News & Announcements

The UN General Assembly has adopted a Vanuatu-led resolution calling for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on climate change and human rights. The resolution was tabled by Vanuatu and a core group of 17 countries, aiming to clarify what the obligations of states are in protecting the rights of current and future generations from the adverse effects of climate change. Read more from Radio New Zealand International. story published 30 March 2023   Image: ausnewsde/Shutterstock

Vanuatu's Minister of Climate Ralph Regenvanu has called for the establishment of a Global Commission on Fossil Fuels to establish an authoritative evidence base on the impacts of fossil fuels to inform the phase out that's needed. Read more from Radio New Zealand International. Listen to a 9-minute interview with Minister Regenvanu from ABC Pacific 'Port Vila call to phase out fossil fuels': Radio New Zealand International Watch a Public Conversation with Ralph Regenvanu, then-Leader of the Opposition in Vanuatu, discussing deep-sea mining. Recorded in May 2022.   Image: Dancing_Man/Shutterstock

Dr Tobias Ide, a Toda Peace Institute expert contributor, has been awarded the first International Science Prize 2023 from the Hans Günter Brauch Foundation on the theme Climate Change and Conflicts. The award was given for Dr Ide’s book: Catastrophes, Confrontations and Constraints – How Disasters Shape the Dynamics of Armed Conflict published by MIT Press, 6 June 2023. Dr Ide is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Murdoch University (Perth, Australia). He also holds appointments as a Specially Appointed Professor for Peace and Sustainability at Hiroshima University and as Adjunct Associate Professor for International Relations at Braunschweig University (Germany). He received his BA and MA from Leipzig University, his PhD from Hamburg University (2015), his advanced PhD (Habilitation) from Braunschweig University) 2019. The award ceremony will take place on Friday, 14 July 2023, in the Alte Mälzerei in Mosbach (Germany). The Prize consists of a certificate and a prize money of 3.000 Euros. The prize will be awarded annually in Mosbach (Germany). Dr Ide’s publications for Toda Peace Institute are: Policy Brief 80 Quantitative Climate-Conflict Research: Limitations and Prospects of Alternative Approaches What Do We Know About Climate Change, Peace and Conflict? The Age of Intersecting Crises? Environment, Peace and Conflict Research: The Need for Constructive Dialogue Is climate change a threat to Australian security?      

The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is now "a family reconciled" as its leaders reaffirmed their commitment to reforms to strengthen the regional body. Following the recent PIF meeting in Fiji, Kiribati president, Taneti Maamau declared that, after two years of uncertainly, a new chapter of Pacific solidarity has begun. Read more in this story from Radio New Zealand International Image: Pacific Islands Forum  

An ambitious plan to raise parts of the islands of Kiribati by up to five metres to combat rising sea levels could cost billions of dollars. Former President Anote Tong, who has backed the idea for years, says it may be the country's only hope of keeping its sovereignty. Others are not convinced that this is the answer. Listen to a full report from ABC Radio Australia. (Duration: 4'46) Image: Kate Jean Smith, UNDP/Flickr