PACNEWS ONE, 23 OCTOBER 2026

PACIFIC – CLIMATE CHANGE: PACNEWS      PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

1.5 °C overshoot means irreversible Pacific losses

SUVA, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— The Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN) has warned that current global climate policies could drive temperatures up by 2.8°C this century, putting Pacific communities at greater risk of irreversible losses.

Responding to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2026: The Point of Return, PICAN says governments must urgently cut emissions rather than rely on uncertain future technologies to bring temperatures back down.

“Every fraction of a degree above 1.5°C carries consequences for our islands, our oceans and our people.

“Overshoot will bring irreversible losses, and no promise to bring temperatures back down decades from now can guarantee that what has been lost will ever be restored, PICAN director Dr Rufino Varea said.

The UNEP report warns that current policies could lead to 2.8°C of warming by the end of the century. Even if countries fully implement their existing climate pledges, temperatures are projected to rise by about 2.6°C.

To keep a 1.5°C limit within reach after a temporary overshoot, global greenhouse gas emissions would need to fall by 18 percent by 2030 and 45 percent by 2035, compared with 2025 levels.

Under the lowest-overshoot pathway, temperatures could peak at 1.7°C to 1.8°C around mid-century before declining.

Varea warned that the prospect of exceeding 1.5°C must not become an excuse for governments to delay action.

“The growing likelihood of overshoot must never become political permission for delayed action.

“Governments cannot continue expanding fossil fuel production while expecting future technologies to reverse the damage. For the Pacific, 1.5°C remains our survival threshold,” he said.

The report estimates that returning temperatures to 1.5°C by the end of the century could require removing about 320 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, the feasibility of removing carbon at that scale remains uncertain, and some climate impacts may be irreversible.

PICAN international policy lead Dr Sindra Sharma said Pacific communities could not depend on future carbon-removal technologies to make up for inadequate emissions cuts today.

“We cannot gamble the future of Pacific peoples on speculative promises of future carbon removal,”

“The solutions to cut emissions already exist. What remains missing is the political will to deliver them at the speed and scale required,” Dr Sharma said.

Dr Sharma said COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, must address the gap between climate science and government action.

She called for an end to fossil fuel expansion, a just and equitable transition to cleaner energy, and increased climate finance for developing countries.

Dr Sharma also urged governments to ensure the latest assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change inform the second Global Stocktake, so international decisions reflect the best available science.

PICAN said it would take these demands to COP31, guided by its Pacific Climate Justice Demands and five red lines for climate justice….PACNEWS

PACIFIC – BIODIVERSITY MEET: SPREP            PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

Connecting climate change and Pacific biodiversity at the CBD COP17

YEREVAN, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (SPREP)— Pacific Islands are negotiating to ensure “Sea-Level Rise” remains in the preamble of the outcomes for the Seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) now underway in Yerevan, Armenia.

Over 195 governments have united to negotiate a way forward to ensure the world progresses its commitments to meet the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), this is the first assessment review since the GBF came into being two years ago. Overall the GBF aims to reverse, and halt, the loss of biodiversity – all living things including genetic organisms.

“For Small Islands States, sea level rise is a critical issue and it impacts biodiversity,” said Ambassador Ian Fry of the Tuvalu delegation.

“We have major programs underway on sea level rise, there is also the UN General Assembly Declaration on Sea Level Rise so we want to have this work reflected in the Biodiversity Convention as well.”

For the Pacific Islands, climate change is its single greatest threat to our security, this was further compounded in the Taku Pakasoa Declaration stemming from the pre-COP31 hosted in Fiji in October. 

The Taku Pakasoa commitment to elevate the Climate-Ocean Nexus recognises “the accelerating crises of ocean warming, acidification, sea-level rise, including from the loss of glaciers and ice sheets, and that marine biodiversity loss requires collective action to effectively safeguard the resilience of our ocean as the planet’s primary climate regulator, largest active carbon sink, and engine of global food security and weather stability.”

“We made the request to have sea level rise inserted in the text which was agreed by the co-chairs and we thought we were so close, however Parties added other text and we never resolved this issue,” said Ambassador Fry.

“We were so close to having an agreement on this preamble, but it fell apart. It’s now up to the Chair to interpret what text remains and what is removed.”

Connecting the Ocean-Climate Nexus dialogues to the work undertaken within the GBF is also what the Pacific is striving for.

As Large Ocean Island States living in the world’s biggest ocean – ensuring the ocean and its biodiversity is protected against climate change is crucial. Work to make this happen across the different multi-lateral environment agreements is a significant task for the Pacific Small Islands Developing States.

Dr Sivendra Michael, Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change, serves as the co-facilitator and co-chair of the UNFCCC Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue for 2026, alongside  Ulrik Lenaerts of Belgium.

