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Recent years have witnessed a broadening of development thinking and greater emphasis on integrated work methods and sustainable development planning. Global conventions and agreements have altered the way development is viewed, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, 2000), the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, 2002), the 3rd World Water Forum (2003), and the upcoming review of the Barbados Programme of Action for Small Island Developing States (BPoA+10, 2004).

In preparation and response to this broadening development focus, the Pacific island nations and states were called to prepare a series of national review reports assessing in a holistic manner, for the first time, a broad perspective of issues, problems and priorities.

Prior to the WSSD, each Pacific Island Country was called upon to create a National Assessment Report, with the aim of summarising in one document all the critical sustainable development issues faced by each country. While these documents remain incomplete for some countries, they represent an important audit of current and emerging issues, and provide an invaluable overview for organisations such as SOPAC in planning work implementation and in consultations with countries.

Tuvalu’s National Assessment Report is currently unavailable. Tuvalu’s National Environmental Management Strategy (NEMS), published in 1997, provides an alternative source identifying the major environmental and sustainable development issues in Tuvalu. These issues can be subdivided along the three ‘pillars’ of Sustainable Development: environmental, social and economic concerns. Those issues particularly related to the technical assistance and capacity that SOPAC offers are summarised below:

Environmental Concerns:

• Global warming and sea-level rise
• Unsustainable use of marine and terrestrial natural resources
• Waste management
• Pollution control
• Supply and quality of freshwater
• Coastal erosion

Social Concerns:

• Population growth, densities and distribution
• Deficiencies in environmental education and public awareness
• Decline of traditional resource management practices
• Inadequate institutional and legislative arrangements
• Urbanisation

Economic Concerns:

• Energy dependence
• Achieving sustained long term economic growth

The NEMS document draws from the following reports:

State of the Environment Report (Lane 1994)
Tuvalu country report for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Government of Tuvalu 1992a)
Tuvalu Medium-term Economic Framework Programme, 1992-1994 (Government of Tuvalu 1992b)