International: Pacific
Rising tides lap at the Pacific's dome of poison
29 Nov 2017
Rising seas caused by climate change are seeping inside a United States nuclear waste dump on a remote and low-lying Pacific atoll.
It's not a done deal, low-lying islands can shape a future
20 Nov 2017
While the plight of low-lying Pacific islands should not be ignored, it is just as damaging to assume that their fate is already sealed.
Fiji told it must spend billions to adapt to climate change
13 Nov 2017
Fiji must spend an amount equivalent to its entire yearly gross domestic product over the next 10 years to counter the challenges of a changing climate.
Risk growing for Pacific islands, says study
10 Nov 2017
Many nations have become less vulnerable to natural disasters ranging from cyclones to earthquakes because of improved preparedness, but Pacific island states remain most at risk, a new study shows.
LOST LANDS: Rising seas washed away Pacific history
9 Nov 2017
The story of the now-vanished Micronesian island of Nahlapenlohd holds some valuable lessons about recent climate change in the western Pacific.
Pacific Islanders call on Australia not to fund Adani
2 Nov 2017
Pacific Islanders whose homes face eradication by rising sea levels have called on Australia to not fund the Adani Carmichael coalmine, as a new report reveals the worsening impact of climate change across Oceania.
KIRIBATI CRISIS: A long time waiting for the tide to turn
25 Oct 2017
The 33 islands of Kiribati are under threat from climate change. But the islanders have not given up hope.
NOT GUILTY: Easter Island falsely blamed for own demise
16 Oct 2017
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has become the ultimate parable for humankind’s selfishness; a moral tale of the dangers of environmental destruction. But new research paints a very different picture.
Ministry denies cutting climate aid to Pacific
9 Oct 2017
New Zealand is denying an accusation that it is cutting its climate aid to the Pacific.
Tsunami wreckage serves as liferafts for invasive species
3 Oct 2017
Hundreds of species were carried across the Pacific to North America by debris — estimated to weigh a total of nearly 1.5 million tonnes — that was swept out to sea after the 2011 Japan earthquake.
VIVA VIKA: Giant rat lives in trees and eats coconuts
29 Sep 2017
A fabled giant rat known as the vika is the first new Solomon Islands rodent to be described in more than 80 years.
Easter Island becomes one of world's largest marine parks
11 Sep 2017
One of the world’s largest marine protection areas has been created off the coast of Easter Island.
Tributes pour in for islands' climate hero Tony de Brum
24 Aug 2017
Friends and colleagues remember Tony de Brum as a fighter for nuclear justice and a safe climate future, after his death in Majuro aged 72.
Islands need better data to manage climate losses
22 Aug 2017
In the Pacific and the Caribbean, island nations are already hit by climate change, but lack tools to measure the damage for leverage in international negotiations.
Australia just doesn’t get Pacific Islands' challenges
10 Aug 2017
Australia can help Pacific Island communities in a much wider range of ways than simply responding to disasters such as tropical cyclones.
There are ways we can save island nations from rising seas
28 Jul 2017
As sea levels rise, many island states could soon be annihilated and their residents forced to flee, rendering extinct their societies.
Fiji COP presidency must not fail climate victims
20 Jul 2017
Despite warm words about protecting the vulnerable, the island presidency of this year’s UN climate talks is showing no urgency on “loss and damage”.
Rising seas threaten scores of Pacific species with extinction
19 Jul 2017
The Chuuk flying fox. The Black-spotted Cuscus. The Fijian crested iguana. The Mariana skink. The greater monkey-faced bat. Poncelet’s giant rat. They live on islands in the Pacific and they are facing extinction.
How a shipping firm took control of a country’s UN mission
7 Jul 2017
How the climate-threatened Marshall Islands came to be represented at UN shipping talks by a private company based in Virginia, 11,000km away.
Pacific nations push for Paris pact commitments
6 Jul 2017
A commitment by rich nations to the Paris Agreement and an end to fossil-fuel development were the two major issues to come out of a pan-Pacific climate meeting in Fiji this week.
