Pacific Islands

Kiribati will next week host a summit that will also involve the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, the Maldives, Tokelau and others, brought together under the aegis of the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation.

The Kiribati Government says the 'High Level Meeting on Climate Induced Migration' is about the countries affected taking action.

The Kiribati Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Akka Rimon, says sea level rise is happening and becoming more severe, and the atoll states want to ensure climate induced migrants are catered for in a dignified way.

This comes after up to six months of well below normal rainfall had been received.

The forecast from New Zealand's NIWA and the Pacific Islands Meteorological Services says in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, after three months of very dry conditions, below normal rainfall can be expected through to the end of the year.

The project will also help the countries manage and integrate various renewable energy sources into existing power systems.

Pacific Island countries have some of the world’s highest electricity prices, and each country spends as much as 25 percent of their gross domestic product to import petroleum in order to provide essential services.

The development agenda replacement for the Pacific Plan was endorsed in July last year and featured for the first time at the leaders summit in Papua New Guinea earlier this month.

The ANU's visiting fellow, Tess Newton Cain, says while the leaders succeeded in narrowing their focus to a handful of major issues facing the region, there is still a need for more transparency around processes and more inclusion in the discussions.

Statistics New Zealand has released its latest population projections which indicate overall trends.

The Pacific population is expected to make up 11 percent of the total population in 2038 compared with eight percent in 2013.

Much of the population will be based in Auckland and will increase its presence there by three percent to comprise 18 percent of the city's population in 2038.

The South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) conducted six in-country consultations through workshops and stakeholder discussions at a national level to seek valuable feedback from the private and public sector to develop the PCTDS. 

The workshops focused on examining and evaluating key elements that were proposed during the Pacific Cruise Development workshop that was held in Melbourne in June this year. Stakeholders also discussed the best options to adopt in the strategy, keeping in mind the various action steps proposed to put each element into effect.

Stakeholders from all over the world are in Fiji this week to talk about the challenges facing the Pacific Tuna Industry.

The Chief Executive of the Pacific Tuna Industry Association, Tima Tepou says having all stakeholders at the same table has resulted in frank discussions on what different parties want for the future of the industry.

Steve Ciobo, who last week was the parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs under the previous prime minister Tony Abbott, has been sworn in as Australia's Minister for International Development and the Pacific.

"This new position really reflects and really does underscore the Government's renewed focus on the Pacific, the importance of the Pacific, the value that we place on our international development, and of course our very strong desire to continue building a strong relationship with our near South Pacific neighbours," Ciobo told Pacific Beat.

According to a multi-agency study published today in Nature Geoscience: "This study significantly advances the scientific knowledge of the impacts of El Niño and La Niña," said Patrick Barnard, USGS coastal geologist and the lead author of the study. "Understanding the effects of severe storms fueled by El Niño or La Niña helps coastal managers prepare communities for the expected erosion and flooding associated with this climate cycle."

One senior business executive was at Auckland Airport on his way to the World Conference – preparing to advocate the merits of disaster resilience to his fellow executives – when news of the disaster prompted him to ditch his talking points, switch his ticket, and dash to guide his company’s recovery on the ground in Vanuatu.

Within 48 hours, instead of speaking to delegates in Sendai, the Chairman of the Board of Directors Digicel Samoa, Pepe Christian Fruean, was in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila as part of the telecommunications company’s emergency deployment.