A Joint Communication proposing actions for safe, secure, clean and sustainably managed oceans has been adopted by the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. The initiative would make it possible to address certain global challenges such as climate change, poverty, food security, piracy, crime, trafficking in human beings, through better protected and sustainably managed oceans, whose economy has been estimated at EUR 1.3 trillion.

In a world-first, the Pacific has launched a regional industry association for practitioners involved in climate change, disasters and other sectors related to building resilience. The Pacific Regional Federation for Resilience Professionals will boost the skills, education, training and employment opportunities for diverse professionals dedicated to climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and maintaining ecosystem services in a highly vulnerable region. The launch by the European Union, Pacific community, and The University of the South Pacific took place at the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management in Suva, Fiji, within the margins of Pacific Resilience Week 2016.

The newly refurbished Nadi District Emergency Operations Centre and the Western Division Emergency Operations Centre - Planning Office and Divisional Controller’s Office in Lautoka were opened today. This was made possible through the European Union funded ACP-EU Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific project which is implemented by the Pacific Community. The cost of the project was $92,236. Permanent Secretary for Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management Meleti Bainimarama says the new office will ensure government services are not disrupted during an emergency.

In many regions of central and northern Tanzania, lives and livelihoods suffer from periodic weather-related stress, particularly from below-normal rainfall. The resulting crop failures and loss of livestock increases economic hardship, forcing thousands of families to skip meals, sell assets, cut back on medical care, or stop attending school. While these strategies help populations live through difficult times, they dampen quality of life and limit opportunities for development.

The European Union Ambassador to the Pacific says the ratification of the Paris Agremeent on climate change owes a lot to the efforts and cooperation between the EU and Pacific nations. Andrew Jacobs is attending the Coalition of Atoll Nations on Climate Change Leaders Summit with other government heads in Tuvalu this week. Mr Jacobs said together the Pacific and EU were at the heart of the High Ambition Coalition which ensured that the Paris Agreement was robust and ambitious. With ratifications this week the Agreement enters into force in November.

Poor harvests, hunger and rising food prices: climate change threatens food production around the world. The solution to all of this could be free trade, researcher Hermann Lotze-Campen told EurActiv Germany. Hermann Lotze-Campen is chair of the department for Climate Impacts and Vulnerabilities at the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and is the co-author of a new study on the influence of climate change on economic losses in agriculture. A new PIK study, which you co-authored, says that even a small increase in average temperature may have consequences on regional crops.

From January 2016, thousands of pastoralists arrived in Djibouti from the Somali region of Ethiopia and from the Somaliland Region of Somalia, fleeing one of the most severe droughts of the last decade. Many pregnant women and children under five among the displaced showed signs of acute malnutrition and anemia. Half of the adult men and women were underweight and many were suffering chronic coughs, tuberculosis and diarrheal diseases. In April 2016, the number of displaced pastoralists totalled 9,650 in different settlement sites in Ali-Sabieh, Dickhil and Obock regions of Djibouti.

The first enhanced political dialogue between the Independent State of Samoa and the European Union under Article 8 of the ACP-EU partnership (Cotonou) Agreement was held in Apia on 4 of October. The discussions covered political and economic developments in Samoa and the European Union as well as key strategic topics of mutual interest for both sides. The meeting was chaired on the Samoan side by the Honourable Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, and by HE Mr Andrew Jacobs, Head of Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific.

EU-GIZ partnership to benefit island communities and schools through improved supply of clean water, access to solar-powered electricity and fuel from biogas. Fourteen Pacific island countries and Timor Leste are working on 22 projects to increase resilience and improve access to fresh water and energy for island communities. The projects are funded by the European Union, through their EDF10 Pacific Regional Programme (PRIP).

Europe is at last fully converted to the merits of boosting investment in order to achieve sustainable growth. The EU is doing so with an internal investment plan (commonly referred to as the Juncker Plan or as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), writes San Bilal. San Bilal is the Head of the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) Economic Transformation and Trade Programme. In his State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced the doubling of its duration and its amount, to at least €500 billion.