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The 2021 Pacific Resilience Meeting (PRM) was held between 6 and 8 July 2021, with a pre-PRM youth forum on 5 July. The meeting was both virtual with national hubs with PACRES the main funding partner

Pacific Webinar on Access and Benefit Sharing

A monthly e-bulletin of activities and assistance from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme to its member countries.

The PacWastePlus programme webpage is a great source of information for all the participating countries and other stakeholders interested in the work of this programme or, more in general, the topic of sustainable waste management in the Pacific. It provides a platform for meaningful engagement at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted our personal contacts.

This dedicated and interactive PacWastePlus website is helping countries share their experiences and best practices. We are grateful for the support and cooperation received from our Members as we work together through our PacWastePlus programme.

Also known as the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) Convention, this is for the protection of natural resources and environment of the South Pacific region and related protocols. Having entered into force in 1986, this is now undergoing a review. The Noumea Convention is the umbrella convention for the “Protocol for the Prevention of Pollution of the South Pacific Region by Dumping”, and the “Protocol Concerning Co-operation in Combating Pollution Emergencies in the South Pacific Region”.

The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) index values continue to be negative. • El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) remains neutral. Climate model indicate a neutral ENSO state is likely to continue for the remainder of the southern hemi-sphere winter (June-August) and spring (September-November). • A Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) pulse weakened prior to moving into the western Pacific over the coming week. • The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) was active and shifted north over western Pacific, while the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) was active over southern PNG and the Solomon Islands. • The sea surface temperature anomaly pattern in June shows SSTs were close to average across most of the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

The 4th JCC meeting was held virtually for the Micronesian Region (Palau, FSM and RMI) on May 20, 2021. The meeting provided a platform to share the progress of Implementing JPRISM II in each country and discuss what more can be done to strengthen and improve current practices. The most common issue the countries faced was a solution to handling PET Bottles in country - some countries such as Palau already have some Recycling activities in place to tackle this problem while other countries are steadily building a ladder to catch up

In addition, COVID-19 has made it difficult for people to come and go around the world. J-PRISM II encourages countries in the region to learn from each other. While the exchange of people, which is indispensable for the technical cooperation, has stopped, a different method of capacity development is required. We are trying to solve the problem by using methods such as distance training. Although it is not an easy task in the region where the communication environment is not good, this effort will benefit for the Pacific Islands even after the infection has ended.

The impact of waste and pollution on sustainable development in the 15 Pacific countries is taking its toll on the health of Pacific communities, degrading natural ecosystems, threatening food security, impeding resilience to climate change and adversely impacting on social and economic development. The Pacific – European Union (EU) Waste Management Programme, PacWastePlus, a EUR 16.5 million programme, will generate improved economic, social, health and environmental benefits by enhancing existing activities and building capacity and sustainability into waste management practices.