The University of the South Pacific (USP) is at the heart of a global legal victory with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivering a historic opinion last week affirming that states have binding legal obligations to protect the environment from human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

The case, hailed as a triumph for climate justice, was driven by a student-led movement that began within USP’s own regional classrooms.

In 2021, the government of Vanuatu took a bold step by announcing its intention to seek an advisory opinion from the ICJ on climate change. But what many may not have realised is that the inspiration behind this unprecedented move came from a group of determined young Pacific Islanders — students from USP who formed the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC).

According to the United Nations background information, these USP students led the charge, campaigning for years to bring the voices of vulnerable island nations to the highest court in the world.

Their call for accountability resonated across the globe, eventually leading to the adoption of a UN resolution in March 2023 that asked the ICJ two critical legal questions:

• What obligations do states have under international law to protect the environment?
• What are the legal consequences when they fail?

The result
A sweeping opinion from the ICJ affirming that climate change treaties place binding duties on countries to prevent environmental harm.

As the ICJ President, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, stated in the official delivery the court was: “Unanimously of the opinion that the climate change treaties set forth binding obligations for States parties to ensure the protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.”

USP alumni lead the celebration
USP alumna Cynthia Houniuhi, president of the PISFCC, shared her pride in a statement to USP’s official news that this landmark opinion must guide not only courtrooms but also global climate negotiations and policy decisions and it’s a call to action.

“The law is on our side. I’m proud to be on the right side of history.”

Her words reflect the essence of USP’s regional identity, a university built not just to educate, but to empower Pacific Islanders to lead solutions to the region’s most pressing challenges.

Why is the ICJ’s climate ruling such a big deal?         Video: Almost

Students in action, backed by global leaders
UN Secretary-General Antόnio Guterres, in a video message released by the UN, gave credit where it was due.

“This is a victory for our planet, for climate change and for the power of young people to make a difference. Young Pacific Islanders initiated this call for humanity to the world, and the world must respond.”

Vishal Prasad, director of PISFCC, in a video reel of the SPC (Secretariat of the Pacific Community), also credited youth activism rooted in the Pacific education system as six years ago young people from the Pacific decided to take climate change to the highest court and today the ICJ has responded.

“The ICJ has made it clear, it cemented the consensus on the science of climate change and formed the heart of all the arguments that many Pacific Island States made.”

USP’s influence is evident in the regional unity that drove this case forward showing that youth educated in the Pacific are capable of reshaping global narratives.

A win for the Pacific
From coastal erosion and rising sea levels to the legacy of nuclear testing, the Pacific lives with the frontline effects of climate change daily.

Coral Pasisi, SPC Director of Climate Change & Sustainability, highlighted in a video message, the long-term importance of the ruling:

“Climate change is already impacting them (Pacific people) and every increment that happens is creating more and more harm, not just for the generations now but those into the future. I think this marks a real moment for our kids.”

Additionally, as Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s Minister for Climate Change, noted to SPC, science was the cornerstone of the court’s reasoning.

“The opinion really used that science as the basis for its definitions of accountability, responsibility, and duty.”

Among the proud USP student voices is Siosiua Veikune, who told Tonga’s national broadcaster that this is not only a win for the students but for the Pacific islands also.

What now?
With 91 written statements and 97 countries participating in oral proceedings, this was the largest case ever seen by the ICJ and it all began with a movement sparked at USP.

Now, the challenge moves from the courtroom to the global stage and will see how nations implement this legal opinion.

Though advisory, the ICJ ruling carries immense moral and legal weight. It will likely shape global climate negotiations, strengthen lawsuits against polluting states, and empower developing nations especially vulnerable Pacific Islands to demand justice on the international stage.

For the students who dreamed it into motion, it’s only the beginning.

“Now, we have to make sure this ruling leads to real action — in parliaments, at climate summits, and in every space where our future is at stake,”  said Veikune.

Vahefonua Tupola is a second-year student journalist at University of the South Pacific’s Laucala Campus. Republshed from Wansolwara News, the USP student journalism newspaper and website in partnership with Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pasifika comedy troupe Naked Samoans is facing a backlash from some members of the Pacific community over its promotional poster.

In the image, which has now been taken down, the Naked Samoans depicted themselves as the 12 disciples surrounding Jesus, a parody of The Last Supper.

Several Pasifika influencers condemned the image online, with one person labelling it “disrespectful”.

However, Naked Samoan group member Oscar Kightley told RNZ Pacific Waves he did not anticipate the uproar.

Oscar Kightley talking to RNZ Pacific Waves.

The Samoan-New Zealand actor said it was never their intention to hurt people.

“This month, 27 years ago, was our first-ever show, and we’ve been offending and upsetting people ever since, really. But we didn’t expect [the backlash].

Checks, balances ‘let us down’
“We saw the reaction [to the poster], and we saw how it was being taken, it was never our intention to mock Jesus or God or the Last Supper. But when we saw that that’s how it was being taken by some in our community, we made the decision to take it down.”

