Press Releases | Tuvalu Health Digest

HON. FIAME NAOMI MATAAFA, PRIME MINISTER of SAMOA’s ADDRESS: OPENING SESSION OF 79th ESCAP ANNUAL MEETING

Government of Samoa · May 29, 2023

SAMOA, May 29 - Madam Chair, Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen The Pacific Islands occupy a vast oceanic region that covers almost 20 percent of the Earth’s surface and is home to the world’s largest concentration of microstates. According to...

Solomon Islands seek stronger and deeper partnership with India.

Solomon Islands Government · May 22, 2023

Solomon Islands seek stronger and deeper partnership with India. Solomon Islands is seeking a stronger and deeper partnership with India as the former invests to establish diplomatic presence in New Delhi with Prime Minister Sogavare saying……….“We...

It’s not about money, it’s about precious lives, Nauru at plastics treaty negotiations

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 2, 2023

02 June 2023, Paris France - Nauru might be a small country with a population of around 10,000 people on a single island in the Pacific Ocean but its voice is loud and clear at the second Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to...

10 Winners of the 2023 Zayed Sustainability Prize Honoured

Benzinga · January 16, 2023

President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, President of the UAE, presented awards to the 10 winners of the 2023 Zayed Sustainability Prize today. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:...

Pacific countries take call for treaty to end plastic pollution to INC2 in Paris

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · May 29, 2023

26 May 2023, Paris France - Pacific countries continue to call on world leaders to deliver a high-ambition treaty to end plastic pollution urgently, as the clock ticks closer to the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to...

After procedural delays, Pacific delegates dive into nitty gritty of plastics treaty negotiations

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 2, 2023

01 June 2023, Paris France - Representatives from 12 Pacific island countries are in France this week with a common goal, to advance the discussions on the formulation of a treaty to end plastic pollution. It is the latest step in a journey dating...

Pacific, the moral voice in global plastic negotiations

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · May 17, 2023

As custodians of the world’s largest Ocean, the Pacific like in the climate change negotiations have the moral authority to speak out and lead international negotiations on plastic waste. The Pacific is disproportionately affected by global...

First for the Pacific: Solomon Islands to Host Regional Directors of Women Learning Exchange

Solomon Islands Government · May 23, 2023

First for the Pacific: Solomon Islands to Host Regional Directors of Women Learning Exchange Honiara, Solomon Islands – The Government of Solomon Islands is hosting Directors of Women from 13 Pacific Islands Countries at a Regional Directors of...

Sub-regional training kicks off to build Pacific capacity in the use of the Impacts Methodology

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 15, 2023

12 June 2023, Apia Samoa. Climate change practitioners from Fiji, Kiribati, and Samoa will benefit from a training organised by the EU funded Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Scaling Up Pacific Adaptation (GCCA+ SUPA) Project in partnership...

Pacific delegates discuss priorities to protect region from hazardous chemicals and wastes ahead of BRS COPs

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · April 25, 2023

24 April 2023, Apia - Pacific delegates preparing for the 2023 meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS COPs) Conventions in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2023, are in a better position to contribute to...

AOSIS offers waste management options for plastics treaty

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 11, 2023

04 June 2023, Paris France - The proposed legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, discussed at the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2) working to develop it, must...

New Zealand advocates ‘design of plastic waste out of system’ at treaty negotiations

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 2, 2023

02 June 2023, Paris France - An ambitious, robust and legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution including that within our marine environment must target the top of the waste hierarchy, reduce plastic waste, or avoid generating it in the...

Cook Islands and Federated States of Micronesia join over 50 countries calling for an end to plastic pollution by 2040

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 1, 2023

30 May 2023, Paris France – Two Pacific Island countries, the Cook Islands and Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), have joined Ministers from 56 countries to sign a Ministerial Statement calling for an end to global plastic pollution by 2040....

‘They told us plastics would make life easy, now studies have found plastics in people’

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 1, 2023

31 May 2023, Paris France - When Mr Pawa Limu grew up in Papua New Guinea (PNG), life in his village was simple. He was raised in a close-knit community where people co-existed peacefully and in harmony with nature. Survival in terms of food,...

Pacific SIDS state their case for a robust and ambitious treaty to address plastic pollution

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 1, 2023

31 May 2023, Paris France – The Pacific region is world-renowned for its pristine beaches, turquoise waters, vibrant forests and colourful reefs. While this postcard image remains, its environment has been contaminated by exorbitant amounts of...

Kiribati calls for a strong global commitment to upstream measures to solve the plastic crisis

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 2, 2023

1 June 2023, Paris France – Thirty-three coral atolls and islands are dispersed among the three groups that form Kiribati, which are the Gilbert, Line, and Phoenix islands. Covering a land area of 810km2, the island groups are spread over a vast...

Punching above its weight, Pacific leads calls for ambitious targets to end global plastic pollution

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 2, 2023

Q and A with Mr Sefanaia Nawadra, Director-General of SPREP. 1 June 2023, Paris France - The first scientific findings of marine plastic debris were published in 1972 and reported on small plastic particles found in the Sargasso Sea. Ten years...

The Pacific Islands articulate their asks in the new Plastic Treaty

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 2, 2023

1 June 2023, Paris France - Many of us know it as just ‘plastic’, or ‘single-use plastic’ or even ‘micro-plastics’ but for those now negotiating a plastic treaty they know it as plastic polymers, “virgin” plastics and even “secondary” plastics....

Pacific Women Negotiators take the lead

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 2, 2023

Ms Anama Solofa, Lead Negotiator on Ocean Issues, Alliance of Small Island States 1 June 2023, Paris France - More than 190 governments are now negotiating a new global treaty to end plastic pollution through an Intergovernmental Negotiation...

Fiji committed to global cooperation for an ambitious and robust plastics treaty

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · June 1, 2023

31 May 2023, Paris France - The voice of Fiji was heard during a meeting of 193 governments tasked with the responsibility of developing a legally binding agreement to address the plastic pollution crisis. The second Intergovernmental Negotiating...