#COP21: '1.5 to stay alive', historic climate deal but not good for the Pacific

A creative Fijian response to COP21 ... "no more Facebook. No more rugby ... and we're no more!'

From Pacific Media Watch:

By Makereta Komai, editor of Pacnews, in Paris

THE three major oil and gas economies - Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela - have emerged as the main stumbling block to the push by Pacific and Small Island Developing States to limit global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius at the climate negotiations in Paris.

Climate Action Network, an association of more than 100 powerful civil society groups around the world that follow the negotiations, said the three countries refused to shift their positions, citing their own vulnerabilities.

 BREAKING NEWS: Historic deal praised – but criticised by Pacific commentators
    Pacific commentators were quick to criticise the 31-page pact dubbed the “Paris Agreement” with Fiji-based Islands Business editor Samisoni Pareti tweeting from Paris: “Not a good deal ... 2 watered down, no below 1.5, no loss n (sic) damage, God save the Pacific!"

“As you can understand the economies of Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are dependent on fossils. Clearly what the small islands are asking for – to phase out oil and gas will affect their economies big time," said Martin Kaiser of Greenpeace.

Saudi Arabia argued that, like the small islands, it is also faced with extreme weather events like flooding, heat waves and drought.

“The small and vulnerable nations have stood their ground of 1.5 degrees in the negotiations despite the attacks by Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela," said Kaiser.

Climate change, environmental journalism and better media ethics

Pacific Media Watch editor Alistar Kata interviewing Kiribati Independent editor Taberannang Korauaba
about his climate change research in Micronesia at last night's seminar. Photo: Del Abcede/PMC

FIVE YEARS ago, as an environmental journalist and journalism educator, I attended “Oceans, Islands and Skies” – the Oceanic Conference of Creativity and Climate Change – at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji.

I found this a very moving, stimulating and inspiring experience. Until then, I had largely worked on the global and Pacific political dimensions of climate change.

There Once Was An Island

At that conference I found myself thrust among a tremendously talented group of people from all over the globe. And it was where I first encountered Briar March’s remarkable documentary There Once Was An Island: Te Henua e Nnoho about the plight of the people of Takuu, a tiny Polynesian atoll in Papua New Guinea, also known as Takuu Mortlock.

The islanders were confronted with the harsh reality of rising seas and climate change and were forced to make a decision about whether to abandon their traditional Pacific homeland for the coast of Bougainville. (They were divided, some left for Bougainville - mostly younger people, others stayed).

In many ways this is an iconic storytelling of the reality of climate change told by the islanders themselves.

Kiribati state silence stalls independent publisher

LAST MAY, Café Pacific challenged the "gagging tactics" of President Tong's government over an upstart newspaper in Kiribati. For more than five months avoided granting a publication licence to the Kiribati Independent, regarded as an "opposition" voice. It was ordered to close until licensed. Finally, police intimidated the newspaper by visiting the office. Declaring it was acting legally by publishing the small-circulation paper pending government green light, editor and publisher Taberannang Korauaba decided to suspend publication "indefinitely" while awaiting the paperwork to be sorted out.

Unfortunately, the patience of the newspaper team - which concentrated on the Auckland-based web edition instead - hasn't paid off. For the past six months, the Kiribati Independent has been stonewalled with silence by the Communications Ministry. Korauaba and two of his staff have lately been making available copies of a limited circulation publication by email to free subscribers. This is what Pacific Media Watch reported today on the topic:

     “We are publishing with a view to updating our readers with news from NZ and Kiribati,” Korauaba said.

    “Also, the idea is to keep doing our job and to see if we can get advertising to pay for the writers in Tarawa.

    “I have also decided to launch a weekly news service and to sell our stories to stations that are interested in buying our English-language news every week.”

    Korauaba has published the Auckland-based Kiribati and Tuvalu for the two communities and income generated from advertising has been maintain reporters in Tarawa.

    Early last year the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders wrote a formal protest to the Kiribati government in support of the Kiribati Independent when the Communications Ministry failed to issue a publication licence.

    Last June, police visited the paper’s Tarawa office and the newspaper ceased publication while awaiting a licence.

    Since then, the newspaper has had no communication from authorities.

    Other media freedom groups - including International Federation of Journalists, Pacific Media Watch, Pacific Media Centre and Pacific Freedom Forum – also appealed last year to the Communications Ministry to grant the newspaper a licence without political interference.

    It is believed that the newspaper's sole distributor was intimidated by police inquiries and staff have been subjected to threatening anonymous emails.

    The newspaper's legal advice at the time was that the law had not been broken.

    The Kiribati Independent was the fourth newspaper in the country, published fortnightly and had a circulation of about 500. It was printed by the Catholic Church's Maria Printers.

•  Other Kiribati Independent stories
•  Stop press: The Kiribati Independent plans to resume publication of its print edition in Kiribati next week. ALREADY PUBLISHING  

Why the gagging tactics over the Kiribati Independent?

WHY IS the Communications Ministry in Tarawa dragging its feet over registration for the Kiribati Independent newspaper? Five months waiting for registration and lots of confused messages in the process. Perhaps the answer is simple. Café Pacific understands the new newspaper with its Auckland-based online edition is a bit of a political embarrassment for President Anote Tong’s government.

Twice the new newspaper has been ordered to stop publication since December while officials dither over the formalities under the Newspaper Registration Act.

