Tuvalu has launched an environment data portal under the Inform Project, executed by SPREP in 14 Pacific island nations.
The Inform Project supports Pacific island countries to enhance their national reporting capacity to the various MEAs and on the SDGs.
Tuvalu officers received capacity-building training on uploading, storing and sharing data to the online portal.
12 February 2019: The Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment (MNREE) of Tuvalu, in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), has launched an environment data portal as part of the Inform Project, which seeks to assist Pacific island countries in enhancing their national capacity to report to the various multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).
A workshop was held alongside the launch in Funafuti, Tuvalu, to build the capacity of MNREE officers to upload, store and share relevant data and reports to the national portal.
The Inform Project will help address the lack of timely access to available information by those who need it.
Highlighting the need for “historical and current evidence of the status and trends of various environmental resources and drivers of environmental change,” Paul Anderson, Inform Project manager, said the project will “help address the lack of timely access to available information by those who need it, including local technical staff, governments, communities and citizens, for national and international reporting and planning, and most importantly, for sound and informed decision making.”
Soseala Tinilau, Director of MNREE, emphasized the role of modernized data in driving informed decision making, and highlighted the government’s decision to establish “an environmental database to manage and consolidate data for reporting purposes to all MEAs” that Tuvalu has ratified and is party to as well as on the SDGs.
The Inform Project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). It is executed by SPREP in the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Under the Project, the Pacific island countries will develop national portals. [SPREP Press Release] [Tuvalu Environment Data Portal] [Regional Pacific Environment Data Portal]