Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the Pacific Island Countries and Norway share a profound commitment to the health of our ocean. [File Photo]

The Norwegian government is providing 24 scholarships to Pacific Island students to pursue the advanced study of oceans and climate change.

The six million dollar scholarship has been facilitated under the Norway-Pacific Ocean-Climate Scholarship Project.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the Pacific Island Countries and Norway share a profound commitment to the health of our ocean.

He says during the Oceans Panel, he and Norway’s Prime Minister lamented the lack of Pacific Ocean’s experts and from that mutual concern arose the Scholarship Project.

“This new partnership, from the halls of Fiji’s University of the South Pacific and Norway’s University of Bergen, will cultivate the next generation of Pacific Island oceans leaders – bringing together the experiences of our people with world-leading oceans and climate expertise.”

Bainimarama says as our ocean ecosystems buckle under the strain of climate change and reckless human abuses, young minds are needed at the forefront to protect our oceanic.