.
Can Pacific nations shame Aus govt into stronger action on fossil fuels?
24 Aug 2023
The Australian Climate and Energy Minister is in Fiji to “discuss strengthened cooperation on climate action”.
Carbon finance in Papua New Guinea: Scam, savior, or seed of potential?
23 Aug 2023
The Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea makes up just 1 percent of the world’s land mass but hosts almost 7 percent of its biodiversity.
Climate change impacts increase in South-West Pacific
21 Aug 2023
Weather-related disasters and climate change impacts are unravelling the fabric of society in the South-West Pacific.
Fighting, not sinking: The Pacific plea for Australian climate action
15 Aug 2023
As heat records tumble and the sea level rises, Fijians on the front lines of the Pacific climate crisis want Australia, and other global emitters, to do more of the heavy lifting.
When deep-sea miners come a-courting
7 Aug 2023
As the Cook Islands embraces the burgeoning industry, deep-sea mining companies are becoming part of the community’s day-to-day.
French leader goes green to woo pacific islands
31 Jul 2023
France's President Emmanuel Macron stripped off his suit jacket to wander the wild forests of Papua New Guinea on a green-tinted charm offensive in the South Pacific.
Understanding “loss and damage” from climate change across the Indo-Pacific
25 Jul 2023
A concept that will become ever more familiar – in the courts, too – with more action needed to avoid irreversible consequences of climate change.
Beekeeping in Solomon Islands to diversify incomes and fight climate change
11 Jul 2023
In a remote community in Malaita Province, Solomon Islands, 10,000 bees have recently taken up residence and local keepers-in-training are buzzing to get to work.
Nauru prepares to mine deep seas in big climate controversy
11 Jul 2023
Nauru sees rare earth metals as key to the green transition. But mining them could threaten vital marine ecosystems.
Pacific islands, in spotlight, to push climate change in South Korea summit
29 May 2023
Pacific Island leaders will meet South Korea's President in Seoul on Monday, their third summit in a week with a large economy as the region seeks stronger action on climate change.
Rich countries not doing enough says Pacific Island leaders
17 May 2023
Pacific Island leaders are criticizing rich countries for not doing enough to control climate change despite being responsible for much of the problem, and for profiting from loans provided to vulnerable nations to mitigate the effects.
Report highlights climate change danger to children's education in Pacific
24 Apr 2023
Like many mothers, Janet Iaticknu gets up in the morning and helps her children get ready for school.
Revisiting the Green Climate Fund in the Pacific
19 Apr 2023
Global climate funds have faced much criticism for failing to deliver fast and flexibly enough to match the urgency of the climate crisis, especially for the world’s most climate vulnerable countries.
'No one was prepared’: Vanuatu feels cost of climate crisis
19 Apr 2023
On the waterfront in Port Vila, Mark Philips runs an adventure tours business.
Pacific leaders call for a global end to coal, oil and gas
20 Mar 2023
Leaders of six Pacific nations are calling for a global phaseout of fossil fuels that is “fair, fast, and financed” and are making an ambitious plan for a fossil fuel free Pacific.
Vanuatu hit by successive climate crisis fuelled cyclones
6 Mar 2023
New Zealand is sending much-needed humanitarian supplies to Vanuatu after two destructive cyclones and an earthquake within two days have impacted nearly 80% of the population.
Vanuatu gathers support for UN climate justice statement
3 Mar 2023
More than 100 countries have backed a Pacific island’s attempt to seek accountability for the climate crisis at the world’s top court
Pacific countries urged to collaborate for climate-resilient future
27 Feb 2023
Fiji President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere has called on Pacific countries to work together and hold each other accountable to agreements made at the 2023 Early Childhood Development Forum.
Mosquito-borne diseases become climate reality in warming Pacific
23 Feb 2023
Climate change forecasters have warned for years that the warmer and wetter world created by the climate crisis will drive a surge in mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever.
South Pacific’s largest solar project officially launched in Tonga
8 Dec 2022
The South Pacific’s largest solar project was officially launched in Tonga yesterday.
Climate 'tragedy': Vanuatu to relocate 'dozens' of villages
2 Dec 2022
Vanuatu is drawing up plans to relocate "dozens" of villages within the next two years, as they come under threat from rising seas, the Pacific nation's climate chief told AFP Thursday.
Vanuatu publishes draft resolution seeking climate justice at UN court
1 Dec 2022
Vanuatu has published a draft UN resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on states’ legal obligation for climate action and the consequences of causing harm.