Open your doors to climate refugees, Fiji tells US
4 Jul 2017
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has called on the US to open its borders and offer a permanent home to the people of the Marshall Islands threatened by rising seas.
Paris agreement only way to save coral reefs
28 Jun 2017
Greater emissions reductions and delivering on the Paris climate agreement are now “the only opportunity” to save coral reefs the world over from decline.
US exiting climate pact will hurt small islands
26 Jun 2017
To small island nations where the land juts just above the rising seas, the US pulling out of the Paris global warming pact makes the future seem as fragile and built on hope as a sand castle.
Coral reefs hold the history of the seas
21 Jun 2017
Much like tree rings, coral reefs can tell stories about how environmental conditions have changed over time.
NZ gives Fiji million-dollar handout for UN talks
22 May 2017
New Zealand is giving Fiji $1.3 million and the services of our top climate ambassador to help to chair international climate negotiations later this year.
Is Pacific climate message missing the God factor?
18 May 2017
Well-meaning nations who find their Pacific aid projects don't work out might find the reason, in part, is the sidelining of God.
38 million pieces of plastic waste found on Pacific island
17 May 2017
Henderson Island, part of the Pitcairn group, is covered by 18 tonnes of plastic – the highest density of anthropogenic debris recorded anywhere in the world
OPINION: We must plan for climate refugees
10 May 2017
What will New Zealand do when 12,000 climate refugees from Tuvalu arrive on its doorstep?
Global warming could speed up if the Pacific Ocean gets cranky
10 May 2017
Conditions in the Pacific Ocean over the coming decades will determine how fast we get to 1.5deg global warming.
World Bank presses NZ on climate refugees
9 May 2017
The World Bank says New Zealand should accept more migrants from the Pacific to pre-empt a flood of climate refugees.
Whales could help to save Pacific from carbon pollution
13 Apr 2017
If conservation efforts pay off, whales could help Pacific islands to meet their emissions reductions targets.
Tonga and ADB launch climate change fund
1 Mar 2017
The Tongan government and the Asian Development Bank have launched the island group's first climate change trust fund.
Look what they found 5000m down on the Pacific seafloor
14 Feb 2017
Scientists have discovered “extraordinary” levels of toxic pollution in the most remote and inaccessible place on the planet – the 10km deep Mariana trench in the Pacific.
How climate change plays havoc with Pacific weather
10 Feb 2017
Global warming has already increased the risk of major disruptions to Pacific rainfall, according to new research by Australian scientists.
PACIFIC PROBLEM: Carbon cuts will not settle seas
24 Jan 2017
Even supposing the world does make dramatic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, the fate of the small island states remains uncertain.
Come see Pacific for yourself, MP tells Trump
21 Dec 2016
A New Zealand MP is challenging United States president-elect Donald Trump to come to the Pacific and see the impacts of climate change for himself.
Green Climate Fund gives millions to help Pacific
19 Dec 2016
The Green Climate Fund board has approved eight funding proposals worth $US315 million ($NZ452m) at a meeting in Samoa.
Dear Green Climate Fund, Samoa needs you
13 Dec 2016
The board of the Green Climate Fund this week is meeting in the Samoan capital Apia. Here, the country’s ambassador to the UN outlines his hopes.
Fiji turns beauty queen into climate queen
7 Dec 2016
Miss Pacific Islands 2016, 23-year-old law graduate Anne Dunn, has been appointed Fiji’s ambassador for climate change and the environment.
Tesla powers entire Pacific island using solar energy
25 Nov 2016
American automaker and energy storage company Tesla Motors has powered the Pacific island Ta’u almost entirely from solar energy.
Japan backs Apia climate change centre
28 Oct 2016
A Pacific Climate Change Centre, jointly funded by the Governments of Japan and Samoa as well as the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program, will be based in Apia.
