11 May 2012: At the 2012 Forum Trade Ministers' Meeting (FTMM), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) updated ministers on its trade-related work, including the region's Traditional Knowledge (TK) Action Plan. Decisions taken by the ministers are contained in the 2012 FTMM Outcomes Document.
14 May 2012: The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) has announced that US$4 million from the Pacific Environment Community (PEC) has been approved to supplement electricity generation through solar energy on the Federated States of Micronesia’s (FSM’s) dispersed northern Pacific states.
11 May 2012: An informal ministerial meeting took place to address small island developing States’ (SIDS) position for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), on 9 May 2012, in Bridgetown, Barbados. Representatives of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) stressed a focus on “the day after Rio." Other delegates addressed issues relating to utilization of ocean resources; gender aspects of resource access; principles of rotation between Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and South China Sea (AIMS), Pacific and Caribbean; and strengthening of governance structures.
10 May 2012: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released its regional human development report for the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on the need for the region to find ways to continue to grow economically, while reducing poverty and tackling climate change and environmental concerns. The report addresses climate challenges facing small island developing States (SIDS) in the region due their low elevation.
10 May 2012: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has announced that the Rapid Biological Survey project (BIORAP) will be conducted on Savaii, Samoa, during May 2012. BIORAP will focus on surveying the plants, birds and animals of approximately 65,000 hectares of Savaii’s cloud forests.
10 May 2012: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Solomon Islands have agreed to a five-year Country Partnership Strategy that includes US$38 million in grant and concessional loan assistance and an annual US$1 million in technical assistance, the ADB has announced.
8 May 2012: The World Bank has presented the results of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), a programme designed to promote rapid access to emergency financing in cases of severe weather-based disasters in the Caribbean.
4 April 2012: The UN Secretary-General has released his report on oceans and the law of the sea, which focuses on marine renewable energies. The report highlights that small island developing States (SIDS), with large coastal populations, little infrastructure in the coastal zones and few alternative energy resources, are well situated for growth of ocean thermal energy conversion.
9 May 2012: On the second day of the SIDS High-Level Conference on Sustainable Development for All (SE4ALL), which convened in Bridgetown, Barbados, from 7-8 May 2012, delegates from the three SIDS regions – the Pacific, Caribbean and Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and South China Sea (AIMS) – unanimously adopted the Barbados Declaration, which will be taken to the Rio+20 Conference in June.
3 May 2012: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has announced the inception of a US$1.7 million project on the conservation of biodiversity in the Cook Islands, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu. Project activities will use an ecosystem-based management approach, emphasizing the connectivity between systems including the land, sea and people.
3 May 2012: The Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) announced that as part of the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific (Forum Compact), a peer review team assessed implementation of its recommendations to the Government of Niue on national planning, budgeting, financial and aid management systems and processes. It also followed up on its 2011 review in Tuvalu.
5 May 2012: The 16th session of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted 15 recommendations, including a package of recommendations on marine and coastal biodiversity. It also addressed the in-depth review of the work programme on island biodiversity (PoWIB).
3 May 2012: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has launched the 2012 Pasifika Media Award under the theme, “Clean Pacific.” The award is made in five categories: Journalism Student, Photo Journalism, Print, Radio and Television. A bonus prize is awarded for the best entry on the topic of electrical and electronic waste (E-waste).
27 April 2012: High-level political representatives from ten Caribbean islands have formed the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) Council, which will focus on sustainable development, including work on climate change and renewable energy, in its cooperation with the EU.
1 May 2012: The Secretariats of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have begun a workshop in Suva, Fiji, to assist Pacific Island member governments to meet their obligations on the safe transportation of dangerous goods and bulk cargoes by sea. The workshop is focused on raising awareness of the IMO-developed International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code and the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code.
1 May 2012: The May 2012 issue of the "Micronesia Challenge Newsletter," published by the Micronesia Challenge Secretariat, features articles on: the outcomes of the 15th Micronesian Island Conservation (MIC) Retreat; and the endorsement of Palau’s first National Water Policy by its President, Johnson Toribiong.
30 April 2012: Climate 2012, an online scientific climate conference convening in November 2012, has announced that the Secretary General of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, is Patron of the event.
26 March 2012: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) Ad Hoc Open Ended Working Group (AHWG) to Further Strengthen the Smooth Transition Process for the Countries Graduating from the Least Developed Country (LDC) Category held its third substantive meeting on 26 March 2012, in New York, the US. The Group heard a presentation on the experience of Maldives as a recently graduated country.
30 April 2012: The Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has released a synthesis report on support for the national adaptation plan (NAP) process for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) (FCCC/SBI/2012/8).
27 March 2012: Management and control of invasive alien species in the Pacific Islands region was discussed at the Third Pacific Invasives Learning Network (PILN) meeting, facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) on Kiritimati Island, Kiribati, from 22-27 March 2012. Kirimati Island is the biggest nesting and breeding ground of Pacific seabirds, and one of the main port entries to the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA).
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Sustainable Energy |
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Climate Change |
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Sustainable Development (UNCSD) |
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Biodiversity |
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Small Island Developing States (SIDS) |
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African Regional Coverage (ARC) |
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Latin America & Caribbean Regional Coverage (LARC) |
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
| Your Meeting Bulletin (YMB) |
