Take The Lead

19/10/2026

Tomorrow the Vet team is at Houma. How far is Houma from Tokomololo? 6.8km & 11 minutes....not too much to complain about for FREE services!

Well done Kolovai for taking advantage of the services today. 61 consultations and 33 surgeries.

Malo SPAW, MAFF, JICA & TAWS volunteers! Angela would be so happy!

17/09/2026

As part of the Oceania–Arctic Alliance programme, participants heard from MAFF Senior Agriculture Officers Ms. Tilisa Mo’unga and Mr. Saimone Manu on Tonga’s efforts to strengthen food security and adapt agriculture to a changing climate.

The discussion highlighted how traditional knowledge continues to inform agricultural practices, including traditional planting calendars that have long guided when certain crops should be planted. As changing climate patterns disrupt these seasonal cycles, Tonga is adapting by exploring and introducing new crops suited to the conditions we now experience.

Participants also visited the MAFF Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Soil Laboratories, gaining insight into the scientific and technical work supporting agriculture and food security.

The sessions offered a space to share Tonga’s experiences while learning from the diverse knowledge, practices, and approaches of our Pacific and Arctic partners.

17/09/2026

Meet Ms Megan Dicker, the Indigenous Climate Action Programme Coordinator for the Inuit Circumpolar Council in Canada.

Megan shares why the Oceania–Arctic alliance is so important, highlighting the strength of Indigenous voices, shared experiences, and collective action in responding to the climate crisis.

From the Arctic to Oceania, our communities may be worlds apart, but our experiences and aspirations connect us.

🇹🇴🤝🇨🇦

16/09/2026

Our next highlight session featured Mr. Lano Fonua, who brings years of experience working across climate mitigation and adaptation project finance. As GGGI’s Senior Programme Manager for Tonga and a climate finance adviser to the Government of Tonga, Lano has supported efforts to advance climate finance and resilience initiatives in Tonga and communities across the region.

Our Oceania–Arctic Alliance leaders had the opportunity to learn directly from his experience and gain a deeper understanding of the role that finance plays in addressing the climate crisis.

For emerging leaders, understanding climate action means looking beyond the science and policy alone. It also means understanding the broader systems that enable action—from climate finance and project development to accessing resources, navigating funding frameworks, and turning ambitious ideas into projects that can deliver meaningful impact.

The session offered our young leaders valuable insights into these frameworks and the practical realities of financing climate action, equipping them with a broader perspective as they work toward a more resilient future for Oceania and beyond.

16/09/2026

Happy Birthday to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! 👑🎉

On the occasion of the 41st birthday of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala, we extend our most sincere and respectful birthday wishes.

May this milestone be marked by joy, good health, and the blessings of God. May His Royal Highness continue to be guided by wisdom, strength, and grace in the years ahead, and may he be blessed with many more years of happiness, fulfillment, and service to the Kingdom of Tonga.

May God bless His Royal Highness and the Royal Family, and may God connue to bless the Kingdom of Tonga.

——-

'Oku fie fakaa’u atu ‘a 'emau talamonu ki he Tama Pilinisi Kalauni, Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala, ‘i he hokosia ‘a e ta’u ‘e 41 hono ‘alo’i, he ‘aho ni.

Ke faitapuekina ‘a e feitu’u na he ‘aho mahu’inga ni pea ke fonu fiefia mo kelesi’ia. Pea ke kei fakaivia, foaki ha ‘ilo mo ha poto ‘i he ngaahi ta’u ‘oku hanga mai na pea ke faitapuekina ‘a e feitu’u na mo ha toe ngaahi ta’u mohu tapuekina, fonu fiefia mo e fakahoko fatongia ma’a e fonua.

Ko ‘emau talamonu ia ki he feitu’u na ke ke ma’u ha ‘aho alo’i fiefia mo mohu tapuekina.

16/09/2026

One of our Oceania-Arctic Alliance Programme highlight sessions featured Mrs. Melesila Weilert, a longtime environmental activist from her community of Ha’atafu.

Melesila shared her experiences with our group of Oceania–Arctic Alliance leaders, speaking about her work to care for an already climate-vulnerable community by protecting the environment and ocean that sustain it.

Her activism is inspired by traditional knowledge passed down through generations, alongside the lived experiences of today as climate impacts become increasingly visible and felt across communities.

Her story offered a powerful reminder of the importance of community-led action, intergenerational knowledge, and caring for our ocean and environment as we navigate a changing climate.

14/09/2026

Today, Prime Minister, Lord Fakafanua, officially launched the Tonga programme of the Oceania–Arctic Alliance Initiative, founded by Take The Lead and the Inuit Circumpolar Council.

The initiative brings together 10 young climate leaders from the Arctic and 10 from the Pacific - two regions that may seem worlds apart, yet are deeply connected by an issue we all feel: the climate crisis.

From the ice and tundra of the Arctic to the islands and oceans of the Pacific, communities are experiencing a changing climate in different ways. Yet across these distant places are lessons to share - about resilience, adaptation, protecting our environments, strengthening communities, and carrying traditional and Indigenous knowledge forward.

What happens when those lessons meet?

They create new possibilities.

By learning from one another, these young leaders can look beyond their own shores, bring different perspectives and knowledge systems together, and develop solutions shaped by the lived experiences of two regions on the frontlines of climate change.

As Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua reminded us:

“What happens in the Arctic matters to the Pacific. What happens in the Pacific matters to the Arctic. And what happens to both matters to the world.”

The climate crisis may affect our communities differently, but it connects us all. And by sharing what we know, learning from places far beyond our own, and bringing our strengths together, we can build solutions that reach far beyond our shores.

Two regions. Twenty young leaders. One shared climate future ✊

🇹🇴🤝🇨🇦

01/09/2026

28/08/2026

Introducing our Oceania–Arctic Alliance Pacific Cohort

We are thrilled to introduce the Pacific cohort of our Oceania–Arctic Alliance (OAA) Young Leaders, representing communities and islands from across Oceania.

The OAA is grounded in the belief that while the Pacific and Arctic may be worlds apart geographically, our communities share deep connections to the ocean, our environments, our cultures, and the responsibility to care for them for generations to come.

Through the Alliance, young climate leaders and advocates from Oceania and the Arctic will come together to exchange experiences, strengthen connections, and learn from one another, with Indigenous knowledge and lived experiences at the heart of the conversation.

We look forward to welcoming our Pacific Young Leaders and their Arctic counterparts soon, as they come together to share stories, knowledge and perspectives, and to build relationships that extend beyond borders and oceans.

We are proud to introduce the Pacific voices who will help shape this exchange, and excited for what can emerge when young leaders from the Pacific and Arctic come together with a shared purpose: to protect the places we call home and create a more resilient future for our communities and our oceans.

The Oceania–Arctic Alliance is delivered in partnership with the Inuit Circumpolar Council and funded by the Government of Canada.