Anthony Talouli*
SPREP
The Pacific, as we know it, is changing.
While some of us wish that the way of life we inherited from our ancestors remained in keeping our Pacific pristine and clean, change is inevitable. For many years past, our ancestors lived in a traditional society where their existence thrived on basic living, most of it environmentally friendly. Life as they knew it, was simple.
Fast-forward to now, things are quite different. The shift from a traditional society to a consumer-driven community has introduced both good and bad. In many ways, the demands of modern living has resulted in an unprecedented increase of wastes and pollution, as populations grow and developments rapidly expand. Our once simple environmentally friendly way of living has slowly disappeared, replaced by the influx of commodities and goods designed and packaged for storage life and convenience. It has some benefits but it has come at a huge cost.
Today, the impact of waste and pollution is taking its toll on the health of communities, degrading natural ecosystems, threatening food security, impeding resilience to climate change and adversely impacting on social and economic development. While most of the focus has been on climate change, and rightly so, our Pacific communities are staring at another major environmental crisis, that of waste pollution, unless we come together and do something about it. Now.
Which brings me to the Third Clean Pacific Roundtable being held from 16 – 25 November 2021. To be hosted virtually, close to a 100 participants from the government sector, waste and environmental practitioners, development partners, private sector, community, NGOs, academic and research institutions, will come together to advance the region’s push for a cleaner future. We have an exciting line up of speakers including the President of New Caledonia, Louis Mapou, the Director General of SPREP, Kosi Latu and of course legendary rugby figure, Vaaiga Tuigamala, better known as Inga the Winger. But that’s not all. There are side events; technical sessions as well as key discussions on pertinent questions stakeholders have about waste and pollution.
Facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), with members and partners, the event aims to facilitate networking and dialogue, improve donor coordination, mobilise technical and financial resources and to develop monitoring and reporting methods to monitor progress of the Cleaner Pacific 2025. This year’s meeting will focus on the following key themes:
• Creating a safe Pacific Circular Economy
• Waste industry-based enterprise with enhanced public-private partnerships
• Bridging people and waste: Enhancing consciousness in managing waste
What does this mean and why is it important to you? Let me break it down for you. When it comes to creating a safe Pacific Circular Economy, we are mindful that indigenous and traditional knowledge already embodies Circular Economy approaches such as composting and farming. We also want our Pacific countries to put in place processes and policies that will enable a Circular Economy, which include but are not limited to bans on products that we do not want, such as single use plastics.
Technological Innovations with Public-Private Partnerships places emphasis on the value private industry can bring to the issue of waste management and environmental protection. Providing an enabling legislative environment for such partnerships to thrive is a useful tool to encourage investment and progress. We need to engage and incentivize the private sector and empower civil societies by creating opportunities for employment.
Lastly, when it comes to the issue of “Bridging people and waste, Enhancing consciousness in waste management” we want to remind that waste has a negative effect on our environment, and that everyone can limit and reduce this impact through appropriate actions. We stand ready to support the development and implementation of systems that encourage sustainable behavioral change.
The point is that everyone has a responsibility to keep the Pacific clean. The overall goal for the CPRT is to encourage everyone to work together to deliver safe and sustainable waste management practices to prevent pollution-related issues that impact the health of the ocean and Pacific communities.
The Pacific Ocean is the lifeblood of our society since it provides our cultural and historical identity and unites our islands in common purpose. We depend on the oceans; we depend on the natural resources for survival. The problem is that we are seeing a lot of beautiful aspects of our ocean and other natural resources being destroyed and impacted by the actions of mankind, an unfortunately, that’s you and me.
We need to do something.
In our pursuit of a Cleaner Pacific, taking little steps will make a big difference. I believe it is everyone’s responsibility to do everything possible to protect our Pacific and keep it clean. We have to change the way we think and the way we behave when it comes to waste. The need to avoid, reduce, re-use, repair, recover, and recycle is now more pressing than ever. We must come together, we must act now.
*Anthony Talouli is SPREP’s Acting Director of Waste Management, Pollution Control/Pollution Adviser