Presenting during a special event held at the CBD COP17 Dr Michael confirmed all Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat were analysed for which 77 percent mentioned ocean as a precursor within national adaptation and mitigation measures.  Of that, 86 percent mentioned ocean as a key critical target which aligns to the GBF.

Target 3 of the GBF known as 30 x 30 aims to protect and effectively manage at least 30% of Earth’s land, inland waters, and coastal and marine areas by 2030.

“We no longer need to talk about ambition in either of these spaces – the CBD or the UNFCCC, as we all have ambition. What we need now is to match this ambition with means of implementation and that must be a package,” stated Dr Michael.

“This can include capacity building, technology transfer, financial resources – we need this thinking now. We all have the ambition; our national policies have this ambition – we need to leverage further support to deliver on this ambition.”

The CBD COP17 negotiations are continuing this week in Yerevan, Armenia upon which the Pacific Islands are working together to ensure the outcomes reflect the needs of our region. The discussions on Biodiversity and Climate Change also call for protection for Coral Reefs and the naming of coral reef and blue carbon ecosystems.

CBD COP17 is held from 19 to 30 October 2026…PACNEWS

PAC – NUKE LEGACY: PACNEWS                  PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

Pacific nuclear legacy taskforce reviews contamination report

SUVA, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Pacific regional organisations are reviewing next steps on nuclear contamination and preparations for the 40th anniversary of the Rarotonga Treaty, as the region continues to address the long-term legacy of nuclear testing.

The seventh meeting of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) Taskforce on Nuclear Legacy Issues was held at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva, with members discussing nuclear developments and preparations for the second Meeting of States Parties to the Rarotonga Treaty in December.

The meeting was chaired by Marshall Islands Ambassador to Fiji and the Pacific Islands, Junior Aini.

Members also considered the final report of the Preliminary Independent Review on Nuclear Contamination in the Pacific and discussed next steps following its findings.

The December meeting will coincide with the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Rarotonga Treaty’s entry into force. The treaty establishes a South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone.

The taskforce received an update on the Marshall Islands’ signing of the treaty, through Foreign Minister Kalani Kaneko, on the margins of the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in August 2026.

Members were also briefed on the launch of the Pacific edition of the Youth Leader Fund for a World without Nuclear Weapons, an initiative focused on youth engagement in nuclear disarmament.

The meeting forms part of ongoing regional efforts to address nuclear legacy issues, strengthen cooperation and advance discussions on contamination and the effects of nuclear testing in the Pacific….PACNEWS

VAN – DIPLOMACY/POLICE: PACNEWS        PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

Vanuatu reject claim China Police will be phased out

PORT VILA, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Vanuatu has rejected reports suggesting it plans to phase out Chinese police advisers, saying no decision has been made to end the support of any international partner.

Minister of Internal Affairs responsible for the Vanuatu Police Force, Andrew Napuat, said the Government’s long-term goal was to develop a police force capable of operating independently, but any future withdrawal of foreign advisers would apply to all partners, not one country.

“We are not in a position to phase out any partner as reported,” Napuat said in a statement responding to recent Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reporting.

He said Vanuatu was still building its policing capacity and remained grateful for assistance from its international partners.

“This decision is not about targeting a particular partner,” Napuat said.

“As part of that long-term national development, Vanuatu will slowly phase out all advisors and be able to run its own force.”

Napuat said the process would be determined by Vanuatu as a nation and would not be driven by time-based conditions or requirements in agreements with individual partners.

“We will not phase out any partner due to the conditions in any agreement,” he said.

The minister said the Government would decide when the country was ready to reduce foreign police advisory support, with any changes applying across all partners.

He rejected the implication that China or any other country was being singled out, saying Vanuatu would maintain its longstanding policy of working with all partners without taking sides.

Napuat referred to Prime Minister Jotham Napat’s position following the signing of the Nakamal Agreement, which reaffirmed Vanuatu’s approach of being “a friend to all and an enemy to none”.

He also urged attention to other priorities under the Nakamal Agreement, saying the police component should not overshadow wider national development needs.

“The Government is now putting priority on the economic security of the country,” he said.

Napuat said decisions on policing would be guided by the Government’s police remodelling strategy. Once priorities were identified, they would be communicated to international partners for support.

Vanuatu is approaching its 50th anniversary of independence, which Napuat said reinforced the Government’s long-term objective of building a police force capable of managing its own operations.

The Government said no decision had been made to phase out China Police or any other partner, and any future changes to foreign police advisory support would be made at the appropriate time through a national decision….PACNEWS

FIJI – CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM: FIJI SUN      PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

Fiji Law Society says Constitution consultation rushed, opposes future coup immunity

SUVA, 23 OCTOBER 2206 (FIJI SUN)—The Fiji Law Society (FLS) has criticised the public consultation process for the proposed Constitution amendment Bill 32 of 2026, saying insufficient time for public input risks undermining confidence in the review.

