General News
30 April 2015, Noumea, New Caledonia - The Institute of Research for Development (IRD) and the SPREP (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme), sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the framework of the OCEANIA 21 meetings, a intergovernmental summit on climate change and sustainable development.

Targeting research to improve sanitary conditions, understanding the evolution of the societies, preserving the environment and the resources are the common keywords describing IRD and SPREP activities.

Working in close collaboration with its Southern partners, and in particular those in Oceania, the IRD is a French public scientific institute interested in the issues of international development.

altMr. Georges De Noni Director of IRD with Mr. David Sheppard Director-General of SPREP

SPREP is a regional, intergovernmental organisation comprising 26 members consisting of 21 Pacific Island Countries and Territories and five developed countries with direct interests in the Pacific region. The purposes of SPREP are to promote co-operation in the Pacific region and to provide assistance in order to protect and improve its environment and to ensure sustainable development for present and future generations.

Within this framework, at the end of the intergovernmental summit OCEANIA 21, the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two organisations covers joint actions conducted in environmental education and the programmes concerning issues such as:
  • innovations in environmental law and biodiversity protection in Oceania;
  • the rights of environmentally displaced peoples (EDPs);
  • the Oceania Observatory on the Consequences of Climate Change (in collaboration with University of the South Pacific and the GOPS (Great Observatory on biodiversity and the environment in the South Pacific).
  • early warning systems for natural hazards (Earthquake and Tsunami detection)
  • PI GOOS : Pacific Island Global Ocean Observing System
  • Marine (Emblematic and Migratory) Species
The Memorandum of Understanding is signed for a five year period. Among the projects which will be carried out: the on-going preparation to the United Nations international conference COP 21, in Paris in December 2015 under the presidency of France. This has been prepared in close collaboration with the New Caledonia Government and the Oceania partner institutions.

The IRD is one of the key actors in link with the French Ministries in charge of Education, Higher education and Research and that of Foreign affairs and International Development. A delegation of the two organisations will be mobilised to take part in this international event and to present why the Pacific Island States and Territories are a sentinel region for the rest of the world as regards impacts of the climate change - SPREP/IRDMediaRelease