Tuvalu

Fenui News reports people residing near the western coast of the island were evacuated to Liutala Maneapa and Vaipuna Primary School as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the island.

Strong winds overnight brought down trees and pushed the MV Tuvalu onto the beach.

Kosi Latu, who will become Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme in Samoa next month said Prime Minister Sopoaga, leader of the small island nation of Tuvalu, as lead negotiator and spokesman of the Pacific led from the front, braving long negotiation sessions till the early hours of the next day.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga called for the small island developing states to band together and fight off “serious attempts” to drive a wedge between them.

The call highlights the tensions emerging between even the most tight-knit collections of countries in Paris after days of lengthy and slow negotiations.

The Prime Minister is upset he wasn't invited to a meeting between some Pacific Island nations, including Kiribati, and United States President Barack Obama last week.

Prime Minister of Tuvalu Enele Sopoaga said the negotiations are painfully 'slow,' as he went onto accuse the bigger countries of employing delaying tactics.

Known as Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, INDC for short, these plans outline among things carbon emission reduction targets each country is committed to. Two island nations, Tuvalu and Palau submitted their INDCs the last 48 hours, on the eve of the opening of the final rounds of climate change negotiations in Paris.

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.