Society president Graham Leung raised the concerns in submissions to Parliament’s special committee Thursday, arguing that the process had not provided adequate opportunities for meaningful public participation.

“A two-hour consultation in Suva and a two-hour consultation in Lautoka was hopelessly inadequate,” Leung said.

He acknowledged that the parliamentary calendar and the approaching general elections had placed the Government under pressure.

However, he argued that starting the constitutional review earlier could have reduced the time constraints.

The Society said the rushed circulation of the Bill and the limited time available for public consideration had contributed to distrust and undermined the legitimacy of the process.

Leung urged decision-makers to listen to the public and learn from Fiji’s constitutional history.

“We all need to take a step back and listen to the voices of the people. Why? Because the voice of we the people matters. Let us learn lessons from history. Let us not make the mistake of imposing a constitution and ignoring the legitimate views of the people,” he said.

The Society said the constitutional review was an opportunity to strengthen Fiji’s constitutional framework while preserving stability, continuity and national cohesion.

It argued that the legitimacy of reform depended not only on the content of the proposed provisions but also on whether the public had a meaningful opportunity to consider and comment on them.

The Society called for constitutional reform to be guided by the rule of law, democratic accountability, institutional independence and respect for Fiji’s social and cultural foundations.

Meanwhile, the Fiji Law Society (FLS) has called for a constitutional provision preventing future coup-makers from receiving immunity from prosecution.

It warned that Fiji’s history of coups has severely damaged its democracy.

Society president Graham Leung raised the issue in submissions to Parliament’s special committee examining the proposed Constitution amendment Bill 32 of 2026.

The Society opposes any future grant or extension of immunity under clause 206 of the Bill, while recognising historical immunity provisions in line with the Supreme Court’s reasoning.

“The coup culture must cease. It has severely eroded Fiji’s democracy and has set the country back,” Leung said.

“The cost of the damage caused by the coups has been huge and continues to inflict wounds on the country.”

The Society argues that future unconstitutional seizures of power should not be shielded from legal accountability through immunity provisions.

It recommends a law making clear that immunity cannot lawfully be granted to anyone found guilty of treason or attempting to remove a government in the future.

The Society’s position is that permanent constitutional immunity sits uneasily with constitutional supremacy, equality before the law and the rule of law.

Leung said the country had gone through four constitutions, and Bill 32, if enacted, would result in a fifth.

“Frankly, the people of this country are suffering from coup fatigue. They are sick and tired of the constant changes to the supreme law, and rather than being a vehicle for national unity, the Constitution has become a fountain of division and discord,” he said.

The Society said constitutional reform should strengthen democracy, the rule of law and national unity, rather than create opportunities for future unconstitutional seizures of power to escape accountability…..PACNEWS

TIMOR – DIPLOMACY/SECURITY: AFP            PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

Australia boosts defence ties with Timor-Leste, seeks to curb China’s regional influence

DILI, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (AFP)— Australia and Timor-Leste signed a defence deal on Oct 22 to boost cyber and maritime security as Canberra seeks to curb China’s influence among its island neighbours.

Australia is Timor-Leste’s largest defence and security partner, and the agreement will significantly increase defence exercises, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles told reporters in Timor-Leste’s capital of Dili.

“This is a time to double down on friendship, to double down on family,” he said.

Australia will provide AUD$62 million (US$43.52 million) for cybersecurity, maritime security, infrastructure, disaster relief and training under a defence framework signed on Oct 22 by Marles and Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, according to a statement from Canberra.

Timor-Leste, around 700km north-west of Australia, gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.

Australia has said it is concerned at the rapid expansion of China’s navy and the presence of Chinese police in several Pacific Island countries.

As part of the agreement on 22 October, Australia will also give East Timor three more police vessels, Marles said.

Gusmao told reporters the agreement will help Timor-Leste fight organised crime and illegal fishing.

Timor-Leste is situated close to the northern Australian city of Darwin, which hosts a rotating force of U.S Marines and is “a key location for the security of Australia’s northern approaches”, said Euan Graham, an expert associate with the Australian National Security College.

“It is vital for Canberra to ensure that Dili, at very least, does not provide strategic access to China,” he told AFP.

China’s Defence Ministry said in August that its Defence Minister Dong Jun had met Timor-Leste’s leaders in Dili and offered to “take military-to-military relations to a new level”.

Timor-Leste’s Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas visited Moscow for talks in October.

Australia has recently struck a series of big defence and economic agreements with the Pacific Islands, including Vanuatu, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, designed to limit China’s security role.

