Tools Improve Data Availability in Pacific for Decision Making and Environmental Reporting

Excerpt from the International Institute for Sustainable Development

The Inform project, executed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), has played a key role in promoting environmental data availability, management, and access in the region by supporting the development of the Pacific Environment Portal, 14 national environment data portals, and the Indicator Reporting Tool. The Indicator Reporting Tool was developed on the basis of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Indicator Reporting Information System.

There are significant challenges associated with the lack of historical and current environmental data, and inadequate information management and access for decision making and reporting in Pacific island countries. The full name of the Inform project, ‘Building National and Regional Capacity to Implement Multilateral Environmental Agreements by Strengthening Planning and the State of Environmental Assessment and Reporting in the Pacific,’ recognizes the need for data-driven decision making. The Pacific Environment Portal and the Indicator Reporting Tool help address these challenges.

The Pacific Environment Portal enables users to find, access, and reuse regional and national data. The Portal aims to provide easy access and safe storage for environmental datasets to be used for monitoring, evaluating, and analyzing environmental conditions and trends to support environmental planning, forecasting, and reporting requirements at all levels. National Environment Data Portals have also been developed for the 14 Pacific island SPREP members. The data from this network of portals are used to inform reporting on national, regional, and international frameworks using the Indicator Reporting Tool.