“We took it down as soon as we knew that it was causing upset.”

Responding to the online criticism that “they should have known better”, Kightley said “we should have known that some people would take it that way”.

“Our robust system of checks and balances badly let us down in this sense,” he said.

“We could understand how some people would have looked at this and went, ‘you guys have gone too far’, and even though we didn’t mean it, we all went to Sunday school, understand the reverence that that image and that scripture has.

“But we weren’t trying to comment on the scripture.”

He said even though they took the image down, due to the nature of the internet it would remain online “forever now”.

“I think as long as people spread it, people will be raged and raised by it.

“But my message [to those who are offended by it] is, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

“And maybe think about Jesus’s teaching in John 8:7.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fa’anānā Efeso Collins is being remembered as a pillar of the Pacific community with a “big heart of service”, who loved being a husband and father.

The 49-year-old Samoan-Tokelauan leader and Greens MP has been described as someone who embodied the Samoan proverb: “o le ala i le pule o le tautua” — the pathway to leadership is through service.

Prominent leaders say Fa’anānā was “a strong community advocate”, known for serving disadvantaged communities.

A beloved father, husband, brother and friend, Fa’anānā died suddenly in Auckland yesterday afternoon and leaves behind a strong legacy of service as someone whose mission was helping the poor.

Health leader Sir Collin Tukuitonga said his death sent shock waves across the region, especially in the heart of South Auckland, where he grew up and had spent most of his time serving others.

“Shocking is an understatement. He was on the same mission as the rest of us [Pacific leaders]. A good man. Good community values. It’s absolutely devastating for his family, for the Pasifika community, for NZ and beyond.

“Efeso was a rare person. The Pasifika community is not well endowed with community leaders like Efeso – ethical, strong, community-minded.”

‘Stand out community leader’
Tukuitonga noted Fa’anānā’s contribution to students when he became the first Polynesian president of the Auckland University Students’ Association in the late 1990s.

“He did a lot at university for students, for local government. He was a stand-out community leader. A number of us were hopeful he would also have an impact at national Parliament, no doubt his legacy will live on in many of the things he had supported.”

National candidate and longtime friend Fonoti Agnes Loheni said he was “a very special person”.

“I am grateful for our friendship. His faith in God made him strong. He was a very fearless and fierce voice for the poor. He had a big heart of service. He was not only an advocate but also a man of action,” she said.

Loheni acknowledged his family, wife and two girls, saying just last week they had connected during his induction into Parliament and he shared with her just how much he loved his family.

“He was catching me up on his wife and his daughter. That was it for him, being a husband and a father were the main roles for him. The most important.”

Loss felt across region
Former minister for Pacific peoples Aupito William Sio said the loss was being felt across the region.

Tonga’s Princess also paid tribute online.

“It was no mystery to any of us in the islands how loved he was by many of our Pasifika community in New Zealand.”

Shocked to hear of the sudden passing of @efesocollins It was no mystery to any of us in the islands how loved he was by many of our Pasifika community in New Zealand. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends. Toka aa ‘i he nonga moe melino ‘a e ‘Eiki 🙏 pic.twitter.com/XBnJkNhooi

— Frederica (@FredericaTuita) February 21, 2024

Sio said: “His [Fa’anānā’s] profile reached the four corners of the Pacific region. He was getting support from overseas when he ran for mayor. He gave everybody the belief that anybody can achieve the highest office in NZ society. Even though he didn’t win it he got major endorsements from two political parties and made everyone hopeful of the future.”

Sio said Fa’anānā was always speaking truth to power, recalling the night of his swearing-in as an Auckland councillor.

“He confronted racism and discrimination in the council. I think he made everyone uncomfortable and made them reflect on their behaviours. I think he was fearless, he woke everybody up. It enabled the next generation to build some confidence in who they were.”

Friends and colleagues of Fa’anānā have told RNZ Pacific their thoughts were with his family, wife and children.

‘He was always there to help’
Hana Schmidt, a director of Papatoetoe-based, Pasifika-led creative agency Bluwave, counted Fa’anānā as one of her mentors and supporters.

She told RNZ Nights that a lot of young people were able to relate to him and speak to him, because he could relate to their experiences growing up in South Auckland

“He was an awesome person gave a lot of guidance to those in south Auckland who are in the community space, and also the business space and the governance space.”

She said he was always there to help, and wasn’t always wearing his political hat

“He would rather have genuine connections with the youth that he did come into contact with, the conversations were very genuine and close to heart.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Nearly 40 percent of Pacific people in Aotearoa New Zealand live in crowded homes — almost four times that of the general population, according to a new report.

The report by Statistics New Zealand was based on data from the 2018 Census, which showed 39 percent lived in a home that required additional bedrooms for the number of people living in it, which shows no progress has been made since 2013.

The data showed nearly 60 percent of households with Pacific people had more than five residents. But with more than 65 percent of Pacific people living in rented homes, just 4 percent of rented homes had five or more bedrooms.

