Introduction
Sound environmental management and access to energy are essential components in any sustainable development strategy. This is especially the case in Pacific Island Countries (PICs) where the population relies heavily on natural resources for their livelihoods.The Environment and Energy Unit of UNDP Samoa is based in Apia and is responsible for all energy, environment and UNDP-GEF funded programmes in Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau. In addition, the Environment and Energy Section is also responsible for a number of Pacific regional environment and sustainable energy programmes in partnership with the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC),and the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA).

In line with UNDP's overall goal of enabling sustainable human development, the UNDP Environment & Energy Unit assists countries by facilitating access to funding opportunities from the UNDP, Global Environment Facility (GEF), bilateral and multilateral donors for environmental and natural resource management projects including sustainable energy.

The unit has secured funding and positioned carefully designed projects and programmes in each country, with particular emphasis on:
· Biodiversity
· Climate Change
· Persistent Organic Pollutants
· International Waters
· Sustainable Energy
· World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002
· Capacity Building
· GEF related activities

All the current and proposed environment projects are directly linked to the UNDP's Environment and Energy Practice Areaand the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which underpin both national Government's and UNDP's goals for sustainable development and environmental management and conservation. As much as possible, UNDP Samoa encourages the use of the National Execution (NEX) modality, where relevant governmental institutions undertake both programme management and implementation. This ensures a sense of ownership contributing to building the confidence of national governments to advocate convincingly for their own needs and to be able to sustain the pace of change and development. Our partnership with governments focuses on a commitment to sustainable human development through poverty reduction and global environmental protection and conservation. Thus, through these partnerships and synergies, UNDP Samoa aims to help countries strengthen their capacity to address these challenges by seeking out and sharing best practices, providing innovative policy advice and linking partners through various projects that help poor people build sustainable livelihoods.

UNDP Samoa has recently joined as part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP). The GEF SGP was established in 1992 and is implemented by UNDP. It provides financial and technical support to projects in developing countries that conserve and restore the natural world while enhancing well-being and livelihoods. SGP demonstrates that community action can maintain the fine balance between human needs and environmental imperatives. Samoa is one of the newest countries to participate in the SGP and UNDP Samoa will administer, this important programme, which targets local non-government organizations and community-based organizations.

UNDP Samoa hopes to ensure that the energy and resources for current and future generations are safeguarded and respected.

Focal Area	Title	Country	Programme Officer	Status	Implementing Partner	Start Date	End Date	Total Budget (USD)	Funding Source
Biodiversity	Strengthening Capacity for the Sustainable Management and Conservation of Marine Biodiversity in Samoa	Samoa	Ms. Easter Galuvao	On-going	Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment	tbc	tbc	110,000	UNDP TRAC
	Polynesian Partnership for Marine Conservation	Samoa (with the intention to include Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau as a sub-regional programme)	Ms. Easter Galuvao	Pipeline	Natural Resources and Environment	tbc	tbc	40,000	UNDP TRAC
Climate Change	Second National Communications to the UNFCCC (Enabling Activity)	Cook Islands	Ms. Easter Galuvao	On-going	National Environment Services	2005	2008	420,000	GEF
	Second National Communications to the UNFCCC (Enabling Activity)	Samoa	Ms. Easter Galuvao	On-going	Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment	2005	2008	420,000	GEF
	National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) Implementation (coastal protection)	Samoa	Ms. Easter Galuvao	On-going	Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment	2007	2008	140,000	UNDP TRAC
	Climate Change Advocacy Film	Niue	Mr Meapelo Maiai	Completed	Pasifika Production Company	2008	2008	30,000	UNDP TRAC
	Integrating climate change into the health and agriculture sectors	Samoa	Ms. Easter Galuvao	Pipeline	Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment	tbc	tbc	2.1	GEF
	Pacific Islands Greenhouse Gas Abatement through Renewable Energy (PIGGAREP)	Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Island, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu	Ms. Easter Galuvao	On-going	Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)	2007	2012	5.23 million	GEF
	Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change project	Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea,  Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu	Ms. Easter Galuvao	Pipeline	Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)	tbc	tbc	13.5 million	GEF
Persistent Organic Pollutants	Persistent Organic Pollutants Enabling Activity	Cook Islands	Mr Meapelo Maiai	Newly approved	National Environment Services	2008		474,000	GEF
Sustainable Energy	Rarotonga “Hot Spot” Wind Resource Assessment	Cook Islands	Mr Thomas Jensen	On-going		2006	2008	25,000	UNDP TRAC
	Upolu Wind Resource Assessment Project	Samoa	Mr Thomas Jensen	On-going	Electric Power Corporation	2005	2008	23,000	UNDP TRAC
	Access to Sustainable Power Services- Apolima Island	Samoa	Mr Thomas Jensen	On-going	Electric Power Corporation	2005	2008	30,000	UNDP TRAC
	Coconut Oil for Power Generation (CocoGen) Preparatory Assistance	Samoa	Mr Thomas Jensen	On-going	Electric Power Corporation	2004	2008	77,000	UNDP TRAC Danish NGO and Government of Samoa
	Preparatory phase for a Samoa Photovoltaic (PV) Electrification Programme	Samoa	Mr Thomas Jensen	On-going	Electric Power Corporation	2007	2008	47,000	UNDP TRAC, DANIDA
	Grid-connected photovoltaic Electricity Supply on Tokelau	Tokelau	Mr Thomas Jensen	On-going		2003	2008	314,000	UNDP TRAC, NZAID, Government of France
	Pacific Islands Energy Policy and Strategic Action Planning (PIEPSAP)	Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea,  Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu	Mr Thomas Jensen	Operationally closed	SOPAC	2004	2008	1.8 million	DANIDA
Sustainable Land Management	Mainstreaming sustainable land management practices	Cook Islands	Mr Meapelo Maiai	Newly approved	National Environment Services	2008	2010	500,000	GEF
	Mainstreaming sustainable land management practices	Niue	Mr Meapelo Maiai	On-going	Department of Agriculture and Forestry	2007	2009	500,000	GEF
	Mainstreaming sustainable land management practices	Samoa	Mr Meapelo Maiai	On-going	Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment	2007	2009	500,000	GEF
Capacity Building	National Capacity for Self Assessment	Cook Islands	Mr Meapelo Maiai	On-going	National Environment Services	2004	2008	200,000	GEF
	National Capacity Self Assessment	Niue	Mr Meapelo Maiai	On-going	Department of Environment	2004	2008	200,000	GEF
	Community centered sustainable development	Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau (sub-regional)	Mr Meapelo Maiai	Pipeline	tbc	tbc	tbc	tbc	UNDP TRAC

Note: For all project documents please email taufao.t@undp.org for a soft copy. All documents will be available online soon

The challenge has been set to plant 2,015 native trees during the XIII South Pacific Games in Samoa. The ‘Play it clean and green’ campaign will break new ground on 27 August, Day One of the Games, at Tuanaimato Park, next to the athletics site in Faleata.Athletes, visitors and locals alike will have the opportunity to plant a tree for the entire duration of the Games. This is to ‘green’ Samoa, and to raise awareness of how tree planting can help protect Pacific islands against the effects of climate change.

The ‘Play it clean and green’ campaign is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) of the Government of Samoa, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the United Nations in the Pacific. The ‘Play it clean and green’ campaign promotes MDG7 as part of an overall UN campaign to promote the Millennium Development Goals during the South Pacific Games.