SPC Geoscience Division

Monday 8 July 2013: Nadi, Fiji – The first Joint Meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management and the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable has been officially opened at the Sofitel Resort and Spa in Nadi, Fiji.

Marking the occasion, the Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon. Samiu Kuita Vaipulu, received a ceremony of traditional welcome from the Government of Fiji. The meeting was officially opened by the Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, Mr. Aiyaz Sayad-Khaiyum. Also present at the opening ceremony were the Hon. Mark Brown, Minister for Finance and Economic Management of the Cook Islands, Hon. Thomas Laken, Minister for Planning & Climate Change Adaptation of the Republic of Vanuatu and Ms. Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction.

With this meeting the Pacific region has achieved a world first by bringing together the two principal regional conferences on disaster risk management and climate change. The joint meeting will contribute to the formulation of an over-arching regional strategy and framework for climate and disaster-resilient development to be considered for endorsement by the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in 2015.

An integrated approach to addressing disaster risk reduction and climate change concerns will mean better use of national and regional capacities and resources to address the risks posed by hazards, whether they are extreme weather events such as cyclones and droughts or ‘slow onset’ events such as rising sea levels or ocean acidification associated with climate change. The strategy will further progress the agenda of enabling the Pacific Islands region to build resilience to our changing climate.

The 19th Annual Meeting of the Heads of National Disaster Management Offices (NDMOs) of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) is being held from July 01-3 at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi, Fiji.

Mosese Sikivou, Deputy Director of the SPC’s Disaster Reduction Programme, says the meeting will provide Regional Disaster Managers with the opportunity to discuss challenges and opportunities for institutional strengthening and capacity building.

Mr Sikivou says a main objectives of the meeting is to provide Regional Disaster Managers with an increased understanding of the Disaster Risk Management services and products available to them from SPC and other partner organisations

“The meeting also allows SPC, as the regional body mandated to coordinate Disaster Risk Management capacity building, the opportunity to learn from participants and to focus its work programme to better meet the needs of the group,” he says.

This meeting is also supporting preparation for the 2013 Joint Meeting of the Pacific Platform for DRM and Pacific Climate Change Roundtable from July 08-11, also in Nadi.

Mr Sikivou says the Disaster Reduction Programme will also continue to play a critical role in supporting member countries to integrate Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change into all relevant regional and national planning and policy measures.  He says that SPC’s commitment to integrate climate change adaptation and disaster risk management efforts will help Pacific Island countries to improve the way they identify and manage a range of risks that their communities are exposed to.