News & Announcements

The new Australian Labor government's climate change policy has been pegged as a possible turning point for Australia-Pacific relations by Pacific expert Tess Newton Cain. Anthony Albanese's Labor Party was swept into power in Saturday's election — along with a host of climate-focused independents and Greens candidates — while Scott Morrison's Liberal Party was decimated. Dr Newton Cain, the Project Lead for the Pacific Hub at the Griffith Asia Institute, told Pacific Beat that Labor's climate policy, alongside its expressed desire for Australia to host the UN Climate Change Conference with the Pacific, would be well-received. Read more at Pacific Beat, ABC Radio Australia Image Credit: Alpha/Flickr

IET’s Digital Conversations   "TECHNOLOGY FOR PEACE"    May 27, 2022 | 2.00 – 3.30 pm  Expert panellists: Dr Lisa Schirch, Senior Research Fellow, Toda Peace Institute Pranav Bajaj, Co-Founder, Medulance Lyric Jain, CEO, Logically Vignesh Santhanam, India Lead (Aerospace & Drones), World Economic Forum Moderator: Charles Assisi, Co-Founder, Founding Fuel Some of the pressing issues that will be discussed: 1. How does new cutting-edge technologies help in managing relief measures including peace and resolving conflicts? 2. How does technology for peace help resolve communication, aid food supply and mobility? 3. Is India ready to adopt such technologies for peace keeping? 5. How data collected using ICTs can highlight tensions and offer early warnings? 6. Tackling fake news, social media conflict management and the emergence of International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). 7. How surveillance, drones and satellite mapping account for better visibility? 8. Emergency Services – How predictive analytics algorithms can help? Register for this event here: https://digitalconversations.in/webinars/tech-for-peace

A new study says climate change could put Pacific Islanders at risk of losing their nationality and citizenship if countries in the region do not strengthen their laws. The study looked at 23 Pacific countries and found that some existing laws do not protect citizens when they relocate or migrate overseas.   Professor Michelle Foster, Director of the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the University of Melbourne, said it was one of the first times statelessness and climate change had been studied together in the Pacific. For the full story, including positive steps being taken by Tuvalu, listen to ABC Pacific Beat (10m 3s).

Pacific leaders are being ignored, says former President of Kiribati Anote Tong, who believes the international community is ignoring the dire impact of climate change on the region.  While the China-Solomon Islands security pact has prompted uproar from Pacific neighbours, Tong said Pacific leaders have been "screaming that climate change" is the region's highest priority. Read more in this article by Kelvin Anthony at RNZ International.  

The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) has nominated Dr Ian Fry as the first ever Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change.        The decision to create such a new mandate for a UN expert on the issue of human rights and climate change was taken in October 2021 by the HRC, through resolution 48/14.   Dr Fry recently published a Policy Brief with Toda Peace Institute which addresses the question of a regional peace process to address the primary security threats to the South Pacific due to climate change.   Dr Fry, holds the Australian and Tuvaluan nationalities, and was appointed by the HRC after a selection process. Dr Fry is an international environmental law and policy expert who has actively participated in climate negotiations as part of Small Islands States’ delegations, such as Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands. He also teaches at the Australian National University. To know more, you can visit  https://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/people/academics/dr-ian-fry, or consult his application for the Special Rapporteur’s position at https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/sp/hrc49.   His first report is expected in June, and will be presented at the 50th session of the Human Rights Council (13 June to 8 July 2022).