SPC Geoscience Division

Home News & Media Releases
News

Pacific Island countries lead the world on integration of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation

Wednesday, 10 July 2013 09:13 administrator
E-mail Print PDF

NADI, Fiji -The first Joint Meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management and Pacific Climate Change Roundtable is being held 8–11 July at the Sofitel Hotel in Denarau, Nadi, Fiji.

Michael Petterson, Director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Applied Geoscience and Technology Division, says the joint meeting demonstrates the fact that the region is now leading on the integration of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation efforts.

‘For several years our Disaster Reduction Programme has been working in close collaboration with regional partners, such the UNDP Pacific Centre and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, to help Pacific Island countries develop joint national action plans for disaster risk management and climate change adaptation,’ he says

Petterson says joint national action plans (JNAPs) integrating climate change and disaster risk management provide countries with a powerful planning tool to help them consider disaster and risk across a range of ministries.

‘At the end of the day, if your house falls down because of a climatic or another type of disaster, you don't care initially about the cause – you just want help. Experts in climate change and disaster risk management are seeking ways to work together to make the Pacific a safer place. The JNAP offers a roadway for deciding priorities, actions and partnerships, and several [country representatives] have shared their personal satisfaction with how this tool is now supporting a whole raft of government thinking,’ he says.

Read more...
 

High-profile Pacific disaster risk management and climate change joint meeting opens in Nadi, Fiji

Monday, 08 July 2013 15:26 administrator
E-mail Print PDF

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.

Last Updated on Monday, 08 July 2013 15:39 Read more...
 

Nadi Meeting Discusses Opportunities to Build Disaster Risk Management Capacity in the Pacific

Tuesday, 02 July 2013 09:06 administrator
E-mail Print PDF

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.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 07 August 2013 14:10 Read more...
 

Meeting Seeks Progress on Basic Water and Sanitation Goals in the Pacific

Tuesday, 02 July 2013 09:02 administrator
E-mail Print PDF

The Pacific Regional Consultations on Water and Sanitation are being held at the Tanoa International Hotel, Monday 01-03 July 2013. Countries will be discussing how to progress action on the recent Statement by Pacific Heads of State and Heads of Delegations participating in the 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 19-20 May, 2013.

Michael Pettersen, Director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC), says the Chiang Mai Statement highlights the concern of Pacific Leaders that the whole Pacific region is struggling to meet its Millennium Development Goals relating to water and sanitation.

“This Statement recognises that sustainable water supply and safe sanitation underpins the very feasibility of Pacific Island Countries. It is clear that national and international development goals are unlikely to be met without increased advocacy and financial support for water and sanitation, which will require renewed leadership and investment at the national, regional and international level,” he says.

Mr. Pettersen noted that efforts to improve water and sanitation in the Pacific region are not keeping up with the significant and growing impacts of population growth, urbanization, natural disasters and climate change.

“This weeks’ consultation meeting is designed to help Pacific Island Countries support the development of a revised framework for Water and Sanitation for the region building on work already established through the Pacific Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Water Management which has been in place for the last ten years.

Last Updated on Friday, 05 July 2013 09:04 Read more...
 

Natural disasters could cost an average US$278m a year for PICs

Friday, 21 June 2013 13:54 administrator
E-mail Print PDF

Island Business: June 2013,  Dionisia Tabureguci - Year after year, earthquakes and tropical cyclones have battered a number of small islands countries in the Pacific region, some to such a degree that thousands of lives are lost and millions of dollars in damages are incurred.

They have become regular visitors to the region, their tendency to disrupt national planning and put pressure on national budgets becoming as much a concern as their propensity to cut swathes through national population and bring untold trauma. Not surprisingly, scientific studies have categorised some of them as among the most vulnerable countries in the world when it comes to their exposure to natural hazards and indeed, while earthquakes and cyclones have been identified as the region’s two chief nemeses, the region is not spared from other forms like flooding, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

As momentum increases in the region to address their ravaging impacts, a new research is shedding new light on just how exposed Pacific Islands Countries (PICs) are to earthquakes and tropical cyclones, projecting an average annual bill of some US$278 million for 14 PICs from damages they will sustain from these two forms of natural disasters. Known as the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI), the multi-donor-supported project is administered by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) through its Applied Science and Technology Division (SOPAC).

It uses a combination of historical data and new mapping technology to give vulnerable islands nations in the region improved tools for planning and preparedness.

Last Updated on Friday, 21 June 2013 14:01 Read more...
 
More Articles...


Page 22 of 74

Newsflash

There have been recent reports in the media that particular shorelines in Vanua Levu have experienced significant erosion from wave action since Tropical Cyclone Tomas in March 2010, threatening infrastructure and ancient burial sites. As a result, villagers have been advised to take into account global warming and to relocate to higher grounds (Fiji Times, Saturday, May 15, 2010)

Cyclones are among the most frequently occurring natural disasters in the tropical Pacific, and they are characterised by high waves and strong winds. At the time of tropical cyclone Tomas ocean surface waves up to eight meters high were reported to inundate villages on Vanua Levu. Such an extreme event can lead to coastal erosion or accretion, depending on the configuration of the particular shoreline. It is however difficult to imagine such large waves, and even more difficult to assess their impact without direct measurements in the location concerned.