10 September 2012: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has launched the Pacific Climate Change Portal, an online hub of information on climate change in the Pacific region. The Portal features an events calendar, experts directory, documents, national and regional committees, image library and links to virtual libraries in the Pacific on climate change.

Launched during the 23rd SPREP Annual Meeting, the Portal was requested by SPREP members during the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable in 2009. David Sheppard, SPREP Director General, said the Portal aims to make the substantial amount of climate change related information and tools produced by regional and national institutions available online and easily accessible in a user-friendly manner.

According to SPREP, additional plans are underway to develop the Pacific Climate Change Projects Database, which will act as a monitoring and evaluation tool for the Pacific Island Framework for Action on Climate Change (PIFACC), which in turn hosts information on climate change projects in the Pacific from 2011-2015. Another future development will be a training module on Geographical Information System (GIS), to be made available on the portal.

An Advisory Committee, assisting in the strategic direction of the Portal, includes the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), the University of the South Pacific (USP), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and SPREP. [Pacific Climate Change Portal] [SPREP Press Release]