The new Pacific Climate Change Portal officially launched

The new and improved Pacific Climate Change Portal officially launched in Samoa

17 June 2016, Apia, Samoa - The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and Griffith University in Australia hosted a launch for the upgraded Pacific Climate Change Portal (PCCP) this afternoon at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel in Samoa.

The PCCP – www.pacificclimatechange.net is the one-stop-shop for Pacific climate change information.

"The value of the portal is it enhances adaptation and resilient planning in the region by ensuring that people are able to discover and access the best available climate change information data and knowledge," said Dr. Netatua Pelesikoti, the Director of SPREP's Climate Change Division.

"The portal supports the climate change community in the pacific to ensure there is resilient development."

The launch is an important step forward for climate change adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction planning in the region. The portal already consists of over 1,000 data sets and documents relevant to climate change and disaster risk in the Pacific and this number will grow as more material is added and shared throughout the region.

The Pacific Climate Change Portal continues to be updated, currently in development are the decision support tools for climate finance to assist countries in accessing the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Pathways tool to assist Pacific island countries and territories in adaptation planning.

"Just think about the number climate-related projects in the Pacific and the sheer amount of data and information they generate and the added value of these data being reused? And the cost of having to reproduce them if they are lost?" asked Professor Brendan Mackey, Director of Griffith University Climate Change Response Program.

"The Pacific iClim project aims to promote a regional approach to information management so that the Pacific can ensure climate-related information is securely stored, discoverable and reusable and that it has access to the most up to date approaches and technologies."

The upgrade of this one-stop-shop for Pacific islands climate change information was made possible through a partnership between the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Griffith University through the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) funded Pacific iCLIM Project and the GIZ Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Islands Region Project.

"We recognise that there is a lot of good work that has been done, and it's not always easy to find, we are therefore very pleased to be able to support this Pacific Climate Change Portal and as you have seen today there is a wealth of information on this site that helps us better understand climate change science," said Ms Rosemary Mckay, Deputy High Commissioner, Australian High Commission, Samoa.

"The portal bridges the gap between climate change science and local decision makers and makes a strong contribution to building the resilience of communities to climate change."

SPREP also wishes to acknowledge the contributions from the Climate Change Divisions of the three pilot countries - Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu.

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