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The Pacific Climate Change Round table (PCCR) was held from 14 to 17 October 2008, at the National University of Samoa (NUS) Gymnasium in Apia. The Government of Switzerland funded the PCCR, while funding for the preparation of the Action Plan for the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change came from New Zealand’s International Aid and Development Agency (NZAid). The PCCR was organized by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in cooperation with the Council of Regional Organizations in the Pacific (CROP) and national climate change focal points, and SPREP acted as Secretariat for the PCCR. The Government of Samoa provided significant logistical assistance

This desk review assesses the current state of evaluation of climate change adaptation interventions (CCAI) and identifies next stages. It finds that the evaluation of CCAI raises considerable challenges. No single intervention will deliver climate change adaptation. CCAI are diverse, cutting across sectors and scales. They are often funded from an international level and need to deliver outcomes down to the household level. They need to enable unknown changes to be tackled over the next decades and are delivered through a variety of institutional delivery mechanisms. There are known barriers and constraints to their delivery.

As a Least Developed Country (LDC) and Small Island Developing State (SIDS), climate change is the most important environmental and developmental issue for Solomon Islands. Solomon Islands is a low-lying coastal country that shares similar sustainable development challenges, including small population, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, vulnerability to external shocks, and excessive dependence on international trade and foreign aid. Its growth and development is often further stymied by high transportation and communication costs, disproportionately expensive public administration and infrastructure due to its small size, and little to no opportunity to create economies of scale.

The Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (IPCC AR4) Working Group II (2007) identifies small island states as being among the most vulnerable countries of the world to the adverse impacts of climate change. Hay, el al.y (2003) in discussing the Pacific's observed climate noted that compared to earlier historical records during the twentieth century, the southern Pacific had experienced a significantly drier and warmer climate (by 15 percent and 0.8°C, respectively). The Central Equatorial Pacific is facing more intensive rain (about 30 percent) and a similarly hotter climate (0.6°C), and sea surface temperatures in both areas have increased by about 0.4°C. These conditions are linked to an increased frequency of El Nino episodes since the 1970s (without alternating La Nina events). Other studies show that climate projections for the South Pacific indicate warming of 0.8 to 1.8°C and precipitation changes that range from -8 to +7 percent by mid-century (Ruosteenoja, el ai, 2003). By the end of the century, projected warming is 1.0 to 3.1°C and precipitation changes range from -14 to +14 percent. Projections of globally averaged sea-level rise range from 0.18 m to 0.58 m in 2090-2099 relative to 1980-1999; while tropical cyclones are likely to become more intense, have higher peak wind speeds, and bring heavier rainfall (IPCC, 2007). Thus, it is clear that there are winners and losers when it comes to climate and food security with mostly the countries in the mid to higher latitudes benefiting from global warming and the small island countries of the Pacific in the warmer latitudes standing to lose the most. The IPCC has concluded that the mounting evidence shows that climate change is unequivocally happening and may worsen in future; there is a need to act urgently to minimize these impacts.

The High-Level Conference which Italy has the honour of hosting and which today I have the honour of inaugurating, represents an extraordinary opportunity for reflection and commitment on crucial issues of our time and is already a significant event on account of such a distinguished attendance, notably of Heads of State and Government. I read this as a sign of awareness and renewed willingness on the part of the leadership of all continents and. together with the world organizations, of the international community as a whole.

It is now widely acknowledged within the scientific community that the global rate of sea- level rise is quickening - and is likely to continue to do so — as a result of anthropogenic climate change. It is expected, therefore, that any resulting increase in the frequency or intensity of extreme sea-level events will cause serious problems for the inhabitants of low- lying coastal communities and islands during the 21st century.

Beginning with the 1972 Stockholm Summit on Sustainable Development, the links between economic, social and environmental aspects to achieving sustainable development have received increasing attention. The Rio Conventions (biodiversity, climate change and desertification) infused new life into providing global and national frameworks to integrate environment into national development Efforts to advance such commitments, to make this planet a better place to live and to ensure that development does not deprive people of their basic minimum livelihood needs, has led countries to develop a set of measurable goals and targets to achieve sustainable development during the United Nations General Assembly (UNCA) in 2000. These goals, termed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), currently form the basis of all debates and discussions on development around the world. In 2005, the UNGA adopted a set of detailed targets related to Goal 7 on environmental governance which aimed at significantly reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity by the year 2010 (Target 7 B)1. This Target is supported by two indicators for monitoring progress, namely, the proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected and the proportion of species threatened with extinction. While there has been eagerness from the UN Member States to achieve the eight MDGs by the year 2015 since the Millennium Declaration was signed in 2000, concerns are mounting as to whether the goals, targets and indicators set out are realistic in terms of measuring and monitoring for concrete results.

This publication demonstrates the link between disaster riskreduction andclimate change adaptation, while contributing to the ongoing glolal effort to promote gender equality in socio-economic development.

The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 suggests that limiting the global mean temperature increase to less than 3 degrees Celsius could be achieved at a loss of only about 0.1 percentage point of GDP per year on average (OECD, 2008). Market-based instruments are forecast to play a dominant role in any effective strategy that minimises economic costs and enables equitable burden sharing, but in addition to these instruments, climate change negotiators are eying international governmental transfers to support developing countries in their mitigation efforts and encourage technology transfer.