National Environment Service is working with Monash University to strengthen environmental protection

Increasing the Cook Islands’ capacity and learning opportunities when it comes to science, environment and legal policy is at the heart of a partnership between the National Environment Service (NES) and Monash University in Australia.

This Memorandum of Understanding, signed last week on the sidelines of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on plastic pollution, also provides Monash University with the opportunity to increase its knowledge about the environment and people of the Cook Islands.

This partnership supports a “teamwork” approach to complement each other’s strengths, expertise and resources and takes a multi-layered approach.

It will help strengthen the Cook Islands at a global level as the Pacific island nation negotiates a legally binding instrument against plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, through the INC. It will also support work at national level in the Cook Islands through technical assistance. when searched.

NES director Halatoa Fua said: “The Cook Islands National Environment Service is encouraged by this partnership which will help us learn from each other and create a resilient Cook Islands environment for all.”

“We are excited about the potential of this partnership in building the capacity of our teams. For the Cook Islands, which are located in an EEZ of almost two million square meters, preserving, protecting and managing the environment is a priority for many of us. We know that this partnership will bring many benefits in this area.”

The first action resulting from this, over a three-year period, will be for the student support team to conduct research and provide evaluation support to the Cook Islands delegation negotiating the INC process on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.

Associate Professor Gerry Nagtzaam from Monash Law School, who will lead the new Global Plastic Law Clinic, said: “This will not only be a great opportunity for students to participate in and learn about these crucial international negotiations, but also to real-time legal research assistance to the Cook Island delegation before and during ongoing INC negotiations.”

“Monash University remains committed to a continued teaching and research presence in the South Pacific region. The University views the clinic as the first step in building an ongoing partnership with the Cook Islands to work together to address other pressing global environmental challenges, such as climate change.”

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on April 24 in Ottawa, Canada on the sidelines of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, including in the Marine Environment.

“We congratulate the Cook Islands on their new partnership that will support our SPREP member on their journey to resilience in the Pacific,” said Anthony Talouli, Director of Waste Management and Pollution Control at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP ).

“We look forward to the continued impact the Cook Islands are making with this enhanced support as we approach the final phase of the INC process for an ambitious legally binding instrument against plastic pollution.”

The fourth intergovernmental negotiating committee to develop an international legally binding instrument against plastic pollution concluded yesterday.

The Pacific Islands were represented by the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, with the support of the Government of Australia and the United Nations.

They were supported by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP), in collaboration with partners the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC), The Pacific Community (SPC), Forum Fisheries Agency ( FFA ), Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), University of Wollongong, WWF and Massey University.