Tuvalu

Tuvalu’s PM unhappy with lack of commitment to Climate Change Insurance

 Sopoaga insisted that the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders should focus their discussions and deliberations on issues of common concern to the Pacific and not on “high politics such as North Korea.”
 
Speaking to Talamua just after the meeting communiqué was released, Sopoaga was very vocal in his thoughts about the North Korean issue and how the Pacific leaders responded to it quicker and made very little mention of the climate change insurance.
 

Tuvalu hopes Trump will change view on climate change

Mr Sopoaga, who leads a country already experiencing sea level rise, is at the Pacific Forum leaders’ summit in Apia where climate change is on the agenda.

He said given the US president Donald Trump's dismissal of the agreement, nations needed to work multi-laterally to ensure there is trust and respect in the interests of saving humanity.

Tuvalu launches human rights plan

The national action plan was launched by the prime minister Enele Sopoaga and aims to enshrine human rights in the country's development priorities.

Mr Sopoaga said the plan was the outcome of consultations with government departments, NGOs and communities to identify human rights priorities.

He said it meant that the marginalised, the old and young; men, women and children, and people with disabilities will now be catered for in the country's development projects.

Forced displacement last option, says Tuvalu PM

Enele Sopoaga made the comment at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific office in Suva.

Tuvalu's low-lying atolls are considered among the countries most at risk from inundation by sea-level rise.

Mr Sopoaga stressed the need for Pacific Island nations to take a regional approach to addressing the threat of climate change.

The Fiji Times reports him saying Tuvalu is trying its best to protect its people so that they don't have to move or be forced to leave their islands.

Improved maritime facilities for Tuvalu outer islands

The Outer Island Maritime Infrastructure Project aims to construct a small harbour on the island of Nukulaelae, and rehabilitate boat ramps on Nanumaga and Niutao.

Most Tuvalu outer islands lack docking facilities for ocean-going ships making it more difficult to transfer passengers and cargo on workboats.

The Financial reported that the $US13.3 million project is geared to develop an overall plan for making shipping to and from the capital safer and more efficient.

As their nation sinks, Tuvaluans raise their language

But the celebrations have reflected an urgency among Tuvaluans who are trying to keep their culture alive and strong, while their small island nation is sinking.

Properties damaged as strong winds and rain lash Tuvalu

Fenui News reports people residing near the western coast of the island were evacuated to Liutala Maneapa and Vaipuna Primary School as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the island.

Strong winds overnight brought down trees and pushed the MV Tuvalu onto the beach.

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PM Sopoaga’s leadership at COP21 hailed as exceptional

Kosi Latu, who will become Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme in Samoa next month said Prime Minister Sopoaga, leader of the small island nation of Tuvalu, as lead negotiator and spokesman of the Pacific led from the front, braving long negotiation sessions till the early hours of the next day.

Pacific must stand united: Tuvalu

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga called for the small island developing states to band together and fight off “serious attempts” to drive a wedge between them.

The call highlights the tensions emerging between even the most tight-knit collections of countries in Paris after days of lengthy and slow negotiations.

The Prime Minister is upset he wasn't invited to a meeting between some Pacific Island nations, including Kiribati, and United States President Barack Obama last week.

Tuvalu cries foul at slow, delaying tactics at COP21

Prime Minister of Tuvalu Enele Sopoaga said the negotiations are painfully 'slow,' as he went onto accuse the bigger countries of employing delaying tactics.