Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.

1 in 3 Tuvaluans Applies for a New ‘Climate Visa’ to Australia
In just four days, one-third of the population of Tuvalu entered a ballot for a new permanent visa to Australia. This world-first visa will enable up to 280 Tuvaluans to move permanently to Australia each year, from a current population of about...

Climate crisis and cash crunch: 10 countries at breaking point by 2050
A new index from Columbia Climate School reveals the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries by 2050. Many face rising disaster risks and shrinking access to finance, trapping them in a cycle of crisis and recovery. A new index called the Climate...

Our voyage to Statehood, 60 years on: understanding the nature and practice of free-association as we reflect on our development journey
Prime Minister Mark Brown. SUPPLIED. This year, the Cook Islands marks 60 years of self-governance, an historic milestone in our voyage to statehood, by Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. In 1965, our people chose to shape our own...

1 in 3 Tuvaluans is bidding for a new ‘climate visa’ to Australia – here’s why everyone may ultimately end up applying
In just four days, one-third of the population of Tuvalu entered a ballot for a new permanent visa to Australia. This world-first visa will enable up to 280 Tuvaluans to move permanently to Australia each year, from a current population of about...

Nearly a third of Tuvaluans have applied for climate migration visa
Tuvalu is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images How does it feel to lose your home to climate change? The roughly 10,000 residents of Tuvalu will be among the first in the world to have to confront this question....

Global Climate Risk Index Ranks 188 Countries by Vulnerability and Access to Finance
The Climate Finance Vulnerability Index ranks 188 countries according to both their vulnerability to hazards and their financial resilience. Researchers at the Columbia Climate School, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, have unveiled a...

Tjibaou on New Caledonia talks in Paris: “We want to resolve this now”
Koror, Palau-It’s been two weeks since the curtains fell on the third UN Ocean Conference. At this largest ever ocean summit, the Pacific voice echoed as a collective, calling for more global ocean accountability, and offering transformational...

New Index Ranks Vulnerabilities of 188 Nations to Climate Shocks
Columbia Climate School identifies 65 ‘Red Zone’ nations across four separate climate scenarios. 43 nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, eight in Latin America and the Caribbean, six in Asia-Pacific, six in the Middle East, and two in Europe are most...

Decades of climate uncertainty: Cook Islands grower speaks
After more than 30 years of farming on her Takuvaine plantation, Jean Tekura Mason says climate change has disrupted everything she understood about farming. “I’ve been a planter, gardener for over 30 years basically and what I’ve noticed over...

Climate change made May’s Arctic heatwave 3C hotter, scientists say
“People often think of countries like India, Italy and the US when we talk about climate change and heatwaves,” says Dr Sarah Kew, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. But, as a new study from the World Weather Attribution...

Micronesian Summit in Majuro this week
Flags from most of the Micronesian islands participating in the regional summit this week fly outside the International Conference Center in Majuro on Monday. Photo by Giff Johnson MAJURO — The Micronesian Islands Forum cranks up with officials...

Pacific Leaders Rally For Climate-Resilient Fisheries At Third UN Ocean Conference
NICE, FRANCE, 11 JUNE 2025 – Pacific leaders have issued a unified call for urgent global action to protect the world’s largest tuna production region from the accelerating impacts of climate change. This message was reinforced at the 3rd UN...

Where marine biodiversity thrives, less fish feeds more people
Protecting fish biodiversity is a win-win solution for human nutrition and sustainable fisheries, finds a new study. The research, published in Nature Sustainability, unearthed some interesting findings including that biodiverse fisheries tend to...

Historic OFC debut for Kiribati
Kiribati will take part in its first ever OFC Forum in Fiji later this month. The news was announced earlier this week in a press release, and is made possible by a partnership between the brands Young Pioneer Tours, Unchartered Football, Stingz,...

Pacific leaders rally for Climate-Resilient Fisheries at UN Ocean Conference
Pacific leaders have issued a unified call for urgent global action to protect the world’s largest tuna production region from the accelerating impacts of climate change. This message was reinforced at the 3rd UN Oceans Conference in Nice, France...

'No community is immune to climate change impact:' Tuvalu's prime minister calls for global action on sea-level rise
A 16-year-old child swims in the flooded area of Aberao village in Kiribati. The Pacific island is one of the countries worst affected by sea-level rise. Photo courtesy of UNICEF By Pacific Island Times News Staff Feleti P. Teo, Tuvalu’s prime...

Pacific frameworks key to managing climate displacement
Sakiasi Ditoka [Source: Pacific Islands Forum/ Facebook] Minister for Rural and Maritime Development, Sakiasi Ditoka, has emphasized the Pacific’s leadership in addressing disaster and climate-related displacement. Speaking during a high-level...

COP31: an opportunity to widen climate conversations to include cultural and heritage protection
If Adelaide is selected to host COP31, it will be an opportunity to centre the lived experience of climate breakdown, which is evident across South Australia, according to the authors below. “Climate change is not only a scientific and technical...

PACIFIC JOURNOS MEET CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL, PRAISE CHINA
Beijing, China – SIX Pacific Islands journalists met with the Director of the Pacific Island Division, Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Chinese Ministry on Foreign Affairs, Gu Xinqiang in Beijing and exchanged views within...

Building strong fiscal foundations
By Ibrahim Chowdhury, Anders Hjorth Agerskov, Ekaterine T. Vashakmadze, Christopher Wong SYDNEY/WASHINGTON, 24 JUNE 2025 (WORLD BANK) —In January 2022, the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted, causing a tsunami that devastated...