The AUD$500 million(US$351 million) Vanuatu agreement states no foreign military base or infrastructure can be built there, and Australia is the archipelago’s main policing partner.

But Vanuatu’s Police Minister rejected on 21 October that the deal would require Chinese police to be “phased out”, and Vanuatu’s police published images on social media of Chinese police training officers to use surveillance drones….PACNEWS

JAPAN – DIPLOMACY: PACNEWS                 PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

Japan, FSM strengthen Pacific partnership ahead of PALM11

TOKYO, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)— Japan and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) have pledged to strengthen cooperation on Pacific resilience and regional security ahead of next year’s Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM11).

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and FSM Foreign Affairs Secretary Ricky Cantero discussed bilateral ties and regional issues during a meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.

Motegi said Japan and the FSM shared fundamental values and were important partners in maintaining a free and open international order based on the rule of law.

He said Japan wanted to further develop relations with the FSM and support Pacific island countries’ resilience and ability to make their own decisions under Japan’s updated Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision.

Cantero thanked the Japanese Government and people for their support and cooperation across a range of areas.

The two officials also exchanged views on regional affairs in the Indo-Pacific, including responses to North Korea.

They agreed to work closely towards the success of PALM11, scheduled to be held in Yokohama, Japan, in the summer of 2027.

They also discussed preparations for the PALM Ministerial Interim Meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Fiji before the leaders’ meeting.

The meeting took place as FSM President Wesley Simina and Secretary Cantero were visiting Japan, providing an opportunity to advance bilateral relations and cooperation on regional priorities…..PACNEWS

TONGA – ORGANISED CRIME: ABC PACIFIC PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

Tongan man deported from Australia sentenced to 12 years’ jail over bid to set up Comancheros branch

NUKU’ALOFA, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (ABC PACIFIC)— Tongan man deported from Australia has been sentenced to 12 years’ jail over his role in establishing a branch of the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle gang in the Pacific Island nation.

Eneasi Taumoefolau was found guilty last month of participating in an organised criminal group over his moves in 2024 to set up the motorcycle gang, in what the sentencing judge in Tonga described as “a structural assault on the fabric of Tongan society”. 

Taumoefolau was described as the “president and leader” of the chapter in Tonga and was regularly seen wearing Comanchero vests, riding a bike with the Comanchero label prominently displayed and had a storage unit containing a significant amount of Comanchero uniforms and badges.

Taumoefolau was born in Tonga, but he and his family immigrated to Australia when he was eight years old. 

He spent most of his life in Australia in the regional town Victorian town of Robinvale, but was deported from Australia to Tonga in 2022 after a string of drug convictions.    

In an exclusive in-prison interview with the ABC earlier this year, Taumoefolau said he attempted to set up a chapter of the Comancheros in the island nation to “piss off”” the Australian government for deporting him. 

In her sentencing remarks, Justice Elisapeti Langi said Taumoefolau’s moves in Tonga showed the live threat from “foreign criminal syndicates seeking to use the Pacific nations as transit hubs for organised criminal activities”. 

“It is no secret that the country is now facing significant problems arising from illegal drug activities, which has drastically increased with the deportation of nationals who may still have established ties with international syndicates abroad, as is apparent in this case,” she said.

Taumoefolau was charged and convicted under the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes Act, the first time the law has been tested in court. 

Taumoefolau is serving a life sentence in Tonga’s main prison over separate charges, having been convicted in 2025 of importing more than 2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Tonga from the United States.

The 12-year sentence will be served concurrently with his life sentence. 

Taumoefolau often flaunted his gang connections in TikTok posts, labelling himself as the #comancheroboss, living the #comancherolife and even donned a T-shirt with a Comanchero patch. 

“The TikTok thing, I understand it, and it was just me having a dig there. It wasn’t nothing else and that’s the honest truth,” he said in the interview with the ABC earlier this year. 

Taumoefolau’s leg also sports a large tattoo of the Comancheros club logo, which he said he got after he was deported to Tonga.

The ABC has obtained photos tendered as evidence in the trial that show Taumoefolau being taken by police as they search various locations for gang paraphernalia after his arrest for drug importation.

They show him being taken to a storage unit, rented in the name of his partner, where police discovered “bags of T-shirts with Comanchero logo[s] and signs”, and “suitcases containing vests and labels of ranks”.

Taumoefolau has protested his innocence and has indicated he will appeal against the sentence. 

Pacific nations have been grappling with a recent surge in drug smuggling, as cartels increasingly use the vast Pacific as a transit point to the highly lucrative Australia and New Zealand markets. 

Earlier this year the Australian Federal Police commissioner said Australia’s “insatiable appetite” for meth and cocaine was driving the new routes, with local customers paying some of the highest prices in the world for illicit drugs.

