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Opening Address - 3rd Session of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management

Tuesday, 02 August 2011 09:00 administrator
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Check Against Delivery

Honourable Minister, Craig Foss, Minister for Civil Defence & Emergency Management and Chair of the 2011 Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management; Honourable Minister Mark Brown, Minister Finance, Cook Islands, Representatives of national, regional and international organisations,
Colleagues, old friends and new friends,

On behalf of the Director GeneraI of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Dr Jimmie Rodgers, I have the privilege to welcome to the 3rd Session of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management.

Last Updated on Thursday, 04 August 2011 09:07 Read more...
 

Major Meeting On Disaster Reduction For The Pacific Region

Friday, 29 July 2011 11:18 administrator
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In one of the most important regional meetings of the year, top officials from 22 Pacific island countries and territories will meet with experts from around the world to address growing concerns relating to reducing the risks of disasters and the impacts of climate change that are affecting development in the Pacific Region.

The meeting, the 3rd Session of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) will be held in New Zealand at the Auckland Airport Holiday Inn from August 1 thur 5.

Mr. Mosese Sikivou, Deputy Director of the SPC/SOPAC Disaster Reduction Programme, said “essentially the meeting is to provide Pacific island countries and territories with a way forward in terms of developing an integrated regional strategy for DRM and Climate Change by 2015.

Last Updated on Friday, 29 July 2011 11:20 Read more...
 

Welcome Address - Third Regional Steering Committee for the Pacific Integrated Water Resources Management Project

Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:14 administrator
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Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 25-30 July 2011

Honourable Teariki Heather, Minister of Infrastructure and Planning, Distinguished delegates from the Cook Islands, Representatives of Member Countries, Representatives of donor partners the GEF, UNDP, UNEP, EU,  and Representatives of supporting international, regional, and national agencies, colleagues and staff from MOIP and the WSP of the SOPAC Division of SPC.

On behalf of Dr Rodgers, Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, I would like to welcome you all to Third Regional Steering Committee for the Pacific IWRM Project, convened here in Rarotonga.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:20 Read more...
 

Regional Water experts meet to address Pacific’s Water and Sanitation Issues

Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:02 administrator
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Tuesday, July 26, Rarotonga, Cook Islands -  Delegates from Pacific Islands countries gathered in Rarotonga, the Cook Islands today for a week long meeting to discuss the region’s water and sanitation issues. They were reminded that finding solutions to pressing water and sanitation problems was urgent and vital to the future development and health of the Pacific’s people and environment.

“The work we are here to discuss, and plan a way forward for, represents one of the region’s most critical struggles, the struggle to protect the rights of men, women, boys and girls to safe water and sanitation,” said Dr Russell Howorth Director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC).

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:19 Read more...
 

PREEN Newsletter - Issue 04 June 2011

Sunday, 24 July 2011 15:45 administrator
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It is with great pleasure that we present to you the June 2011 edition of the PREEN (Pacific Resource and Environmental Economics Network) Newsletter. New REE activity in the Pacific during the past six months includes the launch of a new blog at the SPC Land Resource Division, numerous new publications and several snippets concerning events and research news. We hope you will enjoy our selection of Pacific REE updates and we thank you for your Newsletter contributions.

Read Issue Online | Download Full Issue

Last Updated on Sunday, 24 July 2011 15:56 Read more...
 
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Page 49 of 74

Newsflash

Thursday 19 September 2013, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Suva, Fiji – On 19 September, guest lecturer Dr. Tom Durrant of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology presented his wave modelling research to students at USP Marine Science Campus. This new research provides a better understanding of ocean wave movements across the Pacific and will be used by SPC’s Applied Geoscience and Technology (SOPAC) Division to enhance development planning and disaster management in the region.

According to Durrant, “Waves and wave climate have significant implications for coastal security, marine resources, and alternative energy options. Waves on the ocean, Durrant explained, range in period from tidal waves, with periods of 12 and 24 hours, to Tsunamis, with periods around 15 minutes, to wind driven waves with periods of around 2 to 20 seconds.

In the case of wind driven waves, the focus of Durrant's work,  the longer the wind blows over a greater area, the bigger the waves. Pacific Islands are affected not only by local, short period, wind-generated waves but also by long period swells generated by far away storms.

Long period swell waves are fast-moving waves caused by distant storms that can pile up when they reach land. Such waves have caused widespread flooding, damage and loss of life in the Pacific, for example, in the Mortlock Islands of Papua New Guinea in 2009 and in the Marshall Islands in 2012. “These events haven’t been studied much because of lack of data,” said Durrant.

To this end, Durrant has been working under the AusAid-funded Pacific and Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning (PACCSAP) Programme to develop wave models for the Pacific that can in turn be used to assess wave-induced coastal inundation events in detail.