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This report is published under the auspices of the Government of Tuvalu, with the support of the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF).The Tuvalu Infrastructure Strategic Investment Plan was endorsed and adopted by the Tuvalu Cabinet on December 7th 2016 as a guide to infrastructure investment over the next 10 years and it is linked to the Tuvalu Asset Management Framework.

Tuvalu Statement at the Whale in a Changing Ocean Conference, Vava'u, Tonga

Tuvalu was among the first to sign the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). It ratified the CBD in 2002 and eight years later, the Tuvalu National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (TNBSAP) is now in place. Although it is among the last Pacific Island countries to formulate its TNBSAP, biodiversity was already part and parcel of Tuvalu s development framework, at least on an ad hoc basis. As discussed later in the main body of the report, conservation and the sustainable use and management of natural resources were integral elements of Tuvalu s culture and traditional lifestyles.

Below are the broad targets for Tuvalu as complemented in the Tuvalu National Biodiversity Action Plan and NSSD. Ø To prevent air, land , and marine pollution To control and minimise invasive species To rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosystems To promote and strengthen the conservation and sustainable use of Tuvalu’s biological diversity To recognize, protect and apply traditional knowledge innovations and best practices in relation to the management, protection and utilization of biological resources To protect wildlife Ø To protect seabed and control over harvesting in high seas and territorial waters

The twelve chemicals, also known as the “dirty dozen”, scheduled under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), pose significant and increasing threats to human health and the environment. Tuvalu is a small country, which does not, and has no history of, manufacturing POPs. However due to their chemical nature, including their long range environmental transport, POPs are a global concern. Tuvalu must address risks posed by unintentional and intentionally produced POPs, concurrently with the global community.

Tuvalu, which consists of nine coral atoll islands, is widely dispersed over 1.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean stretching in a north-south direction over some 560 kilometres between latitudes 5 and 11 degrees south and over longitudes 176 and 180 degrees east. The total land area of the country is approximately 25.6 square kilometres, which is relatively evenly distributed across the nine atolls. The land is low lying with no point higher than four metres above sea level. Coastal erosion is a major problem for most islands of the group and, without proper control measures; the total land area of the country will be detrimentally affected.

Tuvalu's economy is small, fragmented and highly vulnerable to external economic influences. This has led to a heavy reliance on outside development assistance and has led to a degree of complacency in fiscal and financial management. The economy is unusual in that a substantial amount of both government revenues and private incomes are generated from overseas. For government, revenues come primarily from the income of the Tuvalu Trust Fund (TTF) (capital), the 'dotTV’ internet domain (asset) and from fishing license fees paid by foreign fishing vessels (natural resources). For families the income derives from remittances from overseas seamen (labour).

Tuvalu acceded to the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) in September 1998 because of its concern regarding degradation of its habitats and current predicted shortages of water connected with increasing population and the effects of climate change. As a Party to the UNCCD, Tuvalu is obliged to follow Section 9 and 10 of the Convention in preparing a National Action Plan.