The Australian government recently announced $600 million (US$418 million) for a new Pacific scheme designed to tackle the surge of drug smuggling into the region.

And last week the Australian government announced a donation of an undisclosed number of 7.5-metre-long “Bluebottle” drone vessels to Fiji, Tonga’s neighbour, to help monitor illegal activity in the oceans.

The vessels use solar, wind and wave power and can remain at sea for up to six months while monitoring suspicious activity……PACNEWS

W|PAPUA – DIPLOMACY: RNZ PACIFIC        PACNEWS 1: Fri 23 Oct 2026

West Papuan civil society calls for UN and Pacific access to region

JAKARTA, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (RNZ PACIFIC)—West Papuan civil society organisations have called on Indonesia to allow access to their region for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and to open up genuine, inclusive dialogue.

Claims of persistent human rights abuses continue as violent conflict has deepened in the rugged interior of the Indonesian-controlled Papua region in recent months, causing an increasing number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs).

In recent weeks, numerous Pacific countries have echoed the 2019 call by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) for Indonesia to allow the UN rights office to visit Papua to assess claims of widespread rights abuses.

Seven years on and the visit is yet to occur, although Indonesia’s government told RNZ Pacific last month the visit remains “on track”.

However, the patience of Pacific island countries has been tested – the call was again made at last month’s PIF summit by the countries in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) bloc.

Human rights advocacy group Elsham Papua’s director Paul Mambrasar said that the request is one of a series of calls to action and demands the civil society groups have made.

“The first one is unconditional international access by the UN body, and also from representatives from MSG and PIF, which is the result of the recent communiqué to visit West Papua,” Mambrasar said.

“It is an invitation which needs to be made by Indonesia.”

Speaking at this month’s UN General Assembly in response to recent calls by Pacific governments, including Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, Indonesian diplomat Nona Gae Luna said the government “takes all credible claims of human rights violations seriously”.

“Our national institutions and legal mechanisms, including the Independent National Human Rights Commission, is working continuously to address such allegations,” she said.

West Papuan human rights defender Rosa Moiwend said Jakarta has long dismissed concerns about rights issues in Papua.

“The Indonesian government is always promoting the positive image of the human rights situation in West Papua, while the real situation on the ground is still getting worse, especially around the military operations and the impact to the people,” Moiwend said.

“We now have like 127,000 IDPs waiting for the right time to go back home, and this is something that happened for a long time.”

Access to Papua is also restricted for international humanitarian organisations who could help the IDPs.

Jakarta’s sensitivity over any attempts to internationalise the Papua issue was evident at the UN.

“Arrangements for any visit by the High Commissioner should be agreed between the host state and the office of the High Commissioner – they are not set by a third (party) or any regional body,” Gae Luna said.

Nonetheless, Moiwend said the renewed Pacific Islands push for access to West Papua was welcome and timely.

“This is very consistent because the leaders already made a communiqué before, and the West Papuans, especially the CSOs, was really happy with that because the consistency is still there,” she said.

“However, they need a clear action, and they also urged the Indonesian government to respond constructively with the statement made by the leaders.”

Mambrasar said the renewed call by Pacific countries is also timely because Papua is now more militarised than ever as Indonesian troops deploy in greater numbers to fight the disparate guerrilla forces of the West Papua Liberation Army.

“They use more advanced military equipment to fight insurgencies. They now have drone unit, and then, for example, they now use aeroplane to bomb the insurgent fighters,” he said of the evolving tech used by Indonesia’s military (TNI).

“They use the Brazilian-made Super (Tucano) Toucan aeroplane to bomb. It’s not only a law and order issue, which in the past has been the main domain of the police, but now the military is also engaged.”

The Indonesian government considers the Liberation Army to be an armed criminal group, and rarely refers to the Papuan struggle for independence.

Gae Luna underlined that Indonesia makes no apologies for the presence of security forces in Papua

“Any serious discussion of Papua must reflect the full picture. Innocent civilians, teachers, health workers, and many others have fallen victim to violence by armed criminal groups.

“Indonesia has a responsibility to protect all of its citizens. Law enforcement must and will remain subject to Indonesia’s laws and our international human rights obligations.”

One of the other calls by the civil society groups is for a credible, inclusive, and meaningful political dialogue to resolve the root causes of the Papuan conflict permanently,

Mambrasar said that Jakarta may ignore the troubled history of Papua’s incorporation into Indonesia, but each new generation of Papuans comes back to the problem, and that needs to be acknowledged.

“When you engage with issues otherwise, you’ll go nowhere,” he told RNZ Pacific.

“Because it’s been going for decades, and young generations of Papua keep on coming, emitting the same issue, so we’re going in same thing over and over again.

