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Climate change poses a massive threat to development. The poorest populations of poor countries - the Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States, and the nations of Africa - face the concentrated challenge of tackling the worst of the impacts with the least capacity to do so. Clearly, adaptation to climate impacts must be seamlessly integrated into any development planning and policy. This four- step plan for mainstreaming climate change aims to fulfil that need. A 'learning by doing approach, it focuses first on national capacity to ensure that development in all sectors and at all levels is effectively climate-proofed.

Climate change is the defining human development issue of our generation. Pacific Island Countries are very much on the front line of climate change. Coastal inundation and erosion due to sea level rise and storm surges are predicted to increase in the Pacific region along with the frequency and intensity of droughts, floods and tropical cyclones. Face with such a grim reality, how are Pacific Island Countries dealing with this situation? This documentary highlights the problems facing Pacific Island Countries and offers a look at both the present political efforst and future needs of the region to address the many adverse impacts of climate change

A core objective of the MSV programme is research into the consequences of climate change for vulnerable groups and how to deal with those consequences. Participants at an initial stakeholder meeting held in Belize in May 2007 discussed the need for and relevance of a SIDS-wide assessment of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, and agreed that this assessment should contain strong links to the Arctic and that it should lead to concrete, community-relevant adaptation strategies, strengthen national adaptation planning, and support vulnerable regions in their call for strong action globally. Moreover, the Belize participants noted that a SIDS assessment should go beyond providing a "snapshot" of impacts and vulnerability in these regions, to produce results that can guide concrete adaptation actions and appropriate policy measures over time.

The objective of the visit to Port Vila was to assess and review planning processes, legislation, and institutional frameworks for institutionalising the integrated coastal management (ICM) planning process and mainstreaming ICM within the Government of Vanuatu national development process. This exercise is required to ensure that ICM is not a project activity only but is incorporated/mainstreamed into the existing planning processes in Vanuatu.

He stressed that this session was an opportunity to ensure that all delegates were up-to-date with the Project and its background. To set the scene for the workshop he reported on the Project development history. In summary, he drew attention to the signing of the grant and financing agreements on the 13 March 2002. He also noted that the SOPAC Project has been at least 3 to 4 years in development.