The Pacific Islands Environment Leadership Awards
There are more than 60 periodic, mostly global and national, environment awards in existence around the world. There are a limited number of regional awards, such as the Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award and specific ASEAN environmental categories - the Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award and the Peatland Media Award. While the Pacific islands region is eligible for global awards, such as the World Future Council 2012 Future Policy Gold Award presented to Palau for their Protected Areas Network Act 2003 and their Shark Haven Act 2009, there has been no Pacific region focused environmental award system established to date.
The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is establishing the Pacific Islands Environment Leadership Awards specifically to reward and promote the contributions of individuals, communities, non-governmental organisations, private enterprises, and countries towards achieving an environmentally sustainable Pacific.
The inaugural awards presentation was held during the Ninth Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, with ensuing awards selection and presentations held every 2years thereafter.