“So, what Indonesia must do now is to sit and invite all the genuine representatives of West Papuans to sit and talk, and you know to discuss the best ways to go forward.

“Once you sit together and you know equally, and you see West Papuans as human beings, then you know we can find something.

“I believe things have happened in East Timor in South Africa and in some parts of Africa and South America, why don’t we just look at those experience and maybe pick up one or two, and we can use it here,” he said…. PACNEWS

PACNEWS BIZ

PAC – COAL EXPANSION: PACNEWS         PACNEWS BIZ: Fri 23 Oct 2026

Pacific climate warriors target BHP over Queensland coal expansion

BRISBANE, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—Pacific Climate Warriors have stepped up their campaign against coal expansion in Australia’s Bowen Basin, urging mining giant BHP and its Mitsubishi Alliance partner to abandon major Queensland coal projects they say threaten Pacific communities.

The campaign included Pacific climate advocates questioning BHP’s board and chief executive at the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney over the climate impact of its coal operations and proposed mine expansions.

The activists are targeting proposals involving the Saraji East and Peak Downs mines, among other projects, and are calling on the Australian Government to reject new approvals.

350.org Pacific campaigner Jacynta Fa’amau said BHP’s expansion plans were incompatible with efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“BHP continues to pursue proposals to extend and expand a dying coal industry at the expense of our futures,” Fa’amau said.

“We joined BHP’s AGM today and told the Board how the emissions from their operations will devastate generations of Pacific people, if they continued to extract and export coal.”

Fa’amau said the Saraji East mine was progressing through the approval process, while the Peak Downs proposal was pursuing alternative approval pathways despite being cancelled at the state level.

The Australian Government was expected to make a decision on the Saraji East coal mine on Thursday. The project could release more than 330 million tonnes of climate pollution and extend coal extraction until 2045, according to 350.org Pacific.

Pacific climate advocates have previously called on Australia to reject the project.

Pacific Climate Warrior Lyric Thomas-Pera said approving the mine would undermine Australia’s climate commitments and expose vulnerable communities to further risks.

“It is dangerously irresponsible of both the Albanese Government and BMA to push through approvals for a mega-mine like Saraji East,” Thomas-Pera said.

“Across the country, Pacific Islanders are rallying behind the call to end BMA’s coal operations in the Bowen Basin and protect generations of Pacific lives and culture from a runaway climate crisis.”

Thomas-Pera urged BHP and Mitsubishi Alliance to cancel their expansion proposals and called on the Australian Government to honour its climate leadership commitments made at Pre-COP31 in Fiji.

Australia co-hosted the Pre-COP31 meeting in Fiji and is due to lead negotiations at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye. Pacific leaders have questioned Australia’s climate leadership while it continues to support coal and gas expansion.

Fenton Lutunatabua, 350.org Pacific and Caribbean programme manager, said Australia must demonstrate its climate commitments through domestic action, including a plan to phase out fossil fuels and exports.

“Pacific people have been clear that the way Australia must show leadership at COP31 is to lead with their own national roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, including exports,” Lutunatabua said.

“Otherwise it is all rhetoric, while Australia’s coal and gas expansion fuels our destruction.”

Lutunatabua said the campaign would continue to challenge BHP’s coal expansion plans, holding the company accountable for the climate impacts of its operations on Pacific communities.

“The only hope of survival for our people is a world beyond climate-destroying fossil fuels,” he said….PACNEWS

PAC – NATURAL CAPITAL: PACNEWS          PACNEWS BIZ: Fri 23 Oct 2026

FAO  urges more investment in Pacific’s natural capital

NADI, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (PACNEWS)—The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has called for increased investment in the Pacific’s oceans, fisheries, forests and coastal ecosystems to protect livelihoods, food security and climate resilience.

FAO Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific Islands Guangzhou Qu made the call at the recent Pre-COP31 event in Fiji, warning that the region’s natural resources face mounting pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Speaking at the event,Investing in Natural Capital: The Pacific Opportunity, hosted by Fiji National University and the Pacific Action for Climate Transitions Research Centre, Qu urged governments to turn climate commitments into concrete investment.

He said the Pacific had solutions to offer as countries prepare for COP31, but greater funding was needed to protect ecosystems and support sustainable development.

Qu identified climate-resilient agrifood systems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, ecosystem restoration and nature-based solutions as key areas for investment.

He said scaling up investment would require reliable data, supportive policies, community participation and a pipeline of projects ready for financing.

The FAO official said the Pacific’s natural capital was central to the region’s economies and the wellbeing of communities, making its protection a development priority as well as a climate response.

He said FAO would continue working with Pacific governments, communities and Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) agencies to link scientific evidence, policy development and investment.

