4 September 2029, Apia, Samoa – Officials attending the Thirty Second SPREP Meeting today reflected on their journey on the “fight of our lives”, the fight against climate change, during a side event held on the third and final day in Apia.
A big part of that journey has been the strategic efforts that have been undertaken by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), its Member countries, and partners to amplify the Pacific’s voice, especially during the Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COPs).
Pacific leaders have repeatedly identified climate change as the single greatest threat to the livelihoods and security of Pacific people. Despite, contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, the Pacific finds itself at the frontlines of the negative impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels and more extreme and frequent severe weather events.
Pacific delegations attending the UNFCCC COPs at the end of each year, they often have the smallest delegations. However, efforts have been made over the years by SPREP to ensure that the Pacific voice is amplified, and their message heard, by the global community.
An example of these efforts includes empowering Pacific media to amplify our Pacific stories on climate change and initiatives such as the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion, a Pacific partnership supported by the Governments of Australia and New Zealand and implemented by SPREP. The Pavilion acts as the Pacific Hub at the UNFCCC COPs.
Ms. Nanette Woonton, SPREP Communications and Outreach Adviser, highlighted that SPREP has worked to build the capacity of Pacific media to allow them to accurately and effectively tell their stories of resilience in local media and also to the world.
“We do this through media training, connecting our Pacific media with climate change experts and building their capacity and their un
derstanding around the issue. An example of this is a media training we held earlier this year prior to the Regional Loss and Damage dialogue. Journalists who attended this training were selected to be part of the Pacific Loss and Damage media team who then covered the Regional dialogue,” Ms. Woonton said.
“What resulted were stories that were developed and then run in their own national media back home, increasing awareness around the issue of loss and damage,” she added.
The Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion has become a fixture at the UNFCCC COPs, and is consistently one of the busiest Pavilions.
“For anyone from the Pacific who attends the UNFCCC COP, the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion is their ‘home away from home’ and a place that people can go to rest and reset in the midst of tough negotiations,” said Ms. Tagaloa Cooper, Director of SPREP’s Climate Change Resilience programme.
It also provides a platform for Pacific countries to showcase their islands to the world, and more importantly, the work that is being done in their countries to address the climate change problem.
Ms. Pepetua Latasi, Tuvalu’s Secretary of Home Affairs, Climate Change and Environment, and one of the Pacific’s more seasoned climate change negotiators, shared that the impact of the Pavilion in increasing awareness not only around the Pacific as a region, but for each individual country, is immeasurable. It also becomes a safe haven for Pacific negotiators.
“When you walk around the COP venue, you very rarely find any chairs or anywhere to sit down. So I always go to the Pavilion because I know that I’ll find a seat there, I’ll find space there where I can just rest and reset after a long day or night of negotiating a difficult agenda item,” Ms. Latasi said.
The side event concluded with a presentation and performance from This Is Our Home, Pacific Artists for Climate Justice, which showcased how climate advocacy can be further strengthened through the use of performing arts.
“It’s hard to talk to people about the impacts of climate change in the Pacific, because our realities are not their realities. In order to change the mind, we must first change the heart,” said Mr. Nate Lopa, a member of the group.
This is the aim behind their use of music to convey their message to the world, that climate change is real and is affecting our Pacific island countries and communities, and that the world needs to get on board and support the Fossil Fuel Free Pacific campaign.
SPREP’s Director General, Mr. Sefanaia Nawadra thanked the group for their continued commitment to the fight against climate change, and assured that SPREP is willing to work with them other young people, civil society organisations, and partners to ensure they have a platform to continue to say who we are.
The side event was hosted by SPREP’s Climate Change Resilience programme and the Communications and Outreach Unit.
The Thirty Second SPREP Meeting of Officials (32SM) and Associated Meetings are taking place at Sheraton Aggie Grey[‘s Hotel and Bungalows in Samoa, from 1-5 September.
Guided by the theme “Sustaining our Pacific Environment in Harmony with our Cultures”, the 32SM and Associated Meetings bring together SPREP Members to discuss strategic issues pertaining to the organisation, and to approve the 2026-2027 Work Programme and Budget.
The 21 Pacific island Members of SPREP are: American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna. The five Metropolitan Members of SPREP are: Australia, France, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
In our efforts to fulfill our vision of a ‘resilient Pacific environment, sustaining our livelihoods and natural heritage in harmony with our cultures’, SPREP is extremely grateful to our valued Members, partners, donors, our CROP family, and stakeholders.
For more information on the 32SM, visit https://www.sprep.org/sprep-meeting/2025/32-meeting-of-officials or contact [email protected].