Fiji has an abundance of natural resources, and lacks the intense demographic, economic and industrial pressures that cause many serious environmental issues.

Marine sites are equally under pressure.

The world’s best-known coral reefs could be extinct by the end of the century unless we do more to make them resilient to our warming oceans.

Infections have plummeted from over 308,000 cases weekly at the start of the year to less than 20,000 in the week ending 10 April.

Addressing the Our Ocean Conference in Palau on Thursday, the President of the UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, urged the international community to expand protective areas of the ocean, support the scientific community and tackle plastic pollution.

As the coronavirus which causes COVID-19 continues to evolve, we cannot afford to ‘lose sight’ of the changes, the UN health agency said on Wednesday, warning that lower case numbers and deaths do not necessarily mean ‘lower risk’.

Millions of displaced families across eastern Africa will fall deeper into hunger as food rations dwindle due to humanitarian resources being stretched to the limit as the world grapples with a toxic cocktail of conflict, climate shocks, and COVID-19, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday.

The fallout from the war in Ukraine could dramatically worsen the economic outlook for developing countries already grappling with debt financing related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN said in a report published on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday, welcomed the setting up of a new Heads of State and Government Group to get the world back on track to reduce premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart and lung disease, by a third – in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Economic growth in developing countries within the vast region, is projected to fall to 4.5 per cent in 2022 and five per cent during 2023, compared with an estimated growth rate of 7.1 per cent in 2021.