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© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    Showing 9 of 254 news items in Policy & Governance
    Tyler Oroanu is set to amplify young voices in New Zealand Youth Parliament
    Policy & GovernanceJune 16, 2025

    Tyler Oroanu is set to amplify young voices in New Zealand Youth Parliament

    Photo: Supplied via PMN ([pmn.co.nz](https://pmn.co.nz)) In less than a month, over 150 young people from across New Zealand will gather in Wellington for Youth Parliament, and Tyler Oroanu will be among them. He will represent Labour MP Jenny Salesa at the two-day event in Parliament. Speaking on Pacific Mornings, Oroanu shares that his passion for politics developed during the Covid-19 lockdown. “I’ve always been like an eternal politics nerd,” Oroanu says. “There were quite a few people encouraging me to put my hand up when applications came around for Youth Parliament. I wasn’t convinced I was going to get it.” Oroanu is driven to represent the voices of young people, particularly Pacific youth from his home community of Panmure-Ōtāhuhu. “My opinion has always been that if I’m not going to do it, I don’t know who else will.”

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    French Senate to vote on post-cyclone ‘refoundation’ bill for Mayotte
    Policy & GovernanceJune 3, 2025

    French Senate to vote on post-cyclone ‘refoundation’ bill for Mayotte

    The French Senate is poised to approve a landmark bill aimed at revitalising the overseas department of Mayotte, signalling a renewed commitment to a region grappling with multiple crises. The draft programme bill, which sets out nearly €4 billion in state investment over the next seven years, marks what the government calls an “historic step” in the reconstruction and future development of the Indian Ocean archipelago. More than five months after Cyclone Chido [wreaked havoc on Mayotte](https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20241223-day-of-mourning-in-france-for-mayotte-destroyed-by-cyclone), the government is seeking to rebuild not just infrastructure, but trust and hope. Located between the Comoros and Madagascar, Mayotte is France’s 101st department and its poorest. The bill being discussed tackles [wide-ranging issues](https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20241231-french-pm-bayrou-unveils-mayotte-standing-reconstruction-plan) from healthcare and education to housing, security, and migration.

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    Changing legal obligations on climate action
    Policy & GovernanceJune 3, 2025

    Changing legal obligations on climate action

    **Photo Source:** Image via [Islands Business](https://islandsbusiness.com/news-break/changing-legal-obligations-on-climate-action/) – all rights and credits belong to the original publisher. Pacific Small Island Developing States and other developing nations are mobilising to call for new international legal norms, to ensure that industrialised nations meet their obligations on climate, development and oceans protection. As governments gather in France for this month’s [UN Conference on the Ocean](https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/ocean2025), Vanuatu and other PSIDS have been seeking international court rulings on the responsibility of states for climate action. From 2021, Vanuatu led an international campaign calling on the UN General Assembly to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on climate change and human rights. In March 2023, the General Assembly formally asked the ICJ – the world’s highest court in The Hague, Netherlands – to clarify states’ obligations around climate change and the consequences of breaching these obligations. Laat year, the court received submissions from nearly 100 governments and international organisations, then held hearings and arguments over two weeks in December. The ICJ judges are now considering their ruling, which will be released this year – possibly in coming months.

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    African islands under threat: what to do about Trump’s withdrawal from climate change agreement
    Policy & GovernanceMay 26, 2025

    African islands under threat: what to do about Trump’s withdrawal from climate change agreement

    President Donald Trump’s [executive order withdrawing](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/putting-america-first-in-international-environmental-agreements/) the US from the [Paris Agreement](https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement) raises the question of the implications for small African Indian Ocean island states. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It entered into [force](https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement#:%7E:text=The%20Paris%20Agreement%20is%20a,force%20on%204%20November%202016.) in November 2016 and aims to limit global temperature rises below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. The executive order, “[Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/putting-america-first-in-international-environmental-agreements/)”, signifies the intention of the US to withdraw from this agreement.