The organisation would also support countries seeking access to climate and biodiversity finance.

Qu called on COP31 to help close the gap between climate ambition and the investment needed to deliver practical results across the Pacific……PACNEWS

PACNEWS In Focus

The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS

New UNDP report calls for redefining security in an era of climate shocks, cybercrime, economic insecurity and distrust

NEW YORK/BANGKOK, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (UNDP)—-– Investments in trusted institutions, AI and digital safeguards, public health protections and disaster preparedness should be treated as essential security investments as interconnected shocks place growing pressure on the safety and well-being of people across Asia and the Pacific, according to a new UNDP report released Thursday. 

The report proposes four “development circuit breakers” – systems and institutions that help countries absorb big shocks and stop the disruption from cascading into wider instability.

The report, Redefining Security: Development Circuit Breakers for a More Secure Future, finds that many of the region’s greatest security risks now emerge through climate shocks, economic insecurity, cybercrimes, declining trust in institutions and transnational illicit trade networks, rather than through traditional military threats alone. 

Spanning a vast geography from Iran and Afghanistan to the Pacific Islands, the report warns that governments are increasingly confronting overlapping crises that drive each other, leaving many countries trapped in a cycle of responding to emergencies instead of preventing them. Addressing what is increasingly the endemic nature of compounding destructive forces requires a different approach.

Global military expenditure reached nearly US$2.9 trillion in 2025, while official development assistance fell by close to 23 percent to US$174.3 billion, the largest annual decline on record. 

The report warns that resources, capabilities and systems to improve prevention and resilience, and longer-term human development, are being squeezed precisely as interconnected risks become more costly to manage. The report argues that the growing gap between spending on deterrence and spending on prevention risks making societies more vulnerable to future crises. 

“For many people, insecurity starts with a lost job, a bill they cannot pay, an online scam or a public service they can no longer rely on,” said Alexander De Croo, UNDP Administrator.

 “Add a climate disaster, and these pressures quickly reinforce one another, stretching families, institutions and national budgets to breaking point. Investing in development helps stop that spiral before it starts. Development is prevention. And prevention is the smartest security investment we can make.”

The report highlights how security risks increasingly move across borders through digital networks, supply chains, financial systems and shared environmental assets. Online scam economies generated an estimated US$1.03 trillion globally, with losses to victims across Asia and the Pacific estimated up to US$114.1 billion in 2025 alone. 

The report also highlights the vulnerability of the region’s 1.3 billion informal workers, many of whom lack meaningful social protection, savings or insurance. Asia and the Pacific is also home to 70 percent of people affected by disasters globally.

Rather than treating these issues separately, the report argues they act like accelerants, reinforcing one another, creating a growing vortex of insecurity that traditional security approaches and instruments alone cannot address. Drawing on examples, the report highlights how stronger local governance, social protection systems, digital safeguards, early warning systems and community trust-building and resilience initiatives have reduced risks and strengthened a sense of security. 

The report also makes a strong economic case for prevention. Every dollar invested in disaster resilience can save between four and seven dollars in response costs, while broader investments in prevention can generate returns of up to US$103 for every dollar invested through avoided crisis and recovery costs. 

“For too long, development and security have been treated as separate conversations, and as distinctly separate outcomes,” said Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. 

“This analysis shows they are deeply interconnected. And this is where the investments from development and security sectors can come together behind shared outcomes, and hopefully, results in a peace and a safety that people can feel.” 

As climate impacts intensify, digital risks accelerate and economic uncertainty increases across the region, the report concludes that the most effective path to lasting security lies in investments that reduce vulnerabilities well before they become crises. 

This raises important questions about what prevention strategies should include and how to make prevention more politically visible and fiscally viable as the right choice.

The report stresses that its recommendations are not a call for the securitisation of development nor an argument against necessary defence investments. Instead, it argues for a broader understanding of security that centres on people’s well-being and the intensifying vulnerabilities they face as its gravitational pull to define the changes needed to both security and development strategy. 

“A secure future in Asia and the Pacific will be measured not only by the threats deterred, but by whether people can live with dignity, access opportunity and have confidence in the future.

“Trust is the force multiplier that connects all of this and provides that exponential return to better connected security and development outcomes,” Wignaraja said…..PACNEWS

Media contact: rbap.media@undp.org

PACNEWS DIGEST

The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS

Vanuatu joins Panama and Fiji in committing to Protect the Ocean ‘Twilight Zone’

At UN Biodiversity Conference, Momentum Grows to Safeguard this Critical Ocean Layer

YEREVAN, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (OCEAN CONSERVANCY) —- Vanuatu has joined the Mesopelagic Zone Conservation Challenge, a global commitment led by Ocean Conservancy, Environmental Defence Fund, and the Marine Conservation Institute to protect the ocean’s “twilight zone,” the band of ocean where sunlight starts to disappear. 

