Paeniu graduated from Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand, with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1987.

He was the Sustainable Development Adviser of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa (March 2007 – June 2010).

[6] While finance minister he represented Tuvalu at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

[7] In July 2020, Seve Paeniu was appointed to the Constitutional Review Parliamentary Select Committee.

[8] The Final Report of the Constitutional Review Parliamentary Select Committee was published on 12 December 2022.

[9] No candidates contested the sitting MPs Seve Paeniu and Namoliki Sualiki in the 2024 general election, so they were automatically returned to parliament.