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The overall objective of PacWastePlus is to generate improved economic, social, health and environmental benefits arising from stronger economic integration and the sustainable management of natural resources and the environment. The specific objectives is to "ensure the safe and sustainable management of waste with due regard for the conservation of biodiversity, health and well being of Pacific Island communities and climate change mitigation and adaptation requirements."

This assessment provides the strongest scientific argument to date for the urgency of acting, and for collective action to protect and restore our oceans. The assessment details the impacts of marine litter and plastic pollution – from the population level to the sub-cellular – revealing previously unknown aspects of the effects of microplastics on physiology as well as their ecotoxicological effects on ecosystems, wildlife and humans. Drawing on a comprehensive synthesis of the latest findings about the sources, pathways and fate of marine litter and plastic pollution, the assessment highlights the pervasiveness of plastics and microplastics, from the deepest abyssal environments to the most remote oceanic islands, and the extreme pressure being exerted on the planet.

Waste management issues in Kiribati are governed under general environmental and public health legislation. There is no specific legislation for waste management. A specific law establishes a container deposit scheme (CDS), which is regarded as effective in separating out these containers from other waste streams and promoting their recovery. Some analysis of the national waste situation has been undertaken through the Draft National Solid Waste Strategy 2007, which also covered the period 2008-2011, with biennial reviews. This strategy identifies priorities for different waste streams and provides a basis for assigning tasks for this work to specific institutions.

Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd (PDP) has been engaged by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to undertake an assessment of the status and options for solid waste management (SWM) on Majuro Atoll. This work is being done under the Atoll Waste Management Component of the Pacific Hazardous Waste Management Programme (PacWaste) which aims to demonstrate the establishment of an integrated sustainable SWM system in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) which improves and expands on existing 4R practices (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), improves existing waste collection and disposal practices, and which is founded on user-pays and polluter-pays principles. The field work for this consultancy was completed in June-July 2014.

Th e Asian Development Bank (ADB) has piloted fragility assessments in selected urban settlements in the Pacifi c using a community-based approach and focusing on the impact of fragility on the delivery of basic services. Th e fragility assessment of South Tarawa in Kiribati explores patterns of fragility related to urban development including delivery of critical urban services with focus on water and sanitation services. Bairiki Village, an urban settlement in South Tarawa, was a case study for the assessment.

Massive coral bleaching episodes have impacted the function of the reefs and increased rates of mortality. Coral reefs support over one million plant and animal species and their economic value is pro¬jected to more than US $ 30 billion annually. Extreme climatic con¬ditions, however, are most likely to increase in the future with cur¬rent climate scenarios. Projected increases in carbon dioxide and temperature exceed the conditions under which coral reefs have flourished over the past 500 000 years. Coral reefs are crucial bio¬diversity hotspots and support both coastal fisheries and tourism in many regions. Coral reefs, however, are in decline in many regions as a result of numerous pressures, including, but not limited to, extreme climate events, unsustainable fishing practices, diseases, sedimentation, and discharge of untreated sewage. Increasing re¬silience and securing rapid recovery of coral reefs will be essen¬tial for the ability of these ecosystems to support coastal fisheries and coastal livelihoods and cultures in the future. However, this resilience and recovery may be seriously impounded by unsustain¬able coastal infrastructure development and marine pollution from land-based sources. At the current rate of growth, coastal develop¬ment may impact up to 90% of the tropical and temperate coast¬lines by 2032 if development continues unchecked. While progress has been made to reduce the discharge and impacts of oil spills and persistent organic pollutants (POP’s), there now needs to be a focus on the largest current threats to the coastal marine environment : untreated sewage and piecemeal coastal development.