Category: Pacific

Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo | Papua New Guinea’s rare cloud forests are a high elevation rainforest characterised by low-level cloud cover (14 June 2011).  The tree kangaroo which is only found in the rainforests of Australia, West Papua, and PNG is threatened due to hunting and habitat destruction. But now the local and indigenous people of PNG, who typically hunted the… Read More

“Over the past week, I have witnessed first-hand the impacts of climate change in the Pacific Island States”, the UN chief said in a statement concluding his visit to the region. “They contribute very little to the global climate emergency and yet, they are the ones that are being most affected”.   He did not mince words in saying that… Read More

“We must stop Tuvalu from sinking and the world from sinking with Tuvalu”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a tweet posted during his on-going trip to the South Pacific. Pointing out that Tuvalu is “on the extreme frontlines of the global climate emergency”, he noted that “rising seas threaten to drown this island nation – a sign of what’s in… Read More

Mr. Guterres was greeted on board the Uto ni Yalo, a traditional emission-free ship built as part of a naval fleet that combines the ancient craft of Pacific shipbuilding with modern materials and green technology. “As Secretary-General, I have many battles”, the UN chief tweeted. “As a grandfather, the battle against climate change is the battle of my life” adding “it’s… Read More

“Fiji has taken on the sceptics and the deniers” in a loud and clear voice, he said, “and the world is listening”. The Secretary-General outlined that Fiji was the first small island State to preside over the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and in 2017, became the first emerging market to issue a sovereign “green bond”, dedicated to… Read More

“The Pacific region is on the frontline of climate change”, he said. “That means you are also our important allies in the fight against it”. The UN chief said that he was there “to see the region’s climate pressures firsthand, and to learn about the work being undertaken by communities here in Fiji and elsewhere to bolster resilience”. Noting that… Read More

Myanmar has not done enough to resolve the nation’s internal-conflicts or protect human rights, including those of over a million ethnic Rohingya civilians who have been forced into exile, according to FFM Chairperson Marzuki Darusman. “There has been no movement toward a resolution of the crisis”, Mr. Darusman said after a 10-day visit to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. “The… Read More

In retaliation for the deadly violence on Easter Sunday, against Christians churches and upscale hotels in various parts of the country that left more than 200 people dead and hundreds of others injured, revenge attacks reportedly took place against mosques and Muslims’ homes on Monday. To be a Sri Lankan is to be a Buddhist, to be Hindu, to be… Read More

Mr. Guterres pointed out that he normally pays a “solidarity visit” to a Muslim country during Ramadan but, this year, he decided to visit the Muslim community in Christchurch, “to pay tribute to their courage, to their resilience, but also to pay tribute to the extraordinary unity and to the message of solidarity that was given by the people and… Read More

Simona Marinescu is the UN Resident Coordinator for the 28 islands that make up Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau. Speaking to UN News ahead of the Secretary-General’s visit, she described some of the issues facing the region, including how to get young people to gain more schooling and skills to get or start their own businesses on the islands… Read More