Search the SPREP Catalogue

Today: Pacific island people reliant on natural resources 70-80% of the catch from inshore fisheries is used for subsistence purposes

Presentation on Pacific Islands Region: Ecosystem Approach Critical for Climate Change Adaptation

Powerpoint presentation by Stuart Chape on EBA services to the Pacific region.

The Keeling Curve is the name given to the chart of rising atmospheric CO2 levels, as measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. So far, none of the action taken to tackle climate change has slowed the curve's inexorable rise. Co2 has now reached the symbolic threshold of 400 parts per million (ppm)

Ecosystem-based adaptation and climate change vulnerability in Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands - a synthesis report.

This cost-benefi t analysis is part of the UNEP Ecosystem-based Adaptation Flagship Program and UN-HABITAT Cities and Climate Change Initiative and is intended to guide decision makers in their consideration of various options for climate change adaptation. While the scope of the research and analysis is confi ned to Lami Town, Fiji, a town adjacent to the capital Suva, general lessons and considerations may also be informative at the national level. Furthermore, the lessons learned will be useful for future comparison of options for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to climate change in the Pacifi c region.

The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) was originally established as a result of a decision taken at the Conference on the Human Environment in the South Pacific held in Rarotonga in 1982. It was established as a separate entity within the South Pacific Commission (SPC - now the Secretariat of the Pacific Community) based in Noumea, New Caledonia; and formed part of the UNEP Regional Seas Programme.

The evolution and expansion of the human species over the past few hundred thousand years, an infinitesimal fraction of planetary time, now sees us as the dominant life form on Earth. We are dominant because of our intelligence and adaptability, and our need to constantly strive for newer and better ways of doing things. But there are now six billion of us, predicted to increase to 8-10 billion by 2050, and our domination of the planet is paralleled by the massive impact that we have had on the Earth's ecosystems. A recent mapping of the human footprint on the planet has concluded that more than 80% of the Earth's land surface is directly influenced by humans. We consume 40% of the Earth's net primary productivity, 35% of oceanic shelf productivity and 60% of freshwater runoff. As a result, remaining natural landscapes are rapidly being modified and the Earth's biological diversity continues to decline at an alarming rate. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) has found that in the last several decades 20% of the world’s coral reefs were lost and 20% degraded, while 35% of mangrove area has been lost. The MEA also concluded that humans have likely increased the species extinction rate by as much as 1,000 times over background rates typical throughout Earth's history.

The Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are currently heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Renewable energy (RE), mostly hydro, is estimated to contribute less than 10 percent of each PICs commercial energy use and the region is characterized by scattered and fragmented efforts to promote RE technologies that are based on unreliable and unsubstantiated data on RE resource potentials. The Pacific Islands Renewable Energy Project (PIREP) will facilitate the promotion within the PICs of the widespread implementation and ultimately, commercialisation of RE technologies (RETs) through the establishment of a suitable enabling environment. The establishment of an environment conducive to the region-wide adoption and commercialisation of RETs would involve the design, development and implementation of appropriate policies, strategies and interventions addressing the fiscal, financial, regulatory, market, technical and information barriers to RE development and utilization. It will also involve the development of interventions for strengthening of the relevant institutional structures and national capacity for the coordination and the sustainable management (design, implementation, monitoring, maintenance, evaluation and the marketing) of RE initiatives in each PIC. This Project Document has been revised to reflect minor changes suggested by SPREP at a meeting Friday the 6th of September 2002 between SPREP and UNDP to improve clarity concerning internal communications in SPREP between the CTA and the management level and external communications between SPREP and UNDP management levels. Refer to Part IV - Management Arrangements and the Terms of Reference in Appendix B. C.and D.