UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recently toured the South Pacific to discuss climate change. In Fiji last week, he told a crowd about “a kind of coffin” built by the US in the Marshall Islands to house the deadly radioactive debris from the 1980s. The “coffin” is the product of a belated American response to Read more
French Polynesia’s Maohi Protestant church has decided to take France to the International Criminal Court over the legacy of the French nuclear testing. But the French Polynesian president Edouard Fritch believes the church’s plan is pointless. He says there are still avenues left for a dialogue with France. Fritch says to get compensation it is Read more
Former French prime minister Alain Juppé has conceded France’s nuclear testing in the Pacific has impacted on the environment and peoples’ health. Mr Juppé was Prime Minister from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, who made the controversial decision to resume nuclear testing in French Polynesia. Mr Juppé, 70, is a member of the Read more
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is suing the nine countries with nuclear weapons at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, arguing they have violated their legal obligation to disarm. The Marshalls is suing the five `established’ nuclear weapons states recognised in the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) the US, Russia, which inherited Read more
The Pacific Conference of Churches, at the end of its tenth Assembly has passed resolutions about the following topics: Tahiti independence West Papua independence Freedom Sunday Nuclear testing Seabed mining Solidarity on mining Tourism, fishing and forestry Facilitating the concerns of members by engaging on the issue with agencies such as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Read more
It is important to take into consideration the impact that activities such as mining could have on the environment and the people. Churches must take a strong, united stand on the responsible use of natural resources says Fiji Catholic priest, Father Kevin Barr. He was speaking at Pacific Conference of Churches Assembly. More than 200 delegates representing 34 Read more