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A new report has found that more than 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste was dumped or burned globally last year, which is the equivalent of 350 cruise ships, and up more than 20 per cent in just five years. The UN's Global E-waste Monitor 2020 also ranked Oceania as the second highest region, per capita, of e-waste, with each person generating 16.1 kilograms on average, it said. Common e-waste items include old mobile phones, batteries, TVs, computers and tablets. But Australia and New Zealand are the leading producers of that e-waste, with people in Pacific countries like Samoa and Tonga estimated to produce 3.1 kilograms per person, and in Fiji and PNG, the figure was just 1.5 kilograms. It's a problematic issue across the globe but in the Pacific, where in many countries there isn't the space for all this dumped technology, problems are looming. The region's peak environment body, SPREP, is working on several projects to tackle the issue. Bradley Nolan, the Project Manager for PacWastePlus, which is funded by the European Union, told Pacific Beat "disposable societies and large incomes" in countries like Australia and New Zealand explain why residents in those countries produce such large quantities of e-waste. And he suggested that Australia and other donor partners may in fact contribute to some of the e-waste in Pacific nations, with equipment such as computers donated when they had reached their end-of-life there. "There have been some incidents where some of the metropolitan countries [ie Australia, New Zealand] when some of their products are at the end of their useful life, say in a government department, has gifted those to countries to help out. "But of course they have less life, so they become an instant e-waste problem when they hit the islands...so aid and the work that people are attempting to do, with great intentions, creates some significant problems at the other end," he said.

The region served by the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP; fig. 1) is situated in the middle of the largest continuous marine habitat on the planet, the Pacific Ocean. Marine mammals (whales, dolphins, porpoises, dugongs and seals) range throughout much of this huge region. Of the world’s approximately 120 living marine mammal species, three-quarters occur in the Pacific (cf. Rice, 1977a). Of the 90 or so Pacific species, perhaps a third are known to be resident in the SPREP region or at least to visit it seasonally or occasionally. However, due to the vastness of the region and the relative lack of research activity in it, very little is known about the marine mammals in the SPREP region. Much of what is known about the distribution and seasonal occurrence of large whales has come from 19th century American, French and British commercial whalers (cf. Townsend, 1935) and from researchers working in conjunction with modern Japanese whaling operations (cf. Miyashita et al., 1995a). Much of what is known about the smaller whales, dolphins and seals comes from the non-systematic, often opportunistic efforts of individual scientists. Dugongs have been studied relatively intensively in some areas because of international concern about their endangered status.

This report was financed by the European Communities from a grant of the European Development Fund and is presented by Sinclair Knight Merz for consideration of the Government of Tuvalu. It does not necessarily reflect either the opinion of the latter or the European Commission.

Marine pollution is widely recognised as one of the three major threats to the world's oceans, along with habitat destruction and over-exploitation of living marine resources. Spills of oil and other chemicals into the marine environment, both from ships and land-based sources, is a significant source of pollution. The importance of coastal and marine environments to every aspect of the lives of Pacific Islanders cannot be overstated, and the impacts of marine spills constitute a major concern for Pacific Island peoples. On a global scale the land area of Pacific Island Countries and Territories are insignificant. However the Pacific Islands maintain resource rights and management responsibilities over 30 million square kilometres of ocean. This is equivalent to the combined land areas of Canada. China and the USA and is essentially our only "globally significant" resource.

Marine pollution is widely recognised as one of the three major threats to the world's oceans, along with habitat destruction and over-exploitation of living marine resources. Spills of oil and other chemicals into the marine environment, both from ships and land-based sources, is a significant source of pollution. The importance of coastal and marine environments to every aspect of the lives of Pacific Islanders cannot be overstated, and the impacts of marine spills constitute a major concern for Pacific Island peoples. On a global scale the land area of Pacific Island Countries and Territories are insignificant. However the Pacific Islands maintain resource rights and management responsibilities over 30 million square kilometres of ocean. This is equivalent to the combined land areas of Canada. China and the USA and is essentially our only "globally significant" resource.

In a region sometimes called 'Oceania', the health of the ocean is fundamental to the health of all aspects of the entire Pacific Islands region. Marine pollution is widely recognised as one of the three major threats to the world's oceans, along with habitat destruction and over-exploitation of living marine resources. Spills of oil and other chemicals into the marine environment, both from ships and land-based sources, is a significant source of pollution.

The National Environment Pollution Awareness Workshop conducted at Funafuti in Tuvalu on 11 - 13 May 1993 came about as a result of the assembling of environmental priorities within countries of the South Pacific under the National Environment Management Strategy (NEMS) Programme. The identification of the lack of proper waste management and pollution control measures were regarded as priorities that had to be addressed.