Press Releases | Niue Earth Watch

Let’s just get on with it, Fiji urges plastics treaty negotiators in Nairobi

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · November 14, 2023

13 November 2023, Nairobi Kenya - As negotiators from all over the world gather in Nairobi, Kenya, for the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution,...

Tuvalu spotlights human rights at global plastics treaty negotiations

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

15 November 2023, Nairobi Kenya - Delegates and negotiators attending the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment...

Magnifying Pacific issues in a global declaration on waste

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · May 22, 2024

16 May 2024 - Pacific voices were given the lens to magnify their concerns when it comes to waste management on the global stage. Over a two-day period, Pacific Islands have undergone consultations for their input into the Pre-Zero Draft...

Tonga's Late Island shows promising results with surge in seabird populations after rat eradication initiative

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · May 29, 2024

29 May 2024, Nukualofa Tonga - It's been nearly a year since the Kingdom of Tonga carried out a ground-breaking mission to restore and re-wild Late Island by eradicating invasive rats, potentially marking it as the largest rat-free island in the...

GEF ISLANDS Pacific Project holds Second Steering Committee Meeting in New Zealand

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · February 16, 2024

16 February 2023, Auckland New Zealand - Pacific delegates gathered in Auckland, New Zealand today for the Global Environment Facility’s Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-Chemical Development in Small Island Developing States (ISLANDS) Pacific...

Pacific preparations for INC-4 provides common understanding on key issues ahead of Ottawa

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · February 27, 2024

16 February 2024, Auckland NZ - Fourteen Pacific countries have taken a step closer to finalise their preparations, with a common understanding of key issues, for the next round of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an...

Vanuatu as PSIDS Chair rallies Pacific nations in ongoing INC process for a Cleaner Pacific

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · February 14, 2024

13 February 2024, Auckland NZ - The Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) are small in numbers but it continues to punch well above its weight in its commitment and dedication to ending plastic pollution. The point was made by the...

Young negotiators laud experience shared at Pacific negotiations training

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · February 13, 2024

12 February 2024, Auckland NZ - As a young Pacific woman, Ms Darla Yatilman, of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) has high aspirations to help her country address one of the most pressing issues of modern time, the plastic pollution crisis....

Pacific countries go back to the drawing board ahead of next round of plastics treaty negotiations

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · February 12, 2024

5 February 2024, Apia Samoa – Fourteen Pacific countries advocating for the priorities of their communities at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including...

Cook Islands joins plastic treaty proposal for chemicals of concern

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · April 28, 2024

26 April 29024, Ottawa Canada - The Cook Islands, a large ocean island state is making her mighty voice heard at the Plastics Treaty negotiations now underway. The island nation, with Rwanda, has co-sponsored a proposal by Norway on how to address...

Solomon Islands calls on the global community to address the gaps regarding chemicals of concern in the plastic treaty

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · April 26, 2024

Addressing the gap between the few chemicals in plastics that are regulated globally and the growing number of chemicals of concern that are known to be used in plastics but are not identified for listing either for elimination, avoidance and...

Fiji calls on the plastics treaty to comprehensively address the full lifecycle of ghost fishing gear

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · April 23, 2024

21 April 2024, Ottawa Canada -Fiji contributes a fraction of one per cent of the global macroplastic leakages from abandoned, lost, discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) but bears a disproportionate burden on its devastating impact on marine life and...

Women: Women Leaders from Pacific Participate in U.S. Program on Climate Change

U.S. Department of State · August 16, 2013

From August 18 – 28, 2013, twelve women climate leaders from across the Pacific region will visit Washington, D.C., Pensacola, Florida, and Honolulu, Hawaii to meet with policymakers, scientists, and innovators to share their experiences and to...

Solomon Islands committed to deliver a ‘Safe and Green Pacific Games’

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · September 7, 2023

06 September 2023, Apia Samoa - The rich tapestry of cultures found within the Solomon Islands was on display during the opening day of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) officials meeting as Solomon Island...

Nation-wide consultations continue as Solomon Islands moves closer to banning single-use plastics

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

Solomon Islands will soon become the latest Pacific Island country to enforce a ban on single-use plastics in its efforts to address the plastic pollution crisis. A series of national consultations have been ongoing to inform, engage and receive...

SPREP signs memorandum with EIA and CIEL at INC-3

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · November 20, 2023

19 November 2023, Nairobi Kenya - The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Centre for International Environmental...

Week of intense plastic treaty negotiations in Nairobi ends with a way forward

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · November 26, 2023

20 November 2023, Nairobi Kenya - Pacific delegates who attended the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment...

Devastated by three cyclones in one year, Vanuatu laments impact of triple planetary crisis at plastics treaty talks

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · November 16, 2023

16 November 2023, Nairobi Kenya - Vanuatu, the first country in the world to ban plastic straws with the introduction of a single-use plastic regulation, has lent its voice to growing and urgent calls for a global treaty to end the scourge of...

PNG flags maritime zones and marine resources protection at plastics treaty talks

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

15 November 2023, Nairobi Kenya - The leakage of plastics into the ecosystems, including in the marine environment, is a growing concern for Papua New Guinea (PNG). What’s even more alarming for the biggest Pacific island with an Exclusive...

Accessible and new finances key means of implementation, Pacific countries tell INC-3

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) · November 16, 2023

15 November 2023, Nairobi Kenya - Financial assistance that is sustainable, adequate, easily accessible, new, stable, predictable and timely for countries worst impacted by the plastic crisis, like all Pacific countries, is a key means of...