How to move a country: Fiji’s radical plan to escape rising sea levels
22 Nov 2022
The government of Fiji makes a daunting plan to move communities in villages that have been gravely affected by the harsh impacts of the climate crisis even though many are hesitant to leave their homes.
‘Teaching our children from books, not the sea’: how climate change is eroding human rights in Vanuatu
9 Nov 2022
There’s a lot at stake over the next fortnight as nations gather at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt. But the stakes are perhaps highest for the Pacific islands and their people.
Historic climate declaration in the Pacific
27 Oct 2022
Pacific Island countries have made history with the first ever community-led climate declaration in the region.
The climate crisis is making the pacific islands uninhabitable. Who will help preserve our Nations?
30 Sep 2022
The climate crisis is creating an increasingly uncertain future for people in most parts of the world. Paradoxically in the Pacific, it is making the future increasingly certain—but not in a way that gives any kind of comfort.
Pacific Island countries agree to strengthen coordination with China on climate change ahead of COP27
16 Sep 2022
China is willing to work with Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to make COP27 a conference themed on climate change action and will provide more support to PICs in tackling climate change, Chinese representatives said during the China-Pacific Island Countries dialogue and exchange meeting on climate change, which was held in Beijing on Wednesday.
US meeting told climate change is major concern for Pacific leaders
16 Sep 2022
Top leaders from across the Pacific are meeting in Honolulu to discuss key issues of mutual concern. Guam is being represented at the high level gathering by Lieutenant Governor Josh Tenorio, who says climate change and the potentially devastating impact on island nations is the biggest concern.
US commitment to Pacific island climate action far from ironclad: A Chinese view
16 Aug 2022
As US President Joe Biden is set to host leaders of Pacific island countries at the White House in September, island nations will be watching how seriously his administration takes their calls for help to combat climate change, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Sunday, citing analysts.
Close to 50 Fijian villages need relocation due to climate change
15 Aug 2022
An estimated 116 sea walls will need to be constructed to protect around 160 Fijian communities from the drastic effects of climate change.
Fijians forced from their ancestral lands by climate change want polluters to pay
8 Aug 2022
Boats moor next to living rooms on Fiji’s Serua Island, where high tide breaches the seawall and floods the village.
Hawaii gets its last shipment of coal, ever
2 Aug 2022
It’s the end of a dirty era in Hawaii. The state’s last-ever coal shipment arrived in Oahu on Wednesday, bound for the last remaining coal-fired power plant, which is due to shut down in September.
Olympic skier to represent Vanuatu in the fight against climate change
29 Jul 2022
Despite living in Utah, Jeanee Crane-Mauzy won’t wear the American flag on her uniform in the future. The skier will represent the island nation of Vanuatu in the 2026 Winter Olympics — and in the country’s fight against climate change.
COP26 President to visit Fiji to continue momentum on climate action
27 Jul 2022
COP President Alok Sharma is in Fiji to see the impacts of climate change in the Pacific region. He will highlight the urgency for the biggest emitters to take action now and deliver the promise of the Glasgow Climate Pact signed by almost 200 countries at COP26.
Hawaii says goodbye to coal, aloha to big batteries
19 Jul 2022
For most visitors, Hawaii is where you go to relax, honeymoon and get away from it all. For Hawaiians, it is home, with all its warts and blemishes including high prices – including electricity prices.
Government announces support for Pacific climate action
13 Jul 2022
The government has announced it will help fund a desalination plant in Kiribati and contribute $10 million to the conservation of Pacific crop seeds impacted by climate change.
Pacific Island Forum backs Vanuatu’s campaign for World Court climate case
12 Jul 2022
Foreign ministers attending the Pacific Island Forum in Fiji have endorsed Vanuatu’s call for a UN General Assembly resolution requesting the International Court of Justice hears a case on the responsibility of states to deal with climate change.
Voices from Vanuatu: life on the climate crisis frontline
6 Jul 2022
Vanuatu is at the front line of the fight against climate change. This low-lying chain of 80 islands strung across the ocean, with a population of just under 300,000, is the world’s most at-risk country for natural disasters, as measured by the UN World Risk Report 2021.
NZ agrees to help finance Samoa's climate goals
16 Jun 2022
New Zealand has agreed to help Samoa finance its climate goals, including its Nationally Determined Contribution, national climate adaptation plan, and a goal of 100% renewable energy generation by 2025.
