Tropical cyclone season officially over

Eight tropical cyclones crossed the Exclusive Economic Zones of the South Pacific this 2019 – 2020 tropical cyclone season that officially ended in April.  In Meteorological terms, this is known as a ‘near normal’ season. Tropical Cyclones Rita, Sarai, Tino, Uesi, Vicky, Wasi, Gretel and Harold wreaked havoc across the Pacific islands highlighting the need […]

Effective Management of Medical Waste Essential During Pandemic

As the world grapples with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, countries are now facing another challenge as a result: how to manage medical waste safely and effectively. Many types of additional medical and hazardous wastes are being generated during the pandemic, including infected masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment (PPE). The Secretariat of the Pacific […]

Wallis and Futuna counts FADs washed up on its coasts

Wallis and Futuna is counting the number of lost and stranded fish-aggregating devices (FADs) that wash up on its coasts so it can calculate the damage they cause. The campaign is being run by the Wallis and Futuna Fisheries Service. Bruno Mugneret, from the Department of Fishing and Management of Marine Resources in Wallis, said […]

Work to address marine plastic litter gets off the ground

 A cleaner Pacific Ocean free from single-use plastics. This is the vision behind the Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP), a six-year AUD 16 million project, which aims to complement existing waste management projects to support the delivery of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)’s Pacific Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter 2018. […]

SPC and GIZ sign agreement to support NDC hub

The Regional Pacific Nationally Determined Contributions Hub (NDC Hub) was launched in 2017 as a response to calls from Pacific Island Countries (PICs) for a regional platform to support them in implementing, enhancing and financing their national climate commitments made under the Paris Agreement (CoP 21). Through the NDC Hub, a team of experts from […]

New Ministry planned for climate response in Samoa

The Government of Samoa is in the process of planning to establish a new Climate Change Ministry to deal specifically with the challenges of adapting to global warming. Discussions for the new Ministry’s creation were confirmed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Chief Executive Officer, Ulu Bismarck Crawley, one the sidelines of […]

Suspension of COP25 highlights injustice says Pacific NGOs

The Chilean Government has announced the suspension of the UN Climate Summit (COP25), scheduled to take place in Santiago this December, due to the social demonstrations protesting rising costs, debt and inequality, and marred by heavy-handed arrests from state forces in the past weeks. 350.org Pacific Regional Managing Director, Fenton Lutunatabua issued the following statement: […]