The National Environment Service (NES) staff, Maria Maoate and Roselyn Strickland were amongst the Pacific Islands Countries (PICs) participants that attended the Conferences of the Party (COP) meetings for the 18th Noumea Convention, and the 13th Waigani Convention. These meetings were subsequently held in Apia, Samoa, following the 32nd SPREP meeting also held in Samoa in the beginning of September of this year.
The Convention for the Protection of Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific (1986), commonly known as the Noumea Convention or the SPREP Convention, originates from UNEP’s 1972 Regional Seas Programme. It serves as the regional framework agreement for the protection, management, and sustainable development of the South Pacific’s marine and coastal environment. The Convention is supported by two supplementary instruments – the Dumping Protocol and the Emergencies Protocol – both of which are embedded within the Cook Islands’ maritime emergency response policies and legal framework.
The COP meeting for the Noumea meeting also happened in conjunction with the meetings for the 1995 Waigani Convention, which is a regional agreement on banning importation of hazardous and radioactive wastes, and to control the transboundary movement and management of hazardous wastes within the Pacific Region. Derived from the 1992 Basel Convention, the Waigani Convention is a response to growing environmental issues of hazardous waste, toxic chemicals and pollution affecting the Pacific Islands Region. One of its objectives is to ensure the environmentally sound management of chemicals and hazardous waste in the Small Islands Developing States (SIDs). The Cook Islands is a party to the Noumea Convention and its Protocols, and the Waigani Convention. Attended by members from Australia, Cook Is, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Niue, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Samoa and Tuvalu. The Noumea meetings looked at various issues including the Secretariat’s Report, National Country Reports and the Secretariat’s Work plan and Budget. The Waigani meetings discussed the Science and Technical & Advisory Committee (STAC) Report from its 10th STAC Meeting held in Rarotonga around March, early this year. Other discussion areas also included the Secretariat’s Report, National Reporting, Work plans, Budget and future preparation for the upcoming BRS COP in 2027. Furthermore, the Cook Islands is the current holder of the Rapporteur position for the Waigani Convention for 2025-2026.