Fiji says climate change, not conflict, is Asia's biggest security threat
13 Jun 2022
Fiji's defence minister said on Sunday that climate change posed the biggest security threat in the Asia-Pacific region, a shift in tone at a defence summit that has been dominated by the war in Ukraine and disputes between China and the United States.
‘We are in danger now’: Vanuatu declares climate emergency
30 May 2022
Vanuatu’s parliament has declared a climate emergency with the low-lying island nation’s prime minister flagging a $1.2bn cost to cushion global warming’s impacts on his tiny Pacific country.
Island states back Vanuatu’s quest for climate justice at the UN
25 May 2022
Pacific and Caribbean nations have joined Vanuatu in calling for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on countries’ legal obligations to protect people from climate harm.
Report highlights risk of climate-induced statelessness and nationality loss in the Pacific
18 May 2022
Kiribati-born Tiibea Baure moved to Australia in 2008 as a nursing student with a plan for her extended family's future.
Hawaii legislature calls for fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty
9 May 2022
Hawaii lawmakers put the state on the path to making history after the Legislature passed a resolution last week endorsing a document called the "Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty."
Vanuatu spearheads International Court of Justice climate claim
6 May 2022
The government of Vanuatu has assembled a coalition of more than 1500 civil society organisation from 130 countries to support its plans to take a climate change claim to the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Pacific community pleads for Australian climate action amid regional tension
2 May 2022
Former Pacific island leaders have called on Australia to take “credible and urgent actions on climate change” and criticised a lack of consultation with the region after Solomon Islands’ shock decision to sign a security pact with China.
Climate change looms large in US treaty talks in the Pacific
13 Apr 2022
At least one Pacific nation wants funding to help with climate change resiliency as the U.S. renegotiates three critical security treaties ahead of a looming deadline next year.
PNG suspends new carbon deals, scrambles to write rules for the schemes
6 Apr 2022
Papua New Guinea’s environment minister has imposed a moratorium on new voluntary carbon credit schemes to give the government time to create a regulatory framework for future and existing deals.
‘Foolish’ CSIRO job cuts will mean Australia unable to provide climate projections to global reports, scientists warn
Thu 21 May 2026
Job cuts at the national science agency mean Australia will no longer be able to submit climate projections to form part of global reports and will have significantly reduced ability to forecast future damage to the country, leading researchers have warned.
Trump distorts recent revisions of scientific projections of global warming
Thu 21 May 2026
President Donald Trump recently blasted the accuracy of global warming projections in a Truth Social post that itself painted a distorted view of the science, projections and how the international community discusses climate policy.
At least 21 killed as heavy rains drench southern, central China
Thu 21 May 2026
Torrential rain continued across southern and central China on Tuesday with at least 21 people killed in widespread flooding that also closed schools and businesses, and disrupted transport and power supplies, authorities said.
EU keeps carbon border tax unchanged despite fertiliser price crisis
Thu 21 May 2026
Fertiliser producers argue that the EU's carbon pricing rules at the border protect the European industry from cheaper imports produced under weaker environmental rules. But farmers fear they are indirectly paying the bill through higher fertiliser costs.
The UK faces growing climate threats – where is the response to match?
Tue 19 May 2026
COMMENT: UK voters’ dissatisfaction with business as usual must be harnessed to address public concerns and build a country that is resilient to climate change impacts.
Natural gas to play key role in strategy to double Canada’s electricity grid by 2050
Mon 18 May 2026
A new national strategy will double the capacity of the country’s electricity grid by 2050, Prime Minister Mark Carney said as he announced the plan last week.
While the world hesitates, India must continue leading on climate
14 May 2026
India’s updated climate targets must translate into systems that secure growth, resilience, and autonomy.
‘Triple whammy of climate chaos’: Why Antarctica's sea ice collapse is no longer a mystery
11 May 2026
Scientists have finally identified the ‘triple whammy’ behind Antarctica’s dramatic collapse, shedding new light on the chain reaction that has pushed its sea ice to record lows.
Africa secures major clean energy deals as France deepens investment push
15 May 2026
French and African leaders have announced more than $11 billion in renewable energy investments across Africa, underscoring the continent’s growing importance in the global push for cleaner energy and industrial development.
Amazon deforestation at eight-year low, report shows
Wed 20 May 2026
Despite a drop in the size of deforested areas, the number of wildfires in the region increased by more than 30 percent.
UN backs historic climate crisis ruling, despite US attempts to stop resolution
Fri 22 May 2026
The UN has voted 141-8 to adopt a resolution backing a world court opinion that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change, with the US – which is the world’s biggest historical emitter – among the small group opposing it.