In March, the Kiribati Independent published stories featuring the reputed “richest woman in Kiribati”, New Zealander Joyce Lieven and her alleged relationship with the government. Businesswoman Joyce Lieven is daughter of the late NZ businessman Norman Lieven and reportedly a “close friend” of the ruling party and President Tong (pictured).

One story focused on a donation of AUD$24,000 to Joyce Lieven’s Mauri Festival last December during the presidential campaign. Donations are normally given to not-for-profit groups but the Mauri Festival it is not an NGO, it was reportedly a Lieven business venture.

In March, the Kiribati Independent reported about a 2010 government contract worth AUD$80,000 awarded to Lieven’s brother to build a copra shelter in Teraina Island in the Line and Phoenix group. The newspaper reported that “there was no copra shelter and the contract money had been used up”, said KI publisher and editor Taberannang Korauaba (pictured above with Maria Printers staff).

President Tong reportedly threatened to sue the newspaper over allegations about a AUD$1 million  junior secondary schools transport contract involving Joyce Lieven, claims denied by the national leader. A lawsuit hasn’t eventuated, but the Communications Ministry has again stalled over registering the newspaper and ordered it to stop publishing. Read more on the KI website:

Ministry of Communications demands closure of Kiribati Independent


TARAWA – Sunday, 20 May 2012 – The Ministry of Communications has ordered, for the second time, Kiribati Independent (KI) newspaper to cease publication immediately.
The latest instruction was received on Friday, 18 May 2012. Ruatu Titaake says the ministry has received affidavits from the publisher and printer. But he says:  “This never meant to allow you to publish KI newspaper straight away while your application for registration is still being processed.”
Ruatu says the publisher should have aware of the provisions in the Newspaper Registration Act that all newspaper publishers should be properly registered before making any publication.
“In accordance with those provisions, you have been instructed to cease the publication of Kiribati Independent (KI) and to follow the proper procedure for KI registration. Despite this instruction, you have published several KI newspapers without proper authority and continue to do so until your last issue on 4 May 2012.” 
With your continual ignorance to the procedure, I regret to inform you that the Ministry still not recognise the publication and advise the publisher again to cease the publication of KI immediately and to await proper registration.
Publisher and editor, Taberannang Korauaba, who lives in New Zealand, says there is a lot of confusion here. “The law requires us to deposit our affidavits, we have done that.” Then they asked us about the stamp of a New Zealand solicitor, now they instructed us to cease publication.”
“There is hidden agenda and political motive in this instruction,” he says.
In December 2011, the ministry advised the publisher to wait while his application to register was processed. The lawyer acting on KI’s behalf, advised the publisher there was no need to wait for their decision.
The lawyer said the publisher, editor and printer were required by law to deposit their affidavits. The newspaper can publish once these affidavits have been deposited.
Kiribati Independent will seek the advice of its lawyer on this latest instruction.

In one message to the Communications Ministry on May 18, Korauaba asked: “[Do] you want Kiribati Independent to wait while its application is being processed or don't you want the paper to publish at all for hidden and political reasons?” 

For the ministry, Ruata Titaake (for the Communications Secretary) replied on May 21: “You may or may not intend to publish for political reasons but our intention is to encourage all our local publishers to obey and respect our own laws that govern all citizens of Kiribati.”

• Pacific Media Watch report
• 'You are wrong,' says President Anote Tong
• 'Respect law' ministry tells newspaper
• PMC slams Kiribati ministry for 'muzzling' independent paper

Tabs goes for a publishing strike three!

ALL power to Warkworth's Tabs Korauaba and his Tuvaluan partner, who have launched a new pan-Pacific paper this week. Café Pacific hopes the monthly Pacific Community News succeeds where other ventures have failed. Tabs, originally a broadcast journalist from Kiribati, got his print creds the hard way - by publishing Tematairiki and Rodney Today. Both went under. The reason? No team, no mission, no funding, he admits. But Tabs reckons he has now absorbed the tough lessons from the two previous publications. Third time lucky?

It is a highly competitive market. It's also hard to judge a readership across several distinct Pasifika communities. The Samoa Observer is making big inroads into Auckland and now has its own Auckland Pacific Today publishing on Fridays. However, this time Tabs does have a team and a clear business goal. He has teamed up with a successful businessman who will handle accounts, marketing and advertising while Tabs looks after the editorial side. He also has a couple of English first-language speakers to do the proof-reading. He says:

Some pan-Pacific papers have been launched before and they went under. I think the problem was that they didn't have enough planning, didn't have a committed team, were impatient and, of course, they didn't have enough advertising. But that's in the past. This is today. I always remind myself that being a publisher means not dwelling on the past so that it doesn't control the future. We talked with some businesses and they liked our positive vision so they came on board. And after six months ads will really start to roll.

Asked about Samoan journalist Malia Sio's "breaking away or breaking in?" comments about Pacific vs mainstream media on her blog, Tabs says:

That's her view. But I am not very keen on 'talking' - I am a doer and I always experiment on new things. But she musn't worry, because we're not going to hide bad stories about Pacific Islanders. We'll let the community talk about its own problems and its own solutions. Reporting about crimes and negative stuff are not helping at all. Successful people achieve their potential because they are positive throughout their lives.

Right on, Tabs. Go for it!

• Dominika White on 'Positive' community news
• Malia Sio on Breaking away or breaking in?