Asia and Pacific must spearhead climate fight
13 Sep 2016
Asia and the Pacific has been rocked by intense and unstable weather, bringing into even greater focus the need to build resilience against climate change.
We're on the wrong tack in Pacific, says report
7 Sep 2016
New Zealand’s policy of helping Pacific nations to prepare for the impacts of climate change by financing renewable energy projects is under fire.
Cook Islands quietly does the climate business
5 Sep 2016
Three countries have just ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change – China, the United States and the Cook Islands.
Islands fail to agree on plan to protect tuna
5 Sep 2016
Pacific island states have failed to strike a deal to protect shrinking supplies of tuna and adopt cutbacks following a regional conference, officials said, sparking condemnation from conservationists.
How NZ could plug loophole in climate refugee law
31 Aug 2016
New Zealand is being urged to form bilateral arrangements with its Pacific neighbours to take climate refugees until a hole in international law is plugged.
Bennett: We can look after the Pacific
9 Aug 2016
The climate change minister says New Zealand’s post-2020 emissions reduction target is sufficient to help to protect Pacific nations from the impacts of climate change.
Fiji to spend millions on coastline protection
3 Aug 2016
THE World Bank says Fiji will spend close to $700 million by 2040 on climate change adaptation projects for the protection of coastline communities.
Can Nauru bounce back from mining boom and bust?
18 Jul 2016
When most of us hear of Nauru we tend to think of immigration detention, or perhaps of the environmentally ruinous legacy of the island nation’s ill-fated phosphate mining boom.
PACIFIC PLEA: NZ should join island nations' fight
15 Jul 2016
New Zealand should join forces with its island neighbours preparing to take bold action against fossil fuel producers, says Labour’s Pacific climate change spokesman.
Warmer seas fuel dangerous ‘weather bomb’ in New South Wales
3 Jul 2025
If the storm shapes up as predicted, we can expect to see damage to houses and trees as well as significant beach erosion – especially in heavily populated areas exposed to the storm’s southern flank.
How Mamdani connects climate policy to his affordability agenda as he runs for New York mayor
Fri 11 Jul 2025
Many of the democratic socialist’s policies aim to slash carbon emissions and boost environmental justice.
EU wants to see China take more ambitious climate action
Today 11:45am
The world needs China to show more leadership on climate action, highlighting the importance of cutting planet-heating emissions and reducing the Chinese economy's reliance on coal.
How heatwaves and soaring temperatures are changing tourism across Europe
Today 11:45am
With unbearable heat and a worsening climate crisis becoming the norm, could the yearly summer holiday be a thing of the past?
HSBC becomes first UK bank to quit industry’s net zero alliance
Today 11:45am
Campaigners condemn ‘troubling’ move that follows departure of six of largest US banks after Trump’s election.
Is Mark Carney turning his back on climate action?
23 Jun 2025
The G7 summit in Alberta, hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has ended with only passing mention of fighting climate change, including a statement on wildfires that is silent on the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Urbanization is intensifying India’s summer heat and rain
Fri 11 Jul 2025
When 28-year-old Sonelal Prasad left home on the morning of June 16 for his job at a construction site in Mumbai—the financial capital of India—he didn’t know he’d be digging his own grave.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
Fri 11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
Africa is not a solar geoengineering test site
8 Jul 2025
This potentially dangerous course of action would divert financing and support from real solutions, while putting the continent’s ecosystems and communities at risk.
Over 90 arrests made in global crackdown on environmental crime in the Amazon Basin
Mon 14 Jul 2025
Assets worth over $64 million were seized and 94 people arrested as part of a multinational law enforcement operation targeting environmental crime in the Amazon Basin.
UN Human Rights Council fails to call out fossil fuels after decision cuts mention
Fri 11 Jul 2025
A proposal by the Marshall Islands and Colombia calling for a transition away from fossil fuels at the UN Human Rights Council failed to make it into the council’s declaration on climate change and human rights issued on Tuesday.
