The Pacific Climate Change Centre hosted at SPREP commemorated its five years of service this year – work for a resilient Pacific in the face of climate change impacts. Built at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme in Samoa, the Centre was founded through a bilateral agreement between the Government of Samoa and the Government of Japan through JICA.
In its journey, the PCCC gained invaluable partners in supporting its operations such as the Government of New Zealand and the Government of Australia.
In the spirit of thanksgiving and celebration, the Centre celebrated its five-year anniversary with key partners this month.
“What began as a shared vision between two nations has now grown into a regional beacon of climate leadership, advanced climate action, innovation and strengthened resilience for all our member countries and territories,” stated Acting Prime Minister of Samoa Hon. Toelupe Su’a Maoiautele Poumulinuku Onesemo in his official remarks.
“And Samoa takes pride of the Centre, and the journey in togetherness, will continue to support the work of the PCCC to ensure it deliver its purpose”.
The anniversary celebration was led by Reverend Dr Arthur Wulf, Vice Principal of Malua Theological College, in his sermon from the book of Proverbs 3:13-20, “she is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, those who hold her fast are called happy. As we celebrate let us be thankful of God’s creative works in creating this centre to provide our Pacific Community with wisdom and understanding in our fight against climate change. With such functions we can say that the Pacific Climate Change Centre is a tree of life”.
The PCCC is a solar powered infrastructure which contributes to Samoa’s NDC goal. It has become the cornerstone of innovation by experimenting inclusive partnership extending windows of opportunities to the private sectors, research institutions, grassroots and non-government organisations.
Beyond the traditional ways of delivering assistance to the Region, the Centre have branched out initiatives in alignment with its well-defined core functions on climate change knowledge brokerage, capacity building, science to services and innovation with cross cutting themes of climate finance, adaptation, mitigation and loss and damage.
Mr. Sefanaia Nawadra, Director Geenral of SPREP, emphasised that the “PCCC is not a Centre of SPREP, but a regional Centre of Excellence hosted at SPREP that fosters partnerships across governments, NGOs, the private sector, and development partners. SPREP remains committed to building a hub of excellence through the Centre”.
The vision for the PCCC is to catalyse climate investment for a resilient Pacific. Over the past five years, USD 15 million in climate financing was committed to the Centre by partners. Further to this, valuable technical support has been provided from from JICA, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation of Australia, United Kingdom Met Office, and University of Melbourne which contributed significantly to the successes of the Centre and support for the Pacific Islands region.
Early 2025, PCCC hosted its initial Pacific Climate Change Centre Partners Dialogue a biennial calendar event of the Centre to convene its partners. Since 2019, the centre launched its online e-learning platform https://www.sprep.org/pacific-climate-change-centre/training to accommodate the COVID19 restrictions, since then indicatively more than 1600 participants were trained online .
Partners of the Pacific Climate Change Centre shared their messages of encouragement during the Fifth anniversary celebration in Samoa on 4 November 2025.
Mr. Tomohiro Kanata, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Samoa, reflected on Japan’s enduring partnership: “Over the past five years, the PCCC has become a hub of excellence, fostering collaboration and innovation to strengthen climate resilience across the Pacific. Japan is proud to have supported the establishment of the Centre and through two technical cooperation projects. We stand ready to continue working hand in hand under the spirit of partnership for a resilient Pacific.”
Her Excellency Si'alei van Toor, High Commissioner of New Zealand to Samoa, echoed this sentiment: “The New Zealand Government is honored to have partnered with the PCCC since its beginning, alongside Samoa, Japan, and Australia. Initiatives like the Pacific Ocean Pacific Climate Change Conference and the Pacific Climate Change Innovation Exhibition have advanced climate action and built a Centre that will continue to support Pacific adaptation efforts.”
Ms. Soraya McGinley, First Secretary for Development at the Australian High Commission in Samoa, added: “The PCCC has established itself as a globally trusted source of user-friendly and scientifically robust climate information. We are proud to have contributed to its success and remain committed to supporting the climate ambitions of the Pacific region.”
Ms. ‘Ofa Kaisamy, Manager of the PCCC, closed the event with heartfelt appreciation: “I would like to thank our partners, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, the University of Melbourne, and the Wellcome Trust, for their support. We’ve been entrusted to look after the Centre, and I couldn’t do it without the guidance of the Director General, our Advisory Board, and the dedicated Centre team. There is still a long way to go in the fight against climate change, and the PCCC will continue to serve Pacific communities through its key functions.”
Guiding the Centre’s continuous journey, the PCCC have recently endorsed its Business Plan for the next five years, finalised its Pacific Climate Change Research Roadmap 2025-2035, and launched its Pacific Climate Change Innovation Lounge https://pcccinnovation.com platform with three Pacific Climate Change Legacy Initiatives in the pipeline.
The PCCC has also launched its first Climate Change and Health regional project with Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Samoa and Solomon Islands. The Centre’s big tickets items for 2026, the launching of its third round of Fellowship Program with the University of Melbourne, the Regional Innovation Exhibition in Vanuatu and the Pacific Climate Change Research Forum in Solomon Islands.
In its celebration, the Centre and key partners also bid farewell, and heartfelt appreciation to Ms ‘Ofa Kaisamy as she embarks in a new role with the Commonwealth Secretariat where she will be based in England after 5 years of leadership and nurturing the PCCC as the first Manager of the Centre. The Centre will continue catalysing investment in serving the Region as the Centre of Excellence in the work on climate action.