Strengthening Implementation and Negotiating Capacity: Pacific Islands and the Climate Change and Biodiversity Conventions

The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), WWF-South Pacific Programme (WWF-SPP) and FIELD have developed a joint programme to strengthen national and regional capacity for the implementation and negotiation of the international agreements on biodiversity (the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety), and climate change (the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol) in the Pacific Region.

Climate change and biodiversity are among the most important environmental issues facing Pacific island countries today. Full and effective participation in the international climate change and biodiversity negotiations, the effective implementation of these legal regimes and feeding implementation experiences back into the negotiations are becoming increasingly important.

SPREP, WWF-SPP and FIELD have collaborated in the past on a number of capacity-building initiatives for the Pacific island countries in relation to both biodiversity and climate change agreements, but the need was identified for a more structured and strategic longer term approach. The links between climate change and biodiversity, both in terms of substance and personnel, merit a concerted approach in terms of objectives, substance and methodology. The proposed programme addresses both climate change and biodiversity/biosafety issues in an integrated manner, and aims to forge critical links between negotiating capacity, on the one hand, and implementation strategies, on the other.

The three project partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 to lay the foundation for a medium-term work programme. Proposed activities include two regional preparation and implementation workshops per year, as well as advice and assistance through briefings and other papers on key issues within the biodiversity/biosafety and climate change regimes.

FIELD Related Activities

FIELD, SPREP and WWF-SPP co-host Third Negotiations Training workshop in Fiji for Pacific region climate change negotiators. From 8-10 November 2004, partners FIELD, the South Pacific Region Environment Programme (SPREP) and WWF-South Pacific Programme (WWF-SPP) hosted a three day preparatory session for climate negotiators from 10 Pacific Island Countries. The workshop's goal was to strengthen the capacity of Pacific island countries to negotiate and implement the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol, and to prepare for the 10th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC. The workshop addressed a range of issues of interest to small island states on the upcoming COP 10 negotiating agenda, and provided participants with a review of relevant developments and initiatives in the region since the previous June 2004 negotiating session. It also discussed interlinkages between the UNFCCC and the Convention to Combat Desertification, and linkages with other regional international processes and upcoming sessions, including the Ten Year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for Small Island States (BPoA+10) to be held in January 2005 in Mauritius, and the World Conference on Disaster Reduction to be held in January 2005 in Kobe, Japan. Participants had an opportunity to strategise on Pacific and AOSIS negotiating positions, and engage in hands-on briefing exercises and simulated negotiating sessions.

Second Regional Workshop for Pacific Island Capacity-Building: From 10-13 November 2003, FIELD, SPREP and WWF-South Pacific Programme, hosted a second regional workshop to strengthen the capacity of Pacific Island Countries to negotiate and implement the UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Approximately 20 representatives from 10 Pacific Island Countries participated in the four-day workshop, which was held in Nadi, Fiji, and addressed issues of special importance to the region under both Convention processes. Participants carried out a number of negotiating skills exercises and engaged in detailed discussions of substantive issues on the negotiating agenda for UNFCCC COP-9, and CBD COP-7, as well as on the linkages between both Conventions. The workshop built upon the outcomes and needs expressed at the First Regional Workshop, held in Apia, Samoa in April 2003.

First workshop to improve national and regional co-ordination and strengthen the capacity of Pacific island countries to negotiate and implement the international biodiversity, biosafety and climate change regimes The first workshop under this programme of work took place in April 2003 in Samoa. The workshop benefited from the input of a range of stakeholders, including local communities, national and regional NGOs and the private sector. It was used to develop a work plan for the region, discuss substantive issues that are likely to arise during the upcoming climate change and biodiversity meetings, relevant inter-linkages, and regional and national co-ordination of agendas for these meetings, as well as addressing negotiation training needs and promoting the exchange of information through existing and new networks.

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