Since the early 1990s the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has been promoting the use of environmental planning and assessment processes amongst its member countries and territories. SPREP's approach to environmental planning and assessment has been part of a global programme for improving environmental management and supporting sustainable development.
Long timescales, uncertainties, and the multi-faceted nature of climate change adaptation makes monitoring progress in this field inherently challenging; there is no simple way to determine how well prepared we are for current and future climate change impacts. This contrasts with climate change mitigation, for which greenhouse gas emissions can be considered a universal indicator, and there are clear guidelines for preparing and analysing greenhouse gas inventories.