The first Pacific Environment Forum is underway in Samoa.
The Secretariat of the Pacific Environment Programme or SPREP is hosting the one-day forum in Apia - open to the public - to discuss environmental issues affecting the Pacific region.
The Deputy Director of SPREP, Kosi Latu, says the Forum's key themes are sustainable development, renewable energy, poverty eradication, and climate change in the Pacific.
Mr Latu explains the significance of the meeting for the 25 members attending.
"When we go to global meetings our voice is usually drown by so many other countries. I think it is an important opportunity for countries in the region to be able to share experiences and to be able to articulate their issues and their concerns but also, I think, we need to learn from one another. When we are talking adaptation - how do we adapt to climate change - sometimes we don't have to reinvent the wheel, we can learn from what other countries are doing."
Mr Latu says the outcomes of today's forum will feed into the 22nd Annual SPREP meeting that runs from Tuesday to Thursday in Apia.
