By Reinhard Jacobsen
BRUSSELS | APIA, Samoa (ACP-IDN) – Leaders of the Pacific Island Forum, the region’s premier political and economic policy organisation, have repeatedly identified climate change as the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific. A three-day meeting, concluded on April 3 in Apia, Samoa, marked a major milestone in helping to build Pacific island resilience to this threat with the start of a EUR 12 million project spanning 15 countries.
Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are the country partners under the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilience Building (PACRES) project which is financed under the European Union’s 11th EDF Intra-African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Global Climate Change Alliance Plus(GCCA+) Programme.
"The European Union remains committed and will continue to support climate change adaptation in the Pacific and to coordinate and partner up with the CROP agencies to deliver concrete results in line with the strategies elaborated by the Pacific governments" said the EU programme manager for the Intra-ACP GCCA+ PACRES Project, Jenny Brown.
The Intra-ACP GCCA+ PACRES will be delivered collaboratively by CROP Agencies – the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Pacific Community, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the University of the South Pacific, in close consultation with SPREP Member countries and Timor-Leste.
“The Intra-ACP GCCA+ PACRES aims to ensure better regional and national adaptation and mitigation responses to climate change challenges faced by Pacific ACP countries,” said ACP Assistant Secretary General Viwanou Gnassounou.
“It will help strengthen support for partner countries in climate negotiations and in implementing the Paris Agreement. It will help enhance regional and national climate change strategies and scale up climate change adaptation pilots in five countries, with a focus on ecosystem-based solutions.”
The Intra-ACP GCCA+ PACRES will also improve information sharing and develop national capacity to address climate change and build disaster resilience through enhanced training, studies and research opportunities. Finally, PACRES will look to strengthen networks and share knowledge, including with other ACP regions and engage the private sector to address climate change and build disaster resilience.
“The Intra-ACP GCCA+ PACRES is a prime example of durable and genuine partnerships at work to help our Pacific islands address the single greatest threat to our survival – climate change,” said Tagaloa Cooper-Halo, Director, Climate Change Resilience, at SPREP.
“The magnitude of this threat is such that no one can address it alone. By working together, Pacific CROP agencies and our country partners can take action collectively to build resilience. We know that over the next four years the Intra-ACP GCCA+ PACRES will produce great benefits and results for Pacific people and communities.” [IDN-InDepthNews – 4 April 2019]
Photo: Participants in the April 1-3 meeting in Apia. Credit: SPREP
This report is part of a joint project of the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States and IDN, flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate.
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