Climate & Resilience: Cook Islands used the Pacific Meteorological Council in Tonga to highlight an El Niño weather split—drier, hotter conditions in the Southern Cook Islands and wetter weather in the North—and pushed for early-warning systems that reach every community. Sea-Level Science: Pacific climate experts warned that international sea-level risk maps can be badly wrong because satellite data may reflect tree tops, not ground elevation—raising the stakes for adaptation planning as UN overshoot pathways leave higher seas “locked in.” Plastics & Waste: The National Environment Service has started internal consultations for a National Action Plan on Plastics, aiming to cut plastic pollution across the full lifecycle and align with the “Zero Waste” vision. Deep-Sea Biodiversity: The Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority backed a joint deep-sea biodiversity project with China to compile and standardise biodiversity data for Northwest Pacific habitats, strengthening the science behind sustainable ocean management. Tongareva Port Debate: At the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, Cook Islands secured funding for a Penrhyn/Tongareva port upgrade, while Greenpeace hit back at political criticism and warned the project could be a pathway to deep-sea mining. Regional Climate Finance: The Green Climate Fund signalled faster approvals and more direct access for Pacific national and regional institutions to deliver resilience-focused climate projects.