7 February 2024, Tokyo, Japan and Online – The Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) cooperation on climate change and waste management in Oceania was highlighted during the second meeting of the JICA Clean City Initiative through its work with the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) and the Japan Technical Cooperation Project for Promotion of Regional Initiative on Solid Waste Management (J-PRISM), both hosted at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa.
This seminar, as well as the larger online exhibition for JCCI, focused on creating circular economy societies aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), creating net zero societies, and reviewing and sharing best practices of waste management in Oceania, Vietnam, and Ukraine.
The “JICA Clean City Initiative (JCCI)” was launched in 2022 to support partner countries prioritise policies and infrastructure development related to environmental management, with an overall goal of achieving ‘clean cities’ in urban areas.The PCCC was featured during the discussions as it was constructed through a cooperation between the Governments of Japan and Samoa in 2019, with the Japanese Government contributing further assistance through the provision of solar panels that contributed 20 kilowatts to the PCCC 100 kW rooftop solar system.
Manager of the PCCC, Ms ‘Ofa Ma’asi-Kaisamy, also shared experiences on climate change challenges and opportunities in the region, the key functions of the PCCC, and the work that has been done by the PCCC to date and looking into the future.
This includes the recently completed, JICA-funded Project for Capacity Building on Climate Resilience in the Pacific project, which was implemented from 2019 to2023. The project had overwhelming success, having trained over 500 professionals from and in the Pacific islands region through Executive Courses and Open-learning Courses available on the PCCC E-learning Platform.
Ms Kaisamy said that “the PCCC E-learning Platform was a key milestone for this project, particularly during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing online access to a wider audience around the region – A fit-for-purpose solution”.
A second phase of this collaboration between the PCCC and JICA will begin in March 2024 for a 3-year project focusing on Innovation and the Private Sector in the Pacific islands region.
Mr Satoru Mimura, J-PRISM Chief Adviser, also shared on the achievements of J-PRISM which is currently in its third phase of implementation.
J-PRISM aims to strengthen independent solid waste management in the Pacific islands region by improving capacity building, institutional, and financial capacity by developing a monitoring system in each target Pacific island country realising ‘3R + Return’ building off activities in Phase II of the project. The 3R + Return concept has been promoted during the J-PRISM project as most of the countries in the region lack recycling facilities and limited recycling markets in the country due to the small scale of their local economies.
This concept would promote the proper resource recycling and appropriate disposal by exporting (returning) valuable waste or difficult waste for disposal while returning organic waste into soil for effective utilisation.
Mr Mimura said that “the interlinkages between sub-sectors needs to be taken into account in the Pacific, as well as looking for complementary opportunities on regional and national levels”.
The panel on ‘Cooperation in Oceania’ comprised of Ms ‘Ofa Kaisamy, Mr Satoru Mimura, and Mr Shundo Soeda from NIPPON KOEI CO LTD, a firm specialising in civil engineering, architecture, environmental assessments, and maintenance management services.
The event was attended by approximately 50 people in total (in-person) and drew in an online audience of 115 attendees.
For more information, please contact [email protected].
The Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) is the regional Centre of excellence for climate change information, research, capacity building, and innovation, hosted at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa. As a Centre of excellence, the PCCC is mandated to provide practical information, support, and training to address the adaptation and mitigation priorities of Pacific Island communities.
The PCCC is underpinned by strong partnerships with Pacific Governments, applied research institutions, donors, civil society, and the private sector. The PCCC is a partnership between the Governments of Japan and Samoa. It is funded under grant aid through JICA for Samoa as the host country of SPREP. Additionally, the Centre receives generous funding and support from the Governments of New Zealand, Ireland, and Australia.