The twilight zone comprises 20 percent of the ocean’s volume but contains as much as 90 percent of its fish biomass.

The announcement, made at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17), comes as delegates undertake the first global review of progress toward the global goal of protecting biodiversity.

‘Vanuatu is proud to join the Mesopelagic Zone Conservation Challenge. The twilight zone is bound up with everything we depend on – our tuna fisheries, our food security and the climate stability our islands need to survive. We welcome this initiative and look forward to working with partner nations to advance its objectives,” said Osborne Melenamu, Director of Environmental Protection and Conservation of Vanuatu.

“The twilight zone is home to important sources of food for many of the ocean’s fish and wildlife and is an integral part of the carbon pump,” said Ocean Conservancy’s Vice President of Conservation Chris Dorsett. 

“We still have an opportunity to protect this critical part of the ocean before growing threats from fishing and deep-sea mining take hold. This challenge gives governments a chance to put science and sound management measures in place to prevent irreparable harm.”

Spanning the area between 200 and 1,000 meters (600 and 3,000 feet) beneath the ocean surface, the twilight zone offers a critical link between surface waters and the abyss and plays a key role in regulating the climate. 

The animals living in the twilight zone are an essential source of food for a diverse array of whales, dolphins, seabirds, sharks and commercially valuable species like tuna and swordfish. 

Launched in June 2026, the Mesopelagic Zone Conservation Challenge calls on countries to support protecting the twilight zone from emerging threats like fishing and deep-sea mining, and to advance scientific understanding of this little-understood ocean layer. The challenge has now won the support of Fiji, Panama and Vanuatu.

A critical zone under pressure

Though far below the surface, the twilight zone plays an essential role in regulating the Earth’s atmosphere. Every night, in the largest known migration of animals on the planet, millions of species rise to the surface to feed, collecting carbon that they then carry back to the twilight zone. 

This “biological pump” moves an estimated two to six gigatons of carbon a year, which is double the annual emissions of all cars worldwide. About 90% of that carbon remains in the twilight zone. The rest sinks into the deep ocean to be locked away for hundreds or thousands of years, preventing it from re-entering the atmosphere.

But human pressures on this critical region are rising. In August, the ocean’s average surface temperature reached 21.1°C (70°F), the highest ever recorded, and those warming waters are already causing shifts and declines in important fish species in the twilight zone.

Expanding industrial activity here – whether commercial fishing or deep-sea mining – could damage the ocean’s ability to regulate the climate, while triggering declines in commercially important fish stocks.

“The ocean twilight zone sustains marine food webs and helps regulate our climate. Protecting these existing benefits is essential for ocean health and the communities that depend on it,” said Dr Kristin Kleisner, associate vice president for Oceans Science at Environmental Defence Fund.

“By joining the Mesopelagic Zone Conservation Challenge, countries are committing to advance scientific understanding and put precautionary safeguards in place before potentially harmful activities expand. This is an opportunity to act together now to protect an ecosystem we cannot afford to lose” Kleisner said……PACNEWS

PACNEWS DIGEST

The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS

Kiribati takes up role on Bureau during CBD COP17

YEREVAN, 23 OCTOBER 2026 (SPREP)—Kiribati is embarking on a new role representing 50 countries that make up the Asia-Pacific group within the Convention on Biological Diversity negotiations.

Nominated as the Asia Pacific member for the Bureau to the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Kiribati will be undertaking this role with the support of Pacific islands countries.

The CBD COP Bureau is the steering committee for the CBD COP. It guides the administration, organisation and political direction of the convention both during, and in between official COP meetings.

“This is going to be a critical role for us,” said Nenenteiti Teariki-Ruatu, Director of the Environment and Conservation Division of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development in Kiribati.

“We hope that we can make a difference and that the concerns of our Asia Pacific Group will be reflected.”

Kiribati was nominated during the Seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity now underway in Yerevan, Armenia.

The COP Bureau comprises 10 Parties with each UN region electing two representatives to the Bureau which plays a role similar to an Executive Board.

The President works in consultation with the Bureau, with support from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and relies upon the Bureau to help manage the meeting. 

Kiribati2

“We know that this will be undertaken as teamwork, while Kiribati sits in the seat – we know this is a shared responsibility across our Pacific,” said Teariki-Ruatu.

“It’s will be a busy time for Kiribati and our Pacific team as we work together to put forward our concerns as the COP Bureau Member. We look forward to working with our region in this and thank our fellow Pacific members for their confidence in Kiribati to represent them all.”

The Seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) is held in Yerevan, Armenia from 19 to 30 October 2026…. PACNEWS