Media Releases
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fiji
PM Voreqe Bainimarama's Statement at the Virtual Launch of Norway-Pacific Oceans and Climate Scholarship Project
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PM Bainimarama with (Top Right) Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Dr Satyendra Prasad, Prof Edvard Hviding of University of Bergen, Deputy Permanent Rep of Norway to UN Odd-Inge Kvalheim, Rector of University of Bergen Dag Olsen
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Bula Vinaka.
Despite the artificial lines dividing the world’s maritime regions, our ocean is a single, connected resource. From the fjords (“fee-awdz”) meeting the North Sea to the reefs encircling South Pacific Islands, the aquatic life sustained by our seas all share one global habitat and one future. That is why the Pacific Island Countries and Norway, while separated by over 15,000 kilometres, share a profound commitment to the health of our one ocean.
Norwegians and Pacific Islanders are oceanic peoples –– we have been for all of recorded history. As human-fuelled climate change has intensified, we’ve had a front row seat to its ravaging impact on the ocean’s health and –– as a result –– on the livelihoods of our citizens.
We know our climate and oceans are naturally linked, but there is still a great deal beyond our current understanding. We must meet those vast unknowns with complex and combined intellectual efforts, and we need the best and brightest minds of the Pacific enlisted in that academic pursuit.
From our seats on the Oceans Panel, Prime Minister Solberg, President Remengesau and I have long lamented the lack of Pacific Ocean’s experts –– from that mutual concern arose the Norway-Pacific Ocean-Climate Scholarship Project.
Minister Ulstein, please express to Prime Minister Solberg Fiji’s appreciation for Norway’s generous support of 24 scholarships for Pacific Island students to pursue the advanced study of oceans and climate change –– support valued at Six Million Fijian Dollars.
This new partnership, from the halls of Fiji's University of the South Pacific and Norway’s University of Bergen, will cultivate the next generation of Pacific Island oceans leaders –– bringing together the experiences of our people with world-leading oceans and climate expertise.
As our ocean ecosystems buckle under the strain of a changing climate and reckless human abuses, we need young minds at the forefront of preserving oceanic food security, understanding how land activities impact coastal sustenance, leveraging traditional knowledge to secure sustainable livelihoods, and so much more.
We need ideas, borne in Pacific minds and backed by science, that can transform humanity’s relationship with the ocean and marine life. Thanks to the commitment of Norway, Fiji and our fellow Pacific Island Countries –– more young people across the Pacific can contribute to the cutting-edge science behind the oceans-climate nexus.
Vinaka and Thank you.
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Several members of Public Accounts Committee of the Fijian Parliament visiting Wellington this week took advantage of a visit to the Wellington City Council’s Southern Landfill yesterday to glean a few ideas for waste management in Fiji. This included the Hon. Alexander O’Connor, Assistant Minister for Health, Ratu Suliano Matanitobua, Opposition parliamentarian and Ms. Priya Chand, Parliamentary Secretary who were accompanied by the Fiji High Commission New Zealand staff.
The Southern landfill is an impressive setup particularly as it focuses on recycling and minimising the damage to the environment at the landfill.
Other remarkable features of the landfill were its gas collection, electricity regeneration, green waste mulching and water table management. The Hon. O’Connor, an engineer by profession, was particularly impressed and intends to develop a few ideas for the Fijian Government to consider.
The PAC members were invited to attend the Pacific PAC training seminar in Wellington facilitated by UNDP from the 12th to the 13th December.
The PAC members, including Deputy Chair, Hon. Mohammed Dean, MP, were hosted to afternoon tea at the Fiji Chancery. It was an opportunity for the Parliamentarians to meet the Locally Engaged Staff at the Mission and also update the staff on the work and concerns of the Public A
