The Non-Aligned Movement has been quite efficient, prompt and steadfast in its values and principles and one among them pertains to the conservation of the environment and the dependence upon sustainable order. The Member States of the Non-Aligned Movement have adopted several strategic outlooks that pillars development on the foundation of sustainability and conservation of the ecology.

In lieu of the commitment of the Non-Aligned Movement to drive in development by sustainable means, the Republic of Vanuatu has implemented and adopted the Vanuatu National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan 2016-2030 (NEPIP) that aims at conserving and protecting the environment of the country in particular. The all-encompassing policy aims for the sustainable conservation, development and management of the environment of Vanuatu.

Environment plays a great role in the overall progress story of any country and Vanuatu has acknowledged the very fact that necessitates the adoption of a national policy in the regard of ecology which has manifested itself with the Vanuatu National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan 2016-2030 (NEPIP). The planning gone behind the realisation of the Vanuatu National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan 2016-2030 (NEPIP) has involved a co-ordinated and cooperative approach of the government agencies, provincial governments, communities, donors, non-government organisations as well as the private sector.

The Vanuatu National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan 2016-2030 (NEPIP) has a three-fold objective. The three-fold objective aims at providing for the co-ordination of environment related activities; promoting the environmentally sound and safe management and conservation of the natural resources and environment of Vanuatu; and outlining the operational matters necessary to implement the other two mentioned objectives.

Any plan once executed comes with a range of challenges at hand. But it is in dealing with the challenges that one builds upon opportunities that will aim at driving in progress as well as a sustainable development. The National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan provides with significant opportunities that holds potential to drive in change in the affirmative.

Vanuatu developed the National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan so as to strengthen the implementation of the National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP). The National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) is the overarching policy document of the government of Vanuatu and the environment is one of the three pillars under the NSDP.

The National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan is cognisant of the various sector policies under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity; and the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce, Industry and Ni-Vanuatu Business. The NEPIP is in close-connectivity with policies at both sub-regional, regional as well as international level. At both levels, the NEPIP takes into account regional policies under the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Pacific Community (SPC), but most importantly the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (S.A.M.O.A) Pathway.

The government of Vanuatu is also a signatory to several agreements and protocols at the international level that strengthens the country’s commitment to take necessary measures to protect and preserve the environment at large. With the National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan being intertwined by the National Sustainable Development Plan of the country, Vanuatu is also linked to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The need for protecting and conserving the environment as well as the urgency to implement the policies have been the chief concern of the Republic of Vanuatu. Under its National Environment Policy and Implementation Plan 2016-2030 (NEPIP), the country aims at strengthening the environmental needs and solve the complexities involved when development threatens the ecology of the country. As the country of Vanuatu has been implementing large scale policies so as to strengthen the development pace of the country, the NEPIP will serve the long-term needs of a sustainable order for the country.

The NEPIP will also aid the Republic of Vanuatu in the sustainable conservation, development and management of the environment and the natural resources of the country and strengthen its commitment to the ideals of the Non-Aligned Movement as well as the United Nations.

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