Climate Change

Tonga pleased with funding for climate change projects

That amount accounts for half of the development budget for 2019/2020, and most of the funding goes to adverse impacts of climate change.

Prime Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa spoke about the funding for Tonga projects at COP 25, the UN climate talks held in Madrid, attended by 25,000 delegates from over 200 nations.

Mr Tu'i'onetoa informed the high-level plenary meeting about Tonga's vulnerability to climate change, and said it was the second most at-risk country in the world to natural disasters, according to the 2016 World Risk Report.

Effects of climate change in Pacific worse than predicted

Elisabeth Holland, who's based at the University of the South Pacific, said the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Special Report - which she contributed to - painted another dire forecast.

The report found oceans were heating at such a rate their chemistry is being altered which, in turn, is threatening food supplies, fuelling more extreme cyclones, and posing a profound threat to people who lived in low-lying areas.

Prince Charles to visit Solomons, focus on climate change

During Prince Charles' trip next month, he will launch a national ocean policy and a malaria elimination roadmap.

The prince will also learn about sustainable fisheries management in the Pacific.

A statement from the Solomon Islands government said the prince would also meet with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and other leaders in Honiara.

Prince Charles will be in Solomon Islands on the 24 and 25 of November, following his visit to New Zealand and Tuvalu.

The prince last visited Tuvalu in 1970.

200 Kauri pine trees planted in fight against climate change in Haveluliku

A total of 50 youths assisted in planting the seedlings contributed by MODRI Tonga, as part of the campaign to fight against climate change.

Tongatapu Field Project Officer Tiofilusi Fa’aoa said the project is expected to improve forest management, while piloting an integrated agro-ecosystem approach to rehabilitate degraded landscapes.

The Kauri pine trees, also known as the ‘Agathis robusta’ is a coniferous tree- a long-lived evergreen conifer that grows straight and tall to reach a height of 25-30 metres.

Tonga's King appeals to UN for greater protection from risks to peace

King Tupou VI thanked the Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his inaugural visit to the Pacific in May, to understand the climate crisis up close.

He commended the UN session's four priorities of; peace and security especially conflict prevention; stronger action on climate change; accentuating human rights for women and young people, and boosting the Sustainable Development Goals.

The King also expressed his gratitude for a more inclusive attitude by the UN towards small island states strengthening their voices.

Greta Thunberg: 'Leaders failed us on climate change'

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words," she told a UN climate summit in New York.

About 60 world leaders are taking part in the one-day meeting organised by UN Secretary General António Guterres.

He earlier said countries could only speak at the summit if they came with action plans to cut carbon emissions.

US President Donald Trump, a climate change sceptic, had not been expected at the meeting - but he was briefly spotted in the audience.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces $150m Pacific climate funding

Ms Ardern made the announcement in Tuvalu, where she is attending the 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum which starts today.

She said the government was ring-fencing half of its global commitment to climate change-related development, to ensure it went to the Pacific.

The funding will go towards providing infrastructure such as water tanks, better tools for dealing with droughts, floods and coastal inundation, as well as further climate hazard mapping and risk planning.

Australia says its committed to addressing climate change

Last week a number of Pacific nations signed a declaration calling for greater action against what they called a "Climate Crisis" and an end to coal mining.

Palau's President Tommy Remengesau Junior also made a plea for Australia to take further climate action and the environmental NGO Greenpeace said the country should step aside from engaging in the region, if it wasn't going to change its policies around coal and energy.

World Bank to prioritise climate change resilience in Pacific

Its vice president for East Asia and the Pacific, Victoria Kwakwa, was in Tonga last week for talks.

Ms Kwakwa said the World Bank was working closely within Australia's Step Up and New Zealand's Pacific Reset programmes.

"We've been working on several things including supporting countries to strengthen their climate change resilience, working to support policy reforms to build their economic resilience and we're also working together on the connectivity agenda," Ms Kwakwa said.

"As you know, this region is very remote, even compared to other small island states."

Taking the message to Tonga

Staff from the University of Otago and Otago Museum have been visiting schools in Tonga during a 10-day visit, based on the museum's popular "Far From Frozen'' travelling exhibition, museum visitor experience and science engagement director Craig Grant said yesterday.

The trip was "going great'' and school pupils had been "very receptive'', also enjoying some of the technology - such as virtual reality headsets - offered with the exhibition.