Describing climate change as one of the greatest threats to their survival, leaders of the sinking countries in the Pacific region urged the international community at the 25th Conference of Parties (COP25) to urgently act and avert climate crisis. “ We are clearly on the frontline of climate change. They are realities for countries in […]
Category: Samoa
New Ministry planned for climate response in Samoa
The Government of Samoa is in the process of planning to establish a new Climate Change Ministry to deal specifically with the challenges of adapting to global warming. Discussions for the new Ministry’s creation were confirmed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Chief Executive Officer, Ulu Bismarck Crawley, one the sidelines of […]
Pacific lead in Waste Management
The Pacific region is the focus of cooperative waste management projects, including innovative recycling programmes, which are beginning to resolve long-standing waste problems in the region. This was revealed byKenichiro Koiwa of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Environmental Management Group during a presentation to journalists at the JICA Head Office in Tokyo Monday. The […]
Not just climate but legal challenges looming
Samoa Supreme Court Justice Vui Clarence Nelson is looking ahead to a future when climate change starts to pose legal challenges, not just environmental ones. While groups of children take entire countries to task over climate change inaction, and students are turning to the International Court of Justice over climate change and human rights, here […]
‘We need support’: Pacific Islands seek help and unity to fight climate change
In recent weeks, children marched, nations made promises and teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg scolded world leaders for “failing us.” But while one of the groups most vulnerable to climate change, the Pacific Islands, may have received fewer headlines, it was among those making the strongest calls for action. Pacific Island government officials in New […]
Reports on gender participation in agriculture launched
Reports on country gender assessments of agriculture and the rural sector for Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu have been launched in Samoa. The reports were compiled by the Pacific Community(SPC) in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), and strives to improve understanding of gender perspectives of agriculture and […]
Climate crisis not science debate anymore: Kiribati civil servant
Kiribati’s shores are eroding and they are tired of world leaders denying their responsibility for the climate crisis. Terieta Mwenwenikeaki, the small island’s Permanent Secretary for Women, Youth Sport and Social Development is in Samoa for the Pacific Games, and said the climate crisis is no longer a purely scientific discussion. “It has become part […]
Samoa conference inspires action on boosting small states’ resilience to disasters
APIA, Samoa (April 25, 2019) — Samoa faced huge flooding in 2018 after torrential rain fell overnight, leaving a trail of destruction, 330 people evacuated and US$10 million of infrastructural damage. The lessons learned from this experience made Samoa a suitable location to host the fifth Commonwealth Global Biennial Conference on Small States under the […]
EJN hosts first climate change journalism training for Vanuatu reporters
Over 20 Journalists from media organizations across Vanuatu today took part in the Pacific GeoJournalism Training on Climate Change.
Savai’i resort operator concerned about climate change effects on tourism
Resort operators like Leota Lu on Savai’i Island in Samoa have over the years observed parts of the beaches disappear into the ocean. According to Lu, he has not seen anything like this in his 30 years of operating the Vacations Beach Fales in Itu o Tane district. “It’s so strong and the tides continue […]