NEWS

The inception meeting for a three-year multi-million dollar climate resilience project was held at the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa this week, bringing together donors, partners and Pacific countries to strengthen planning as the project gets ready to commence.

SPREP, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFs), and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) are working in partnership with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support Pacific island countries in building resilience to climate change impacts through the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR).

The PPCR is a global initiative aimed at supporting countries to transform to climate resilient development paths consistent with national poverty reduction and sustainable development goals. The Pacific programme of the PPCR has two components: (i) a national component applicable to three countries (Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga); and (ii) a regional component comprising a pilot project to support the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation in national development plans.

A key outcome of the programme will be improved capacity of Pacific islands to respond to climate change impacts and related natural disasters by integrating climate resilience into development efforts. The programme also offers additional funding to support public and private sector investments.

The two main outputs associated with the work led by SPREP are to ensure climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction are factored into national and local development policies; and to build and support Pacific islands’ capacity to respond to climate change.  

 “SPREP is pleased to partner with ADB and our member countries to address their climate resilience challenges,” said Mr. David Sheppard, Director-General of SPREP.

“We look forward to strengthening regional and national efforts as we move into climate resilient development pathways.”

 

USD 60 million is earmarked for national projects under the PPCR in three countries – Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.  A further USD 10 million is earmarked for regional track activities of which the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) will implement regional track activities worth USD 3.61 million. 

“The technical assistance from ADB and SPREP will focus on the priority food and infrastructure areas of selected Pacific countries. It will provide countries with cost-effective support offered on a regional basis and will complement ongoing climate change adaptation and disaster-related initiatives of development partners also working in the region,” said Marilou Drilon, senior natural resources economist of the ADB. 

“This will be done through learning-by-doing, training of practitioners, and through practical application of frameworks, plans, methodologies, and demonstration tools.”

The inception meeting for the Pacific PPCR was held in Apia, Samoa on 20 and 21 January 2014, attended by pilot country representatives from Tuvalu and Federated States of Micronesia, and development partners from Asian Development Bank, GIZ, Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, and Secretariat of the Pacific Community, United Nations Development Programme and University of the South Pacific. The Pacific PPCR will run till May 2016.