Overview and History

Constitution

The Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) is an intergovernmental, regional organisation with 20 member countries, including 18 Pacific island countries and territories, as well as Australia and New Zealand. SOPAC?s work is carried out through its Secretariat, based in Suva, Fiji.

SOPAC was established in 1972 under the Economic and Social Division of the UN as a project called the Committee for Coordination of Joint Prospecting for Mineral Resources in South Pacific Offshore Areas (CCOP/SOPAC), to promote offshore mineral and petroleum prospecting. The secretariat became autonomous in 1984 with the funding of its member countries, donor countries and international agencies to steer its annual operations. While the initial focus of its work was on marine mapping and geosciences, recent years have seen a broadening of this scope to include hazard assessment and risk management, environmental vulnerability, oceanography, energy, water and sanitation and information and communication technologies.

Corporate Vision

Natural resources, principally non-living resources, developed in a sustainable manner and vulnerability reduced for the people of the Pacific.

Mandate

To contribute to sustainable development, reduce poverty and enhance resilience for the people of the Pacific by supporting the development of natural resources, in particular non-living resources, investigation of natural systems and the reduction of vulnerability, through applied environmental geosciences, appropriate technologies, knowledge management, technical and policy advice, human resource development and advocacy of Pacific issues.

SOPAC Programmes

SOPAC's three operational programmes: Ocean and Islands; Community Risk and Community Lifelines offer a unique balance of intervention capacity and a wealth of expertise to address these issues.

The Pacific Future: SOPAC's approach

In 2002 SOPAC published a Sustainable Development Strategy and a Work Programmes and Strategies Paper which detailed our vision for how the Secretariat can best respond to the needs of our member countries in the light of the many constraints, issues and inherent vulnerabilities which are a reality for all Pacific Islands Countries and set out the logical framework for how we aim to meet the mandate agreed by our Governing Council 'to contribute to sustainable development, reduce poverty and enhance resilience for the people of the Pacific'.

Sustainable development has becoming our goal as much as it is the overarching aim of all working in government, the civil sector, regional, and donor organisations. But what does this actually mean for a country such as Niue, and how can and does SOPAC contribute to this goal?

In the SOPAC Sustainable Development Strategy, we defined sustainable development as:

"Sustainable Development for the Pacific Island Communities is a process of development which ensures that quality of life, and quality of growth are achieved, through good governance, within the limits of acceptable change to these communities, their islands and their large ocean, without compromising the opportunities available to their future generations."

This definition seeks to capture the unique circumstances of the Pacific and was developed following regional consultation at all levels. Quality of life, quality of growth and good governance can be achieved only when communities adopt a 'Pacific Way of life' that is viable economically, socially equitable and non-abrasive environmentally .

As a regional organisation, SOPAC aims to be proactive in responding to the development needs of its member countries. Within its mandate and expertise, SOPAC endeavours to contribute to Sustainable Development in the Pacific by addressing three fundamental development issues:

• The high dependence on the direct utilisation of natural resources and degradation of the natural environment.
• The extreme vulnerability of the communities and the environment.
• The limited access to water, sanitation, energy, and information and technology for development.

SOPAC's three operational programmes: Ocean and Islands; Community Lifelines and Community Risk offer a unique balance of intervention capacity and a wealth of expertise to address these issues.