11 March 2024, Apia Samoa – The Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) in partnership with the University of Melbourne (UoM) have launched the Pacific Action to enhance the Visibility of Evidence on Health and Climate Impacts (PAVE – Health) Inception Meeting in Samoa.
The PAVE – Health Intervention aims to further develop the knowledge and skills of policymakers, researchers and health practitioners to reduce climate-related health impacts across four Pacific Island Countries: Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Samoa and the Solomon Islands.
The three-year initiative, funded by Wellcome for a total of 4.8 million (AUD), builds on the strong partnership between the PCCC, SPREP and the University of Melbourne. Wellcome is a global charitable foundation established in 1936. Through their work they support science to solve the urgent health issues facing everyone
The Inception workshop held at PCCC in Vailima Samoa was opened by Acting Chief Executive Officer of Samoa’s Ministry of Health, Tagaloa Dr. Robert Thompson.
He highlighted the urgent need for attention and collective action in addressing the impacts of climate change on health in the Pacific region.
“Climate change is a health crisis and is a lived experience for our Pacific community,” he said. “We acknowledge all our partners involved in bringing this operation into reality, this project bridges the gap between scientific evidence and policy action.”
SPREP’s Director General, Mr Sefanaia Nawadra, highlighted the importance of partnerships and working across sectors and the need to view health holistically.
“In order to service the many needs that our Pacific countries have, we need each other to better understand how to address climate-related health issues in order to make informed decisions,” said Mr Nawadra.
He encouraged the continuation of building long term partnerships to build a more resilient Pacific environment.
PAVE aims to fortify the Pacific region against health impacts of climate change. It is the first climate and health impact award funded by Wellcome in the region.
Professor Kathryn Bowen, of the University of Melbourne, highlighted the wealth of knowledge that already exists in the Pacific on the impacts of climate change on health. She said PAVE Health aims to package this knowledge in a way that elevates understandings of climate change impacts on health in the Pacific to the broader global community.
“The project’s core ambition is to build local capacity to assess the health impacts of climate change on the Pacific communities,” said Professor Bowen.
This is carried out by using local knowledge to inform policy-relevant interventions to enable Pacific communities to access greater climate financing.
Ms Ofa Kaisamy, PCCC Manager said the two-day Inception workshop included a comprehensive overview of the PAVE-Health project objectives and the three work packages on capacity building, generating climate and health evidence, and policy tools to access climate finance and advocate for climate action.
This involves planning with national representatives and providing networking opportunities with climate and health professionals from across the region.
For more information, please contact pccc@sprep.org.
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 and Australia.