All articles
-
Yasa’s climate-charged 345 km/h winds cut a path of destruction through Fiji’s two major islands
SYDNEY, Dec 18 2020 – Tropical Cyclone Yasa struck with wind gusts up to 345 km/h overnight as it tore through Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, destroying homes and schools and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.Despite the high wind speeds, Yasa was downgraded to a strong Category 4 storm, the Fijian Government said…
-
Australia doesn’t make the cut of the Climate Ambition B-league
SYDNEY, Sunday 13 December 2020 – Global climate ambition is not enough and the world is still not on track to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets, delegates at this weekend’s Climate Ambition Summit have been warned – and Australia wasn’t even invited. “Even the B-league doesn’t want Australia. Australia’s natural advantages in wind and solar…
-
Pacific braces for the impacts of climate-fuelled disaster
As the world scrambles to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, Tropical Cyclone Harold struck Vanuatu overnight. The devastation of the category Five cyclone provides yet another unwelcome reminder that climate change remains the biggest threat facing the Pacific. Meteorological map of Cyclone Harold Earlier today the cyclone made landfall on Vanuatu’s largest island of Espiritu Santo,…
-
Pacific church leader tells Scott Morrison ‘each lump of coal is a nail in our coffins’
MADRID, Dec 9, 2019 – The General Secretary for the Pacific Conference of Churches has told Scott Morrison that the coal industry is killing the Pacific region. The General Secretary of the Pacific Council of Churches, Fijian clergyman and climate advocate Reverend James Bhagwan made the incendiary remarks on Day 8 of the COP25 climate conference…
-
Fiji among 10 nations most impacted by climate crisis in 2018 but all of Pacific faces devastation unless the world acts now
MADRID, Dec 5, 2019 – Climate change caused eight deaths and wiped $172 million from Fiji’s economy in 2018, according to a report by climate advocacy group Germanwatch.“It’s beyond doubt that climate change is exacerbating extreme weather events around the world but the impacts are particularly acute in the Pacific,” Nilesh Prakash, Head of Climate…
-
Pacific region can’t afford another climate groundhog day
As world leaders gather in Madrid this week for the COP25 UN Climate Change conference, we find ourselves at a critical moment in the climate emergency, writes Joseph Moeono-Kolio, Head of Greenpeace Pacific. Pacific Island Represent! activists joined community members in Navutulevu Village on the Coral Coast to raise awareness about climate change, and plant…
-
Fijian PM hits back at Morrison’s UN speech, saying there is ‘no alternative’ to a coal phaseout
NEW YORK, Sept 26, 2019 – The only credible way to address the climate crisis is to end the use of coal, Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama tweeted moments after Scott Morrison defended Australia’s climate inaction at the UN General Assembly. “Unless we stop burning coal, we have no hope of achieving net-zero emissions in 31…
-
Pacific rebukes Australian obstruction at regional meeting, warns ‘watered-down climate language has real consequences’
SYDNEY, Aug 16, 2019 – The Morrison Government has single-handedly bullied regional leaders into accepting a weakened Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) communique that removes all mentions of coal, and reportedly removes calls for urgent climate action, after 12 hours of debate that finished last night.Tuvalu prime minister and forum chair Enele Sopoaga described the marathon…
-
Morrison defies Pacific ‘family’, seeks to remove Australian coal phase-out from Pacific Islands Forum communique
SYDNEY, Aug 14, 2019 – Australia is poised to become “the pariah of the Pacific” after Australian officials told regional leaders that the Morrison Government would not sign onto any joint declaration that mentioned phasing out coal.Earlier today the PM arrived at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Tuvalu, where the heads of island nations…
-
$500m accounting trick: Morrison ignores Pacific calls to cut coal, promises funds for disaster resilience
SYDNEY, 13 Aug 2019 – Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced $500 million will be diverted from the Pacific aid budget to help nations invest in disaster resilience, after regional leaders called on Australia to “do everything possible to achieve a rapid transition from coal to energy sources that do not contribute to climate change”.The…