Tuvalu

The International Solar Alliance was launched by India in late 2015 and has about 40 countries as members.

The Alliance's aim is to undertake innovative efforts to develop solar power technology at a reduced cost.

India's government said the Alliance is seeking investment to promote energy security and access for its members.

Any country located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn is eligible to join the Alliance.

Vanuatu is also a member.

Photo: AFP

 Sopoaga insisted that the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders should focus their discussions and deliberations on issues of common concern to the Pacific and not on “high politics such as North Korea.”
 
Speaking to Talamua just after the meeting communiqué was released, Sopoaga was very vocal in his thoughts about the North Korean issue and how the Pacific leaders responded to it quicker and made very little mention of the climate change insurance.
 

Mr Sopoaga, who leads a country already experiencing sea level rise, is at the Pacific Forum leaders’ summit in Apia where climate change is on the agenda.

He said given the US president Donald Trump's dismissal of the agreement, nations needed to work multi-laterally to ensure there is trust and respect in the interests of saving humanity.

The centre issued warnings for Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, New Caledonia, Tuvalu and Kosrae.

It said people near impacted coastal areas should stay alert and exercise normal caution near the sea.

American Samoa had issued a tsunami watch following the earthquake but that was later cancelled.

The quake, which hit just before 5am local time on Friday morning, was initially reported to be of magnitude 8 by the US Geological Service but was downgraded shortly afterwards.

This could potentially derail a legally binding agreement from being reached at the United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change or COP21, currently underway in Paris.

Speaking to a packed press conference at the COP21 summit here on 3 December, PM Sopoaga said that while he appreciated statements made by world leaders during the COP21 plenary sessions, progress was still “painfully slow” and had resulted in little progress in Paris, much like other COP meetings in Durban, Doha, Warsaw and Lima.

From Tuvalu in the South Pacific, Foreign Minister Taukelina Finikaso noted that climate is an existential issue for his small island nation, whose highest point is only 15 feet above sea level.

“Sea level rise continues to inundate many of our small island coastlines and inundate our food plantations,” he said. “That is a security issue, an urgent one and an inter-generational one. It is an existential issue for Tuvalu and other Pacific countries and also bigger populated countries in the flood plains, and wilt displace many people.

The country relies on unpredictable and volatile revenue sources, such as fishing fees, licensing fees for its ".tv" internet domain, and development assistance, making fiscal sustainability a challenge.

The bank's director for the Pacific Subregional Office, Robert Jauncey, says the policy reform programme hopes to promote public procurement policies and regulations to address these challenges.

The government hopes to support public enterprise reforms and maximise government efficiency and transparency.

The Premier Toke Talagi handed over a cheque for US$6,300 to his Tuvalu counterpart, Enele Sopoaga, during the recent Pacific Forum summit.

Niue has very close links with Tuvalu, with a number of Tuvalu nationals living on the island.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga wants this message relayed to the French Prime Minister through their ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and Tuvalu, Michel Djokovic.

He made the comment at the signing of a maritime boundary agreement for Fiji, France and Tuvalu.

"We're signing at this moment on the eve of the world coming to Paris to try and conclude a legally binding agreement.

Enele Sopoaga says he had hoped for stronger action at the recent Pacific Islands Forum meeting but he says the failure to achieve that has not weakened his resolve.

PM Sopoaga says he will now take his call to the UN Sustainable Development meeting in New York at the end of the month.