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    UN court backs Equatorial Guinea in Gabon dispute over islands in oil-rich waters
    Policy & GovernanceMay 26, 2025

    UN court backs Equatorial Guinea in Gabon dispute over islands in oil-rich waters

    The United Nation’s top court has sided with Equatorial Guinea in a row with Gabon over three islands in potentially oil-rich waters. The two Central African countries have been arguing over the isles – Conga, Mbanié and Cocoteros – since the early 1970s. The islands are virtually uninhabited but are in a maritime zone thought to contain significant oil deposits. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Equatorial Guinea’s claim – based on a 1900 treaty dividing up French and Spanish colonial assets – should be honoured. The court dismissed Gabon’s central argument – that a more recent treaty, the 1974 Bata convention, had switched the islands’ sovereignty in its favour. In a final and binding ruling, the ICJ said Conga, Mbanié and Cocoteros were held by Spain, and then passed to its former colony Equatorial Guinea at independence in 1968.

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    The Cabildo de Gran Canaria (the island’s government) presented its work on climate change mitigation and adaptation in Poland
    Policy & GovernanceMay 26, 2025

    The Cabildo de Gran Canaria (the island’s government) presented its work on climate change mitigation and adaptation in Poland

    Through the Department of Environment, Climate, Energy and Knowledge, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria has presented at the fourth Forum of the European Union’s Climate Change Adaptation Mission, being held these days in the Polish city of Wrocław, the work that the island corporation and the Gran Canaria Island Energy Council (Consejo Insular de la Energía (CIEGC) in Spanish) are carrying out to advance climate change mitigation and adaptation and their associated risks. The meeting was attended by the Environment, Climate, Energy and Knowledge Councilor of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Raúl García Brink, invited by the European Union along with the island Energy Director, Alexis Lozano, and he shared with attendees the projects being developed on the Island through European programs such as Natalie or Life Costa Adapta, as well as the technical assistance that has been received from the Climate Change Adaptation Mission.

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    Bahrain Must Rethink Its Stand on the SIDS Classification
    Policy & GovernanceMay 20, 2025

    Bahrain Must Rethink Its Stand on the SIDS Classification

    **The UN and SIDS** The Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) of 1994, a policy document that emerged from a conference mandated by the UN General Assembly, was one of the first steps towards recognising that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have their own peculiar vulnerabilities and characteristics. UN Support for this group of states comes through the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS). The office mobilises international support and raises awareness about the economic, social and environmental characteristics of these countries. **Bahrain Opting Out** Notably, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Bahrain was removed from the UN SIDS classification in April 2023 at its own request. The reasons behind this request were not communicated, neither domestically nor on the global stage, despite the potential negative implications for the country. In essence, Bahrain has opted out of the special considerations it had, by acknowledgement of its own Supreme Council for Environment, despite the increased vulnerabilities that it faces and the relatively limited capacities that it has.

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    Advancing Sustainable Development for Islands Worldwide
    Policy & GovernanceMay 20, 2025

    Advancing Sustainable Development for Islands Worldwide

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    One Voice for Europe’s Islands: the 2025 General Assembly of the CPMR Islands Commission sets the tone for a resilient future – New Perspectives for European Islands
    Policy & GovernanceMay 20, 2025

    One Voice for Europe’s Islands: the 2025 General Assembly of the CPMR Islands Commission sets the tone for a resilient future – New Perspectives for European Islands

    Photo credit: © CPMR Islands Commission Singularities, opportunities, sustainability – three crucial topics that shaped two days of lively debate during the 2025 General Assembly of the Islands Commission. The event brought together regional, national and international representatives in the historical atmosphere of the Museo Insular in Santa Cruz de La Palma (Canary Islands). The Assembly opened with the welcome speech of Mr. Fernando Clavijo Batlle, President of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands, who emphasized the need to defend EU’s core values of diversity and respect for singularities, especially in the current unstable geopolitical context. Mr. Filip Reinhag, Regional Commissioner of Gotland and President of the CPMR joined him and reaffirmed the Islands Commission’s missions: amplifying the voice of islands in European policies, securing fairer opportunities and fostering sustainable development. Mr. Artur Lima, Vice-President of the Regional Government of the Azores underlined the importance of the IC General Assembly as a key moment for the collective representation and empowerment of island territories.

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