7 May 2026, Apia – Good environmental reporting is about more than ticking boxes – it is about telling the Pacific's environmental story with accuracy, integrity and impact.
The point was highlighted when the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) convened the 16th meeting of its Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Coordination Group (EMRCG) on Thursday in Apia.
"The decisions we make in this Group help ensure that the data and information SPREP shares with our Members, our partners, and the global community truly reflects the environmental priorities and realities of our region," said the Chair of the EMRCG, Mr Vainuupo Jungblut, SPREP Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Adviser.
The 16th EMRCG meeting brings together representatives from across SPREP's five technical programmes and relevant departments to revisit, review and strengthen the Group's role in coordinating a coherent and integrated approach to environmental monitoring and reporting across the organisation and beyond.
Established in 2018, the EMRCG serves as SPREP's internal mechanism for coordinating monitoring and reporting work across the Secretariat – including data management, regional environmental indicators, and reporting against key regional and global frameworks such as the SPREP Strategic Plan, the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), the Sustainable Development Goals, and the various Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).
Opening the meeting, the Director of SPREP Environmental Governance Programme, Mr Jope Davetanivalu, highlighted that the SPREP Senior Leadership Team had identified the EMRCG as an important platform for advising executive and senior leadership on the organisation's monitoring and reporting work, particularly in the context of the new SPREP Strategic Plan currently under development.
"As we look ahead, the work of this Group is more important than ever in helping SPREP deliver coherent, integrated and meaningful reporting to our Members and partners," said Mr Davetanivalu.
EMRCG Members reviewed and agreed on key revisions to the Group's Terms of Reference and updates to its Workplan, including aligning the Group's work with SPREP's emerging strategic priorities, embedding the principle of country data ownership, and reflecting new areas of work such as SPREP's digital transformation through the Integrated Enterprise Management System (IEMS).
A key highlight of the meeting was the presentation of SPREP's new Integration Framework for Sustainable Development Reporting by the Sustainable Development Adviser, Mr Justin Lima. The framework introduces a "Tag Once, Report to Many" approach designed to streamline reporting across multiple regional and international frameworks, reduce the reporting burden on technical Pprogrammes, and strengthen the visibility of SPREP's contribution to its Member countries and territories.
Members also discussed SPREP's evolving position on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace, recognising both the opportunities AI offers for efficiency and the importance of putting in place appropriate guardrails around data protection, ethical use, and the integrity of reporting on Pacific contexts.
The Chair of the EMRCG, Mr Vainuupo Jungblut, Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Adviser, thanked members for their constructive engagement and reaffirmed the Group's commitment to strengthening SPREP's monitoring and reporting work through closer cross-programme coordination.
The Chair further reaffirmed the Group's commitment to strengthening how SPREP measures, reports and communicates its environmental work for the benefit of the region.
For Pacific Island countries and territories, stronger coordination of environmental monitoring and reporting at the regional level translates into better access to the data and evidence needed to inform national decision-making, support climate and biodiversity action, and meet international reporting obligations.
As the Pacific continues to navigate complex environmental challenges – from climate change and biodiversity loss to waste and pollution – the work of the EMRCG underpins SPREP's ability to deliver timely, credible and Pacific-grounded environmental information to those who need it most.
For more information, please contact: Mr Vainuupo Jungblut, Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Adviser, SPREP – vainuupoj@sprep.org