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Over the last two decades Samoa has suffered major damage from two cyclones in 1990–91, minor damage from a third cyclone in 2004, and an earthquake tsunami in 2009. Changes in the scale and impact of these types of natural disasters are likely to be important consequences of climate change for the country because the increases in sea level and in average sea surface temperatures will increase the intensity and damage from major storms. Other potential impacts are linked to changes in the weather patterns associated with El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The primary concern focuses on the impact on agriculture, especially in periods of lower precipitation following strong El Niño episodes.

This Strategic Framework serves to guide and support the operational response of the World Bank Group (WBG) to new development challenges posed by global climate change. Unabated, climate change threatens to reverse hard earned development gains. The poorest countries and communities will suffer the earliest and the most. Yet they depend on actions by other nations.While climate change is an added cost and risk to development, a well-designed and implemented global climate policy can also open new economic opportunities to developing countries.