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First SOPAC Division Meeting Papers

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First Meeting of the SOPAC Division (SOPAC-1)

Nadi, Fiji Islands, 17-21 October 2011

AGENDA

Sunday 16th October
CIRCUM PACIFIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR’S MEETING

Monday 17 October
JOINT STAR-CIRCUM PACIFIC COUNCIL SESSION
Theme: Seabed Mining

Tuesday 18 October
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCES NETWORK (STAR) SESSION
Theme: Adaptation to Climate and Environmental Change in the Pacific Islands

Wednesday, 19 October – Friday, 21 October
SOPAC DIVISION MEETING
(All delegates to STAR and CPC meeting invited to participate as technical advisers)


1. OPENING and WELCOME

1.1 Meeting Arrangements

1.2 Participants List

2. AGENDA AND WORKING PROCEDURES

2.1 Consideration of Terms of Reference for the Meeting

2.2 Meeting Schedule

3. MATTERS ARISING FROM 39TH SOPAC COUNCIL MEETING

4. 2010 ANNUAL REPORT SUMMARY

5. 2011-2015 STRATEGIC PLAN

6. STAR CHAIR REPORT

7. SOPAC DIVISION DIRECTOR’S REPORT INTRODUCTION

8. OCEAN AND ISLANDS PROGRAMME

8.1 OIP Summary of Work Programme Implementation | OIP Summary of Work Programme Implementation (French)

8.2 OIP Annual Report of Activities

8.3. OIP Outcome Achievements 2010/2011 against Strategic Plan

8.4. 2011 PMEG report on the OIP

9. WATER AND SANITATION PROGRAMME

9.1.  WSP Summary of Work Programme Implementation | WSP Summary of Work Programme Implementation (French)

9.2  WSP Annual Report of Activities

9.3  WSP Outcome Achievements 2010/2011 against Strategic Plan

9.4 2011 PMEG report  on the WSP

10. DISASTER REDUCTION PROGRAMME

10.1  DRP Summary of Work Programme Implementation | DRP Summary of Work Programme Implementation (French)

10.2  DRP Annual Report of Activities

10.3  DRP Outcome Achievements 2010/2011 against Strategic Plan

10.4  2011 DRP PMEG report on the DRP

10.5  Developing an Integrated Regional Strategy for DRM and CC by 2015

11. TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES

11.1  Natural Resource Economics

11.2  GIS and Remote Sensing

11.3  Data Management

11.4  Publications and Library

11.5  2011 PMEG report on the Services

12. STATEMENTS

12.1 Fiji

12.2 French Polynesia

12.3 Kiribati

12.4 Marshall Islands

12.5 New Caledonia

12.6 Papua New Guinea

12.7 Samoa

12.8 Tuvalu

12.9 European Union

13. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMME DELIVERY AGAINST KRAs IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN

13.1  Report on Progress against KRAs 2011

13.2  Results of the SOPAC Division Staff Survey 2011

13.3  Cross-cutting PMEG report

14. 2012 WORK PLAN AND BUDGET (as Proposed)

15. OTHER BUSINESS (no paper)

16. ADOPTION OF CHAIR’S OUTCOME STATEMENT FOR CONSIDERATION BY CRGA

17. CLOSING (no paper)

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 09:38  

Newsflash

Concerns about protecting the environment during exploration and mining for deep seabed minerals will not be addressed by a ‘one size fits all’ solution.

Dr Malcolm Clark, Principal Scientist (Deepwater Fisheries) at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Wellington, New Zealand, expressed this opinion during the international workshop on Environmental Management Needs for Exploration and Exploitation of Deep Seabed Minerals.

The workshop, jointly organised by SOPAC a division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the International Seabed Authority, took place in Nadi, Fiji, during December 2011, as a part of the European Union funded, four-year Deep Seabed Minerals Project.

Dr Clark said that the more we learn about the deep sea the more we realise that parts of it are split up into smaller environmental packages, and we don’t have a good understanding of how large these package-like “ecosystems” are, or the degree of connectivity between them.

There are three types of deep seabed deposits that are being considered as potential resources to be mined: massive sulfide deposits cobalt crusts, and manganese nodules.