An organisation supporting Pacific families said, while intergenerational living and big households are not new to the Pacific community, there was an urgent need to support people suffering from the negative impacts of overcrowded living.

The Fono’s spokesperson Frank Koloi said during the pandemic, large Pacific families were already straining from the pressures of looking after visiting relatives stranded in the lockdowns.

He said the unaffordability of homes and the rising cost of living is another blow to intergenerational households struggling to get by.

Koloi said there were a range of other issues typically seen in crowded homes.

‘Truancy in schools’
“From truancy in schools, family violence … the current outbreak of measles and rheumatic fever is still prominent within Pacific families in south Auckland,” he said.

“So there’s a real need to address the overcrowded homes in terms of resourcing these families.”

Koloi said the Fono was supporting these families with wrap-around services, including budgeting advice, supporting kids going back to school and helping people into higher paying jobs through upskilling.

Stats NZ’s wellbeing and housing statistics manager Sarah Drake said the current growing Pacific population was often unsupported, particularly in large urban areas like Auckland — where even unsuitable housing can be unaffordable to rent or own.

The data also showed more than half of people living in crowded homes had a problem with damp, cold, mould, or needed major repairs.

Stats NZ’s principal analyst of census insights, Rosemary Goodyear, said they would like to see more people from the Pacific community do the Census this year so that their circumstances and voices could be heard.

In 2018, just 35 percent of Pacific peoples lived in owner-occupied homes, compared with 64 percent of the total population.

The homelessness rate for Pacific peoples was 578 people per 10,000 — more than double that of the general population.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Some South Auckland locals are hitting back at online hate directed at the area and its Pasifika community, after a local family was the first to test positive for covid-19 in the current New Zealand outbreak.

Four positive cases ballooned to a 58-case cluster after 102 days of no community transmission.

Auckland City’s Manukau Ward councillor Alf Filipaina was disgusted by the unfair vitriol directed towards South Auckland and it’s Pacific community.

“Everybody knows this virus doesn’t pick on colour. Because we’re in the lower socio-economic area and we have bigger families, it actually goes through the whole family very quickly,” he said.

Aside from the threat of the virus, Filipaina said job security was a concern for people in the area.

“Some have said, ‘look, we don’t know – even though [the level 3 lock down] is until [August] 26 – whether we’ll have a job to go back to,” he said.

“That’s not a very good feeling.”

Negativity not representative
Otahuhu College principal Neil Watson did not think those spreading negativity online represented most people.

“The South Auckland and the Pasifika community here is a fantastically strong and powerful community with so much future,” he said.

“I think what you see on social media is always a small minority of people. What you see everyday in school and in our community is a fantastic community doing the very best to support and help each other.”

Bill Peace, operations manager for social service Strive Community Trust, said people now know what to expect from level 3.

There was a rush to grocery stores when the latest lockdown was first announced.

But now, he said, people are feeling much calmer compared to the last lockdown.

“If there’s any long line its actually [for] the covid testing, that’s gone crazy.”

Peace called the online hate disappointing, but said he isn’t letting it get to him.

“We just think positive in that space. It’s our hood we’re talking about. We’re here from day one and we’ll continue to support our communities, regardless of what people are saying about them,” he said.

Testing centres in Ōtara and Mangere have been seeing a steady stream of visitors, with each centre handling around 500 to 600 tests a day each.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

• All RNZ coverage of covid-19
• If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP – don’t show up at a medical centre.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Dr Nakhid, who is also chair of the PMC Pacific Media Centre’s Advisory Board, recognised that domestic violence impacted on people from a range of cultural and religious backgrounds, and sought the experiences of a diverse group.

She spoke with young African Muslim men and women, and Middle Eastern women based in Auckland as well as a group of Latin American mothers, among others.

“One common thread that was evident was a ‘culture of silence’ that stopped women in particular from speaking out due to the shame and stigma,” Dr Nakhid said.

“There is also the perception for men from migrant and refugee communities that their status is undermined, due to being a minority in New Zealand.”

In her research on these issues, Dr Nakhid found that the E Tū Whānau programme’s exploration of Kaupapa Māori was beneficial to addressing the issue of domestic violence in these communities.

“Many migrant and refugee communities share similar values to Māori,” Camille said. “Māori values of aroha, community and family are very much aligned with Latin American and Muslim communities – much more so than European values.”

“Looking at what Māori were doing to address domestic violence in their communities, from a Māori perspective, the E Tū Whānau movement, whose kaupapa is inclusive and quick to embrace refugee and migrant communities was invaluable to the migrant and refugee communities.”

“A big part of E Tū Whānau’s philosophy is strengths-based. There is a shift in focus from the largely negative messaging associated with domestic violence awareness campaigns, to a more positive one.” Dr Nakhid said.

She was recognised for services to ethnic communities and education in the 2018 New Years Honours List, becoming a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3

Report by Pacific Media Centre ]]>