Working in partnership. PCBL and SPREP will provide extensive media coverage of Pacific stories at COP31 - a similar approach used to cover COP28 in Dubai (pictured). Photo credit: SPREP.
By Michelle Curran
Executive Communications Manager, Pasifika TV/PCBL
Collaboration between established Pacific organisations is enhancing efforts to share stories of aspiration and resilience from Pacific communities, beyond the coral reef.
Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited’s (PCBL) Pasifika TV and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) have announced a partnership to provide media coverage of the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), to be held in Türkiye, from November 9-20.
Natasha Meleisea, PCBL Chief Executive is excited about the work ahead for COP31, having shared the initial agreement to work together at PCBL’s recent Navigating the Digital Landscape conference, in Auckland.
She says working alongside SPREP once again to ensure Pacific climate change stories reach all corners of the world is paramount for PCBL.
“We acknowledge the significance and relevance of this year’s event, being dubbed as the Pacific COP and together with our media partners, we will amplify Pacific stories, to ensure our people are heard as they strive to conserve their culture, environment and livelihoods.”
Tagaloa Cooper, Director of Climate Change Resilience at SPREP, says it is crucial to for Pacific climate change stories to be shared at the COP31 on the world stage.
“Echoing our voices both inside and outside the negotiations can help empower a groundswell of support for our survival in the face of these climate impacts,” Tagaloa says.
“This partnership with PCBL will help make this happen.”
Apia-based Media Public Relations Officer at SPREP Sosikeni Lesa says the recent PCBL conference was the perfect opportunity to announce the two regional organisations’ intentions to work together at COP31, in front of the 30 Pacific broadcast CEOs PCBL works with, among other guests.
“Through this partnership, SPREP and Pasifika TV will work together applying the approach undertaken for COP28 in Dubai, UAE.
“Pacific countries who are members of Pasifika TV will undertake a series of virtual trainings which include homework sessions, and from this, a selection will be made of a team of Pacific island reporters to cover a UNFCCC global process sending news across the Pacific and beyond.”
Responsible for coordinating, designing, and managing SPREP’s media relations, while promoting environmental initiatives across the Pacific, Sosikeni is excited the details and implementation of the partnership, he adds.
“We value the role of PCBL in connecting our Pacific broadcasters and ultimately our Pacific people.
“SPREP looks forward to continuing our partnership in telling our Pacific stories, amplifying our successes and struggles, in the future and many more years to come.”
Digital technology will play a huge role in the COP31 coverage, and of course, the future of media.
Sosikeni says it is a tool for media professionals to use to their advantage.
“For instance, it has revolutionised media from traditional means to real-time communication, transforming consumers into creators and accelerating information exchange.
“It enables instantaneous global connection via social media, AI, and messaging apps, reducing reliance on traditional means of news delivery services while increasing the speed of news consumption.
“That said, it’s also a great unknown and one where we must navigate carefully, especially with AI, and all that it brings.”
PCBL is proud to support SPREP as a key CROP member as both organisations strive to support a prosperous Pacific, and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.