The Cook Islands is the chair for the Pacific Region’s Project Steering Committee (PSC), which has the largest portion of the GEF ISLAND fund.

GEF ISLANDS is the largest singular project by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), with an allocation of under US$20 million for the 14 Pacific countries including the Cook Islands. 33 countries are a part of this project – 14 from the Pacific Ocean, 12 from the Caribbean Ocean, 4 from the Indian Ocean and three from the Atlantic Ocean. 

National Environment Service director Halatoa Fua attended the GEF ISLANDS forum in Geneva on the back of the BRS Convention, which was attended my most of the 33 islands under the GEF ISLANDS project.

Halatoa Fua says ‘The GEF ISLANDS gave international perspective to the Pacific delegates on what successful implementation might look like for countries in the Caribbean, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

“It is pleasing to see progress in Rarotonga on theTitā ki te Titā kore project and ICI’s Solid and Hazardous Waste bill, while we focus on bringing the Pa Enua to level the playing field. The Pacific region has many activities to be accomplished in 2025 and 2026 to expedite progress on hazardous chemicals and waste management.”

The delegates discussed establishing a Project Steering Committee for the whole GEF ISLANDS project, shared success stories and case studies directly from various countries in this project and discuss two main solutions as outcomes of the meeting.

Firstly, on policy solutions, the delegates discussed legislation, regulations and policy instruments that are proven to be successful in managing hazardous chemicals and waste amongst SIDS. Secondly, on technical solutions required to help SIDS to manage effectively the chemicals and waste. This included technologies, tools, methods, skills, processes.

And environmentally sound systems and infrastructure. 

The Cook Islands’s GEF ISLANDS project was designed in 2021 to focus on removing legacy and hazardous waste from all the islands in the Pa Enua.

The GEF ISLANDS project will complement The PacWastePlus Cook Islands Project whereby Infrastructure Cook Islands (ICI) will ship 10 recycling depots to each of the Pa Enua by June 2025.

These recycling depots will help collect, pack, store and ship recyclable waste from the Pa Enua to Rarotonga for recycling.

The GEF ISLANDS will help remove these waste items from the Pa Enua. This will avoid the burning, burying or disposal of hazardous waste in the Pa Enua, which poses significant risks to human health and the environment. NES