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Surface ozone profiles were studied at Fiji (18.1oS, 178.2oE), Samoa (14.3oS, 170.6oW), Tahiti (18.0oS, 149.0oW), and San Cristobal, Galapagos (0.9oS, 89.6oW) from 1997-2003. Surface ozone levels at these Pacific sites showed a wintertime maximum and a summertime minimum with the lowest mixing ratios occurring at Tahiti and Galapagos, while the highest mixing ratios occurred at Fiji. The seasonal trends at each site were found to be dependent on the varying photochemical sink strength and the changing transport regimes in each season. It was established that the reduced photochemical sink strength in winter was one of the major reasons for the observed increase in surface ozone levels at each site in that season. The presence of the South Pacific Convergence Zone particularly for the Western Pacific (Fiji, Samoa and Tahiti) is the other factor contributing to the observed seasonality and variability in surface ozone levels. The changing frequency of transport from the southern mid-latitude (from high altitudes) is the only transport regime at the boundary layer having the most significant influence on the surface ozone levels at these Pacific sites.

The birth of the concept of NAMAs can be found in language agreed in the UNFCCC in the Bali Action Plan at the thirteenth Conference of the Parties (COP13) in Bali, Indonesia in 2007 on the subject of enhanced national/international action on mitigation of climate change. On the one hand, that developing countries should agree to undertake nationally appropriate mitigation actions, reflects the enormity of the global challenge to limit global warming to 2°C (or 1.5°C which is the position of PICs) and that action by developed countries alone will not achieve this. However, rather than representing some potentially burdensome new commitment to take mitigation actions – especially for small vulnerable countries like PICs which must prioritise adaptation – the emergence and evolution of ‘NAMAs’ since the Bali COP can be seen as opening a whole new window of international support for mitigation actions that sit under and fit with these countries’ broader sustainable development objectives.