Our work is not only a job it is a calling and this year has highlighted that more than ever. We’re closing the chapter on 2025 with some Pacific environment wins for us all, writes SPREP's Director General, Mr Sefanaia Nawadra.
Every Pacific gain has been a direct hit against the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.
To honour our calling, and using the mandate our Members have given, SPREP worked to promote cooperation in the Pacific region and mobilise resources to protect and improve our environment, has strategically built its capacity to advise, offer technical assistance, support and nurtured partnerships that make a difference for our Members.
In 2025, the reach of our work spread across our Pacific islands region and beyond.
We have protected native species with Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands declared free of the two invasive Myna Bird species on the atoll through the JPRISMSS. Palau now has an air-controlled incinerator; after more than 10 years without the capacity to incinerate hazardous waste, it can now do so through incineration supported by the EU-funded PacWastePlus Programme which wrapped up this year.
Vanuatu, one of the world’s most at-risk country to natural disasters and extreme weather events, now has a weather radar. Funded through the Green Climate Fund-VanKIRAP Project, this will improve cyclone tracking, detecting severe rainfall and destructive winds bringing faster and more accurate alerts to protect the people of Vanuatu.
In Samoa, our Pacific youth held their very first Loss and Damage dialogue funded by Australia and New Zealand, making room for young Pacific voices to shape their future in this space. It’s the start of something that will grow, emboldening our youth for a better life ahead for us all.
Our calling has resulted in so many of these Pacific wins this year that collectively gain ground for us all across the region. We’ve all worked well together with our Members and partners in the battle against the triple planetary crises for our future.
We’ve elevated our One Pacific Voice on the global stage, carrying our concerns across oceans striving to ensure that our Pacific families and their survival are at the forefront of global negotiations. We’ve sat at the negotiating table for climate change, waste, endemic species and our Ocean this year making sure that we’re not on the menu. Our Pacific are actively facilitating change at all levels possible for our people.
Milestones have been made and should be celebrated.
The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) reached a global milestone with 60 ratifications paving the way towards entry into force by January 2026. For the Pacific Islands region, home to large Ocean Island states within the world’s largest Ocean, this agreement is a symbolic lighthouse guiding the way for our Pacific islands voyage towards further protection of our biodiversity.
Our Pacific-wide negotiations team at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change ensured our voices were amplified, supported by SPREP and our One-CROP partnership. This elevation of our Pacific leadership, concerns and challenges reverberated outside the negotiation rooms with the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion showcasing over 70 side events featuring our Pacific voices across the period.
We celebrated the submission of Tuvalu’s Instrument of Ratification for the Noumea Convention. The decision strengthens the collaboration by SPREP, our Members and partners for the protection of our natural resources and the environment. Congratulations Tuvalu!
On the work to address pollution, the INC for a Global Instrument to Address the Whole Life cycle of Plastics was unable to complete its negotiations within its set two-year time frame. A handful of petroleum producing countries held off the rest of the world not wanting to reach an agreement that would affect raw material production and upstream processes.
But we will not give up. With the support of our Member countries, partners and donors, we will continue to amplify that One Pacific Voice. This Pacific sound must continue to reverberate and ring across the halls of power where key decisions are being made about issues that matter to us today.
For our team at SPREP the work we do is a calling that comes from the heart. We, ourselves are people that grew up in a village, part of a community that helped raise us. We lived off the land and embedded in us are our own traditional cultures and practices that make up our identities. We learned to respect our environment as it feeds, protects and nurtures us all.
This Christmas, as we end the year acknowledging all our Pacific gains and wins, we prepare ourselves for what will come in 2026 – our continued perseverance towards a safer environment for our Pacific people.
We are at the vanguard of those disproportionately affected by the impacts of the triple planetary crises. In spite of the many challenges of financial and technical resourcing, we vow to strive forward to support our Pacific Members’ needs and aspirations.
May God Bless you all and we look forward to writing the new chapters together, in 2026. Merry Christmas, vinaka saka!