Islands Business - Samoa/ Ecology: PLAY IT CLEAN AND GREEN

Win gold for a sustainable environment

Asterio Takesy
The bond of Pacific fellowship will be strengthened this month at the XIII South Pacific Games hosted by Samoa.

Over 6000 athletes, officials and supporters will be united in the spirit of competition as the respect for each culture and tradition comes alive through the games.

More importantly, there is an opportunity for our Pacific people to especially remember the environment and how our actions impact upon our surroundings during the two weeks of the games.

Such a large number of guests to Samoa will no doubt make a significant impact on the environment during this time. The challenge is for a positive legacy to be left behind in Samoa and valuable lessons on environmental preservation to be taken back to home countries by our athletes, once the games are over.

Reason to be happy... a Vanuatu school gets solar power.

We all have a special role to play and by simple actions we can join the global community in saving our planet.

You do not need to have a professional career nor do you need to hold a certain position within your government in order to make a change. There is within you the power to bring about a sustainable environment at many different levels. During the South Pacific Games in Samoa, that opportunity will literally be placed in your hands.

A ‘Play it Clean and Green’ campaign will be held during the two-week period of the games. It will be built on SPREP’s ‘Strong islands, Strong future’ initiative. This is to strengthen the resilience of Pacific communities and natural systems to respond to the damaging effects of climate change. It supports the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change that covers six principles:

Implementing and adaptation measures;
Governance and decision-making;
Improving our understanding of Climate Change;
Education, training and awareness;
Contributing to global greenhouse gas reduction; and
Partnerships and cooperation.

One of the strong messages during this campaign is designed for you to reduce your impact on the environment.
Soil management and waste minimisation deal indirectly with adaptation towards climate change. You can do this by not littering, carrying your own reusable bags to minimise the use of plastic bags and recycle wherever possible. Simple, uncomplicated changes in your lifestyle such as these ideas can bring about immense benefits for our Pacific future.

You can start making these small changes here in Samoa during the South Pacific Games, and hopefully take the message home with you. They are rather basic ideas but the wisdom behind them is sound and can shape the Pacific environment for the better.

The ‘Play it Clean and Green’ campaign will also give people a ‘hands-on’ approach to combat climate change.
During two days of the games everyone will have the opportunity to help plant 2015 native trees in the Tuanaimato National Park, situated next to the athletics site at Faleata Park.

The planting of trees is part of our Pacific culture. Nurturing the land is something we have inherited from our ancestors and it is this strength we have which can work towards repairing the damage done to our earth.

By planting 2015 native trees, we will have helped carbon offsetting that reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air. Trees and the ocean are effective in absorbing carbon emissions naturally (carbon sinks), yet there is an inability to absorb at the same level carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.

The more living trees there are in the world, the more carbon dioxide will be absorbed and this ‘Play it Clean and Green’ campaign will partially offset the carbon of more than 6000 people flying into Samoa for the games.

Aviation and shipping make up approximately 4% of total man-made emissions but because they occur at high altitudes, they may have more negative effects on the atmosphere and are more direct than emissions at ground levels.

Emissions from aviation in relative terms rose by 54% between 1990 and 2000 and this trend is likely to continue, which will mean aviation and shipping making up 8% of total global emissions at this rate unless stringent action is taken to optimise the use of new fuel efficient technologies. Although the Pacific is responsible for 0.03% of total global emissions of carbon dioxide from fuel combustion, we are doing our part to seek solutions. This region undoubtedly will be one of the most adversely affected by climate change.

The United Nations Environment Programme has recognised the importance of carbon offsetting with its ‘Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign’, the aim of which is to plant one billion trees during 2007.

The 2015 trees targeted to be planted by people at the South Pacific Games will be pledged towards this goal, so we become part of the global work to save our planet.

That special number of trees is specifically set because that represents the target year established for the Millennium Development Goals. The ‘Play it Clean and Green’ campaign has come about due to partnerships between SPREP, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), GEF Small Grants Fund and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Government of Samoa (MNRE) as part of the Millennium Development Goals Programme.

Its success lies in the hands of people who plant the native trees during the campaign and what happens afterwards. I am hopeful this simple exercise of planting a tree will imbed in our Pacific people the importance of such an action and that they can carry out similar initiatives in their own home countries.

Stepping back from the games, we must all realise that everyone has a role to play in trying to work towards finding solutions to climate change issues. Minimising waste and planting trees are just a few actions of these actions, but we can also opt to use renewable energy wherever possible, as this will reduce the number of carbon emissions.

There are a number of ways Pacific people feel the effects of fossil fuel—through climate change and in our pockets. As fossil fuel stocks continue to be depleted, its cost continues to rise, affecting both the environment and the Pacific economies.

The Pacific can be regarded as the region with the highest potential for renewable energy per capita as we live in the tropics where the sun shines constantly, we have tradewinds blowing steadily, tropical climate suitable for planting trees for fuel and we are in the midst of the largest ocean on earth and along the Pacific Rim of Fire. It is now a matter of trying to exploit those in a feasible way.

The GEF-funded and SPREP-UNDP partnership on the Pacific Islands Greenhouse Gas Abatement through Renewable Energy Project (PIGGAREP) is now looking at removing the barriers that face renewable energy technologies throughout the Pacific. In time this will see more use of renewable energy in our region.

Yet we do not need to wait for governments to make the first step towards renewable energy. There are also changes you and I can make in our daily lifestyle.

At the village level, there are people who dry their clothes using the sun and continue to cook using firewood, there are people who would rather walk or ride a bicycle instead of a car. Then in the urban areas people can use solar water heaters instead of electric or gas powered heaters. The challenge has been laid for us to make simple changes to our daily lives which in turn will have a positive reaction on our environment at global level.

For those who will be in Samoa this month, be you a competitor, official, supporter or a general stakeholder of the Pacific, remember to ‘Play it Clean and Green’. To share the quest for a sustainable environment is a worthwhile mission, as is your quest for Gold.