A newly established department on Environment and Climate Action (ECA) at the Secretariat of the OACPS
A new department at the Secretariat of the OACPS started activities in recent months to deal exclusively with issues related to Environment and Climate Action (ECA). The Environment and Climate Action Department was created following a decision at the 110th Session of the then, ACP Council of Ministers at the 9th Summit of OACPS Heads of State and Government in Nairobi, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2019.
The Department seeks to support Members of the OACPS to undertake climate change adaptation and mitigation actions; protect biodiversity; promote the sustainable use and management of natural resources; strengthen ocean governance, including fisheries and aquaculture; and build resilience to disasters from natural hazard risks.
The ECA department is under the leadership of Assistant Secretary General, Ms. Cristelle Pratt who joined the Secretariat in September 2020. Immediately prior to her appointment, Ms Pratt, a citizen of the Republic of Fiji, served as the Deputy Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), located in Suva, Fiji. As chief advisor and deputy to the PIF Secretary General, she was able to support the realisation of a reformed, prioritised regionalism agenda under the Framework for Pacific Regionalism and development of a strategic narrative for the Blue Pacific Continent.
ASG Pratt brings thirty years of policy and practice experience to the OACPS, and has worked in both the public and private sectors as well as at national and multi-lateral levels. She served as Director General/CEO of the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC). Ms. Pratt has also served various other regional and international organisations, providing strategic policy and technical advice on climate change, risk resilience and ocean governance.