NES Senior Environmental Compliance Officers Benjamin Maxwell and Matthew Rima recently attended the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) 2023 Annual Conference, “Leading the wave of change”, held in Auckland, New Zealand.
With support from the “Capacity Building related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries III”, also known as the ACP MEAs 3 Program. SPREP along with the EIANZ and New Zealand Association for Impact Assessment (NZAIA) help to facilitate the participation of Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) in the conference with the goal of fostering knowledge exchange, networking, building partnerships, and enhancing collaboration to address environmental issues in the pacific region.
The EIANZ Annual Conference is a premier gathering of environmental practitioners and experts across Oceania, providing an excellent platform to exchange knowledge, share experiences, and discuss pressing environmental challenges and solutions. Opportunity to hear from, and interact with policymakers, researchers, practitioners, industry experts, and thought leaders discussing vulnerabilities, methodologies, principles, and regulatory frameworks.
The conference featured a dedicated “Pacific Day” theme: Shaping Environmental Assessment and Planning in the Pacific.
SPREP recognizes the importance of pacific voices, priorities, and perspectives in shaping environmental policies and decisions that directly affect the unique challenges faced within the region. Pacific Island perspectives, achievements and challenges in environmental assessment and management was on display.
Providing a unique opportunity for Pacific delegates to engage with peers, share case studies and lessons learned, and discuss sustainable practices and environmental challenges in their respective countries. Shared knowledge from this conference will benefit NES in strengthening its capacity on environmental safeguards.