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The objective of this report is to provide an overview of current knowledge related to the water sector 1 across Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Pacific region.

This report represents the World Bank's experience in climate and disaster resilient development, and contends that such development is essential to eliminating extreme poverty and achieving shared prosperity by 2030. The report recognizes however, that such development requires additional start-up costs, which pay off in the long run if done correctly. Given this, the report argues for closer collaboration between the climate resilience and disaster management communities, and the incorporation of climate and disaster resilience into broader development processes. Selected case studies are used throughout this report to illustrate promising approaches, lessons learned and remaining challenges.

Proceedings from the joint workshop co-organized by: the World Bank, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and the World Meteorological Organization - March 12, 2012

Thirty years ago, half the developing world lived in extreme poverty—today, a quarter. Now, a much smaller share of children are malnourished and at risk of early death. And access to modern infrastructure is much more widespread. Critical to the progress: rapid economic growth driven by technological innovation and institutional reform, particularly in today’s middle- income countries, where per capita incomes have doubled. Yet the needs remain enormous, with the number of hungry people having passed the billion mark this year for the first time in history. With so many still in poverty and hunger, growth and poverty alleviation remain the overarching priority for developing countries. Climate change only makes the challenge more complicated. First, the impacts of a changing climate are already being felt, with more droughts, more floods, more strong storms, and more heat waves—taxing individuals, firms, and governments, drawing resources away from development. Second, continuing climate change, at current rates, will pose increasingly severe challenges to development. By century’s end, it could lead to warming of 5°C or more compared with preindustrial times and to a vastly different world from today, with more extreme weather events, many fewer species, and whole island nations submerged. Even our best efforts are unlikely to stabilize temperatures at anything less than 2°C above preindustrial temperatures, warming that will require substantial adaptation.

Observational records and climate projections provide abundant evidence that freshwater resources are vulnerable and have the potential to be strongly impacted by climate change, with wide-ranging consequences for human societies and ecosystems. Observed warming over several decades has been linked to changes in the large-scale hydrological cycle such as: increasing atmospheric water vapour content; changing precipitation patterns, intensity and extremes; reduced snow cover and widespread melting of ice; and changes in soil moisture and runoff. Precipitation changes show substantial spatial and inter-decadal variability. Over the 20th century, precipitation has mostly increased over land in high northern latitudes, while decreases have dominated from 10°S to 30°N since the 1970s. The frequency of heavy precipitation events (or proportion of total rainfall from heavy falls) has increased over most areas (likely). Globally, the area of land classified as very dry has more than doubled since the 1970s (likely). There have been significant decreases in water storage in mountain glaciers and Northern Hemisphere snow cover. Shifts in the amplitude and timing of runoff in glacier- and snowmelt-fed rivers, and in ice-related phenomena in rivers and lakes, have been observed (high confidence).

THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL consequences of climate change have received increasing recognition worldwide. The Stern Review (2006) notes that climate change is a serious and urgent problem, global in its cause and consequences. Current actions are not enough if we are to stabilize greenhouse gases (GHGs) at any acceptable level. The economic challenges are complex and will require a long-term international collaboration to tackle them. The recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also categorically states that the impacts of climate change will vary regionally, but aggregated and discounted to the present, they are very likely to impose net annual costs that will increase over time as global temperatures increase (IPCC 2007). The Kyoto Protocol remains the key international mechanism under which the industrial countries have committed to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The nine Pacific Island countries (PICs)1 covered in this regional strategy face similar development challenges today despite notable differences in history, culture, and endowments. The lack of economic growth in the face of growing populations has contributed to rising unemployment and hardship in the region. Even those countries that have seen positive growth in per capita income have been unable to fully translate this into adequate job creation and poverty reduction. With over 50 percent of the region's population under age 24, steady rural-to-urban migration, and the erosion of traditional systems of social support, all PICs recognize the importance of dealing with the issue of youth unemployment and its associated social problems.