Forum welcomes Norway support for PhD scholarships to USP 

COP26, Glasgow, November 8, 2021—News of 24 Pacific doctoral scholarships in climate and oceans will usher in a “sea-change of Oceans research led by and for Ocean’s people,” says Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General and Ocean’s Commissioner, Henry Puna.  

SG Puna said a new Norway-Pacific Pacific Ocean-Climate partnership between the USP and Norway’s University of Bergen “will build much needed, new multidisciplinary Pacific research on the ocean-climate nexus and deliver an interdisciplinary Pacific cohort of researchers for regional and global policy impact. It’s an exciting boost for the Pacific, and for the global decade of Oceans science.” 

The scholarships were announced at the COP26 United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development  ‘The Ocean Decade for Climate Action in the Asia Pacific Region’ event, held over the weekend. 

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Satyendra Prasad, Fiji Permanent Representative to the United Nations and PIF Chair, highlighted Pacific and international partnerships for future-focused action on Oceans.  

Ambassador Prasad welcomed the support from Norway, recently endorsed as a Pacific Islands Forum Dialogue Partner, and heralded the PhD scholarships as an example of meaningful, future-focused action for Oceans and climate work, both in the region and globally. 

“I expect this research and capacity boost to create an explosion of science and knowledge in the Blue Pacific Continent. The support is well timed, coinciding with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, and bodes well for our proactive approach to change at the local, national, regional and eventually global level,” he said.  

The Norway-Pacific Ocean-Climate Scholarship Program (N-POC) will support 24 fully funded PhD scholarships at the University of the South Pacific (USP) within ocean and climate research, ranging from the natural sciences to the social sciences, humanities and law.   

Thanking the University of Bergen for their commitment and partnership, Ambassador Prasad said the support, “represents part of a consolidated push to bring the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and law into the service of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in the Blue Pacific.” –ENDS (Imagecredit-PRUN-Fiji)

Contact:  

PRUN Prasad- Leo Horgan 

PIF- Lisa W 

OPOC – Mereseini