Phillip Strickland, Senior Environmental Compliance Officer at NES, recently attended the Environment and Emergency Training Courses organized by the UNEP/OCHA Joint Environment Unit (JEU) in Nadi, Fiji. The week-long program, held from November 25th to 29th, 2024, aimed to enhance disaster preparedness and environmental emergency response.
The training focused on building technical capacity and sharing knowledge to prepare communities, governments, industries, and disaster responders for emergencies. Central to the initiative was the Environmental Emergencies Centre (EEC), an online platform offering resources, guidelines, and training modules on managing crises like natural disasters, industrial accidents, chemical spills, and oil spills.
Phillip actively participated in deployment exercises as part of a working group, TEAM ALPHA. Through hands-on simulations, he explored strategies for managing real-world environmental impacts of hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and man-made disasters. He also worked on scenarios involving combined natural and technological events, such as storms causing chemical spills.
The course highlighted the critical role of local and national actors, like agencies like the Emergency Management Cook Islands, Cook Islands Met Office, National Environment Service and private sector partners, in reducing disaster risks. It also underscored the importance of international collaboration, where organizations like UNEP and OCHA support member states when the scale of a disaster exceeds national capacity.
Participants engaged in in-depth exercises using tools like the Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (VOSOCC), which replicates the coordination required during emergencies. The training emphasized preparedness, response, and the importance of aligning with international frameworks such as the UN Disaster Assessment & Coordination system and the Basel Convention on hazardous waste.
This training is invaluable in supporting Phillip in his dual role as a NES officer and Tupapa Puna member. Phillip’s experience highlights the critical need to enhance the Cook Islands’ disaster preparedness while fostering international collaborations. The training equips him with essential knowledge and skills to strengthen environmental emergency response capabilities, both locally and regionally, ensuring the Cook Islands are better prepared to address future challenges.
