Pacific Islands

Stakeholders from all over the world are in Fiji this week to talk about the challenges facing the Pacific Tuna Industry.

The Chief Executive of the Pacific Tuna Industry Association, Tima Tepou says having all stakeholders at the same table has resulted in frank discussions on what different parties want for the future of the industry.

Steve Ciobo, who last week was the parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs under the previous prime minister Tony Abbott, has been sworn in as Australia's Minister for International Development and the Pacific.

"This new position really reflects and really does underscore the Government's renewed focus on the Pacific, the importance of the Pacific, the value that we place on our international development, and of course our very strong desire to continue building a strong relationship with our near South Pacific neighbours," Ciobo told Pacific Beat.

According to a multi-agency study published today in Nature Geoscience: "This study significantly advances the scientific knowledge of the impacts of El Niño and La Niña," said Patrick Barnard, USGS coastal geologist and the lead author of the study. "Understanding the effects of severe storms fueled by El Niño or La Niña helps coastal managers prepare communities for the expected erosion and flooding associated with this climate cycle."

One senior business executive was at Auckland Airport on his way to the World Conference – preparing to advocate the merits of disaster resilience to his fellow executives – when news of the disaster prompted him to ditch his talking points, switch his ticket, and dash to guide his company’s recovery on the ground in Vanuatu.

Within 48 hours, instead of speaking to delegates in Sendai, the Chairman of the Board of Directors Digicel Samoa, Pepe Christian Fruean, was in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila as part of the telecommunications company’s emergency deployment.

The earthquake has claimed at least 10 lives in Chile.

The French High Commission had warned the people on the Marquesas Islands to prepare for waves of up to 1.4 metres last night.

The Geophysical Laboratory in Tahiti says waves of slightly higher than one metre can be expected in the Marquesas and no higher than 30 centimetres in the most populated parts of the territory.

The French High Commissioner called for people in the Marquesas not to stay on the coast last night and to check moorings.

Defending his government's policies on climate change in parliament, Michael Woodhouse said that the government is making a significant contribution towards greenhouse gas mitigation, and helping Pacific Island countries through aid.

He said Pacific Islanders want to stay in their own countries and that to suggest they want to dash to New Zealand to be saved is a form of colonial paternalism.

The tremor at 2254 UTC was recorded at a depth of 10 kilometres.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii says waves of between one and three metres could hit French Polynesia.

Waves of up to a metre are forecast for New Caledonia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Samoas, the Cook Islands, Tokelau, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and the scattered islands over the north Pacific.

Smaller waves may hit Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

The workshop was held for Pacific Island countries to address whether, how and why to ratify the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958) New York Convention and whether to adapt their laws to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.

Enele Sopoaga, who also chairs the Small Island States group, says he is disappointed by the failure of last week's Pacific Islands Forum meeting to make a stronger statement on climate change.

Australia and New Zealand did not commit to tougher emission targets called for by the SIS.

Mr Sopoaga says Australia's approach at the Forum and joke by their Immigration Minister about climate change have shone a light on their indifference.

The leaders of Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji have expressed hope that Mr Turnbull, who was this week sworn in as prime minister after ousting Tony Abbott as Liberal Party leader, could be a champion for Pacific countries battling rising sea levels and intensifying weather systems.

The change in Canberra came a week after the Pacific Islands Forum meeting highlighted a growing chasm between the Pacific countries and Australia and New Zealand on the issue of climate change.