News & Announcements

A recording of the launch of the volume The Nuclear Ban Treaty: A Transformational Reframing of the Global Nuclear Order has been released. The book was launched as part of a workshop hosted by Toda Peace Institute and Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation on 24 June 2022. The launch was attended by workshop participants and 170 online participants. Presentations were made by Ambassador Alexander Kmentt and the volume’s editor Ramesh Thakur, followed by Q&A. View the presentations and discussion here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k-ho2mg5hE&t=605s  

Toda Senior Research Fellow, Dr Volker Boege, was recently interviewed for the UNDP’s 'Catching the last wave’ podcast on climate change, peace and conflict in the Pacific. Listen here to the whole conversation in which Volker gives an overview of Toda’s activities and focus in this area. 26’58” https://www.undp.org/pacific/news/catching-last-wave-volker-boege Image: Willyam Bradberry/Shutterstock  

Australia's Foreign Minister has pledged Australia's commitment to taking stronger action on climate after meeting with Samoa's Prime Minister in Apia. Penny Wong's stop in Samoa is the second Pacific country she has visited after Fiji since being sworn in less than two weeks ago. She said the new Australian government was elected with a mandate to be committed to climate change and it understands how important the issue is to Samoa and all Pacific nations. "We are called on to do so now more than ever," she said. Read more at Radio New Zealand International Image credit:  International Labour Organization/Flickr

  Vanuatu has become the first Pacific Small Island Developing State to declare it is facing a climate emergency. In a Twitter post, the leader of the opposition Ralph Regenvanu announced parliament passed a 17-point resolution declaring a climate emergency on Friday. Regenvanu said under Point 1 of the resolution, "The Parliament declares that a climate emergency exists that is now existentially imperilling the people, societies and natural resources of the Republic of Vanuatu." He adds "Point 2 further declares that climate change is now undermining the fundamental human rights of present and future generations of Vanuatu's people." The Melanesian nation is among the most climate-threatened nations in the world. Read more at Radio New Zealand International Image credit:  marekuliasz/Shutterstock

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