9 August 2024, Funafuti Tuvalu – The Fourth Clean Pacific Roundtable (4CPRT) guided by the theme “Clean Environment. Resilient Oceans. Healthy Communities” has closed with a renewed focus to strengthen regional cooperation, collaboration, coordination and partnerships amongst Pacific countries, donors and development partners and to share best practices to enhance waste management and pollution control in the Pacific region.
The focus is highlighted in the Outcome Statement of the Clean Pacific Roundtable 2024 which ended in Funafuti Tuvalu today. Facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and hosted by the Government of Tuvalu at the Rt. Hon Dr Sir Tomasi Puapua Convention Centre (TPCC) from 5 – 9 August 2024, it was attended by more than 200 delegates from the Pacific and abroad.
Chair of 4CPRT and Permanent Secretary of Tuvalu’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Climate Change and Environment, Ms Pepetua Latasi, said: “We’ve had a very fruitful meeting where we delved into the challenges, successes and innovations in our work to manage waste and control pollution in the Pacific.
“There were many inspirational stories shared during the presentations and sessions and I hope that you were inspired by these stories and can take some of the lessons with you back to your home countries.”
Ms Latasi said Tuvalu has enjoyed hosting the 4CPRT, the second biggest meeting the atoll nation has hosted since the Pacific Islands Forum Meeting in 2019.
“Tuvalu is not an easy place to get to but we have overcome a lot of those challenges to be here today,” she said. “For us in Tuvalu, we’ve enjoyed learning about all new technologies that some of you are already using in your countries to manage waste and control pollution. We especially like the fact that we heard about these technologies from our Pacific neighbours as opposed to hearing it from people outside the region. So thank you for your active participation and we wish you well on your journeys back home.”
SPREP’s Director of Waste Management and Pollution Control (WMPC), Mr Anthony Talouli, expressed appreciation to the Government and the people of Tuvalu for hosting this year’s Roundtable. He also thanked all SPREP member countries, partners and donors for their support.
A key part of this week’s Clean Pacific Roundtable was discussions about the future of the Pacific Regional Waste and Pollution Management Strategy 2016–2025, which for the past nine years, provided a strategic management framework to address waste management and pollution control in the region.
With a year remaining to implement the framework, the 4CPRT allocated a day on Thursday to allow delegates to input into what the next blueprint would look like. The first day of the Roundtable reflected on the successes and challenges of the framework.
At the closing of the meeting, delegates emphasised the need for the CP2035 to include continuous capacity building, technical assistance, and resource mobilisation to deliver the expected strategic outcomes.
“As Pacific countries, our challenges are very similar. This Roundtable has once again highlighted this fact and we leave Tuvalu knowing that we are all in this together,” said Mr Talouli.
“As a popular saying goes for some of us who enjoy water sports and paddling, if I want to go fast you paddle alone but if you want to go further, we paddle together. That’s the overarching theme as we look to continue our work in waste management and pollution control for a more resilient Pacific environment.”
The meeting amongst other things acknowledged the unprecedented threats facing the Blue Pacific, from the triple planetary crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and restated its commitment to the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
Delegates also maintained that securing a healthy and resilient Blue Pacific is critical to overcoming the challenges we face, including national capacity limitations, ensuring the well-being of both our ocean and our communities.
As the work ramps up to secure an ambitious International Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution including the Marine Environment, the Fourth Clean Pacific Roundtable expressed alarm that plastic pollution flowing into the Pacific Ocean, can be traced back to Pacific rim countries.
The delegates also expressed disappointment with the position of plastic producers and distributors refusing to curtail production and supply of plastics, and called for mandatory control measures for problematic and avoidable plastics, and chemicals of concern.
The Outcome Statement focussed on topics such as Reflections on Cleaner Pacific 2025, Circular Economy, Waste Collection, Hazardous Wastes, End of Life Vehicles (ELVs), Pollution Control, Disaster waste, Waste Technologies, Plastic Pollution and Developing the Cleaner Pacific 2035.
The next Clean Pacific Roundtable will be in 2026.
The Fourth Clean Pacific Roundtable (CPRT) facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is hosted by Tuvalu from 5 – 9 August 2024.
The Roundtable is intended to provide a vehicle to disseminate outcomes, promote regional collaboration and resource complementarity, and expand networking opportunities to assist Pacific Island countries and territories in the delivery of safe and sustainable waste management practices. It will also prevent pollution-related issues that impact the health of the ocean and communities within the region.
It is attended by the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
For more details and the programme, click: https://www.sprep.org/4th-clean-pacific-roundtable