Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a total land area of 462,000 square kilometers (km2), making
it the largest Pacific island country. Its exclusive economic zone at 3.12 million km2 is the
world’s second largest. The country’s sparsely distributed population of only 7 million
makes PNG’s population density of approximately 9 people per km2 the lowest in the South
Pacific.
PNG’s principal marine and coastal ecosystems include 13,840 km2 of coral reefs, 4,200 km2
of mangrove swamp forests, and extensive seagrass beds. The country is home to at least 500
This Second National Communication has been prepared to fulfill PNG’s commitment. It contains the necessary information about the country’s major sources of GHG emissions and sinks, vulnerability and adaptation options together with the necessary mitigation measures, which PNG has implemented and will implement to adapt to climate change impacts and to further contribute to the global efforts in reducing GHG emissions.
Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) has been one of the fastest growing economies globally this century with average growth rates above 6%. This rapid growth has been driven primarily by the expansion of foreign investment within the natural gas sector and high prices for PNG’s central exports many of which are transported to rapidly growing Asian economies. This growth has built on a long history of natural resources being at the centre of the PNG economy with exports and employment dominated by mining, natural gas, logging and agriculture.
In urban areas, responsibility for providing piped water and sewerage services in the nation’s capital, Port Moresby, lies with Eda Ranu, and for the remaining provincial and district towns with Water PNG (formerly the PNG Water Board). Service provision to these areas are estimated to be 89% access to safe water (little change from 87% in 1990), and 57% access to safe sanitation (down from 89% in 1990)1. Access to services in urban areas struggle to keep up in the face of rapid urban population expansion.
The New Guinea region evolved within the obliquely and rapidly converging Australian and Pacific plate boundary zone. It is arguably one of the most tectonically complex regions of the world, and its geodynamic evolution involved microplate formation and rotation, lithospheric rupture to form ocean basins, arc-continent collision, subduction polarity reversal, collisional orogenesis, ophiolite obduction, and exhumation of (ultra)high-pressure metamorphic rocks.
In September 2001, the National Executive Council (NEC) directed the National Department of Agriculture and Livestock (NDAL) to develop a medium term National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP). Accordingly, NDAL, having consulted all stakeholders and the wider community within the agriculture sector, formulated the plan
with technical and financial assistance from the GoPNG and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations under the Technical Cooperation Program (TCP No. 3003A).
With 3.8 million cubic meters of tropical wood exported in 2014, primarily to China, Papua New Guinea (PNG)has become the world’s largest exporter of tropical wood, surpassing Malaysia, which had held the top spot for the
past several decades.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a country emblematic of the challenges facing developing rainforest nations in the Global South. Despite its rich natural resources (recent surveys indicate that between 50% and 70% of the
vPapua New Guinea has ratified all eight core ILO labour Conventions. In view of restrictions on the trade union rights of workers, discrimination, child labour, and forced labour, determined measures are needed to comply with the commitments Papua New Guinea accepted at Singapore, Geneva and Doha in the WTO Ministerial
Declarations over 1996-2001, and in the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its 2008 Social Justice Declaration.
The ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries works with the nine ILO member states in the region- Fiji, Kribati, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu- and also provides technical support to the other Pacific Island Countries.
The Papua New Guinea National Interpretation 2014 is based on the generic document of the Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Palm Oil 2013 (P&C 2013), which will be used as a standard for palm oil mills and plantations attaining certification under RSPO. The new Criteria, with associated Indicators, that have been added into the P&C 2013 are:
Criteria 1.3 – Ethical Conduct
Criteria 6.12 – Forced and Trafficked Labour
Criteria 6.13 – Respecting Human Rights; and
Criteria 7.8 – Minimizing GHG Emissions from New Plantings
Sustainable palm oil production is comprised of legal, economically viable, environmentally appropriate and socially beneficial management and operations. This is delivered through the application of the following set of Principles and Criteria, and the accompanying Indicators and Guidance.
From Wealth to Wellbeing: Translating Resource Revenue into Sustainable Human Development Papua New Guinea
This policy replaces the Papua New Guinea National Food Security Policy (NFSP) 2000-2010. The policy sets the medium to long-term direction and signals priority areas to focus resources (financial and human) to build sustainable food security for all Papua New Guineans. It provides a platform for joint planning to guide coherent programs and actions from all key stakeholders to strengthen food security in Papua New Guinea.
Oil palm prices may hold up in the medium term, with strong demand from India and China. Yet, like other non-oil commodities, oil palm prices are likely to remain volatile, and to experience a long term relative price decline. (Chapter 3)
Report for the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights on the economic prospects for small farmers in PNG’s oil palm industry
The Medium Term Development Plan III (MTDP III) captures the main thrust of the Alotau Accord II and sets the Goal of “Securing our future through inclusive sustainable economic growth” by focusing on key investments to further stimulate the economic growth in the medium term. The key priorities of the Alotau Accord II are (1) inclusive Economic Growth with renewed focus in Agriculture, (2) continuing with Infrastructure development, (3) improvement of quality of Health Care, (4) improvement of quality of Education and Skills Development, and (5) improvement of Law and Order.
A four-week mission was undertaken in Papua New Guinea to evaluate the work of the National Cultural Council and the Provincial Cultural Centres and the relationships between them, and to advise on the development of cultural centres with special regard to their structures, functions and programmes, as well as to their coordination.
Tonda Wildlife Management Area on the southern extremity of Papua New Guinea’s border with Indonesia is PNG’s largest and oldest conservation area and its only Ramsar site. For over 20 years it has been managed by a committee of indigenous leaders drawn from 20 village communities. While this group has provided strong local level protection of land, lack of support to the committee has meant that the full potential of community management has not been realised. Furthermore threats on a regional and international scale cannot be easily
dealt with by current community institutions.
The Tonda Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is the only Ramsar site in the south Pacific region outside Australia. It was declared a Ramsar site on 23rd March, 1993 because it is believed to support internationally significant populations of both resident and migratory shorebirds and waterbirds and is probably an important staging point for shorebirds during migration between eastern Australia and the breeding grounds in eastern Russia.
This is Papua New Guinea's National Ramsar Report to the Conference of Partties 13th meeting (COP 13) 2018.