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The earth works like a greenhouse. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and other naturally occurring greenhouse gases (GHGs), as well as human-made industrial gases trap heat from escaping into space. This keeps the earth’s temperature within a life-sustaining range. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth would be much colder—an average temperature of –19° Celsius (C). Human reliance on fossil fuels for energy has increased the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Biogenic emissions of GHG from land use have magnified the greenhouse effect. Deforestation and poor land use, which have reduced the absorptive capacity of plants, forests, and soils for CO2, have made things worse.

Farmers cultivate steep hillside plantations of taro and bananas. Fishing communities pull tuna and marlin from the blue depths of the Pacific Ocean. Households tend mile after mile of neatly trimmed roadside gardens. Samoa’s beautiful natural environment also offers a striking setting for a rich and complex culture. Communities headed by traditional leaders, the matai, meet regularly in fale, the open-sided houses, to reach communal decisions. And on Sundays the roads are flooded with families dressed in dazzling white clothes flocking to hundreds of churches.

On the 14-15 October 2010, 14 Pacific Island countries met to discuss the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience. This meeting was attended by representatives from Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. At the meeting there were also representatives from international, regional and national organizations, development partners and non-government organisations. The meeting was jointly hosted by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

Th e Vanuatu Economic Report 2009 outlines the state of economy and social development in the country and presents a road map for addressing key development challenges. It identifies the principal binding development constraints and opportunities in public sector performance, private sector and social development, and governance.

This Climate Change Implementation Plan (CCIP) for the Pacific Regional Department (PARD) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) describes the areas of focus for PARD's operations and identifies key gaps between country and ADB actions, as well as opportunities for scaling up ADB's assistance related to mitigation, adaptation and associated cross-cutting needs. This gap analysis points to recommended interventions in regional and country programs for additional technical assistance (TA) and financial assistance, including access to new climate funds and adoption of new financing mechanisms. These include multi-donor Climate Investment Funds (Clean Technology Fund and Strategic Climate Fund), ADB's Future Carbon Fund, and possibly a new Sustainable Fuel Credits mechanism to promote reduced petroleum consumption. The CCIP will evolve through periodic updates in order to effectively guide ongoing and future programs and TA and project design. Going forward, specific climate change interventions will continue to be incorporated into the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) and Country Operations Business Plan (COBP) for each Pacific Developing Member Country (PDMC) and into the Regional Operations Business Plan (ROBP) for the Pacific region as a whole. TA and investment projects will be designed, taking into consideration regional and country variations in governance, institutional capacity, and geographic and local environmental conditions.

This paper focuses on pilot activities being carried out under the Integrated Coastal Watershed Management component of the Pacific International Waters Project (IWP). The paper discusses a two-pronged approach being taken to address the root causes of identified threats to the international waters of 14 Pacific Island countries. National and local level activities are focusing on coastal fisheries, waste management and freshwater protection. The integrated strategic approach of participatory planning processes, social analysis, resource economics and communications in identification of environment problems, their causes and potential solutions for supporting behavioural change in relation to resource use and management is discussed. Some examples of country activities to date are provided. Although it is too early to assess a full range of lessons and project impacts, a number of key issues continue to provide challenges for the implementation of a large regional programme such as the IWP. They include: multi-sectoral stakeholder engagement; the establishment of partnerships needed to support integrated coastal management; and national capacity to implement community-based resource management projects.

The framework for management of the ocean and coasts of the Pacific Islands region has been evolving since the early 1970s when Pacific Island countries played a significant role in the negotiations leading to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Commencing with a summary of the provisions of relevant international instruments, this paper presents a broad overview of regional arrangements for ocean and coastal management in the Pacific Islands region. It considers the work of the various regional intergovernmental organizations with active programmes in ocean research and governance and the consultative arrangements that support coordination and collaboration. Consultative arrangements involving other stakeholders, such as local, regional and international nongovernmental organizations are summarised. To improve environmental governance and address increasing environmental threats, particularly in relation to coastal area management, consultative arrangements need strengthening. This applies equally to national and regional level consultation. The institutional and policy framework for the management and conservation of oceanic fish stocks that Pacific Island countries have been refining over a period of 25 years is suggested as providing useful lessons for strengthening coastal management processes and strategies in the region.

Project monitoring is now a standard requirement in natural resource management programs, bringing opportunities for greater accountability, adaptive management and social learning. While considerable effort has gone into designing appropriate monitoring frameworks and indicators for marine and coastal management, there has been less sharing of the mechanics of approaches that maximise collaboration and learning by multiple stakeholders. This paper outlines the project monitoring approach developed in the Pacific Islands International Waters Project (IWP), a project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) involving 14 Pacific Island Countries. We find that a monitoring approach based on indicators to assess supportive processes, behavioural change and human-environmental conditions is useful for monitoring the long- and short-term impacts associated with integrated coastal management programs. Giving project staff the lead in indicator development has supported more strategic project planning and improved the relevance and value of the indicators developed. However, successful implementation of monitoring programs calls for ongoing collaboration, technical support and capacity building amongst key stakeholders.

The Pacific Strategy for the New Millennium1 of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) focuses on the core objectives of (i) continuing support for economic growth, good governance, and public sector reform; (ii) promoting private sector development as the engine for growth; and (iii) supporting sustainable environmental management and equitable social development. A new regional strategy is being prepared for ADB operations in the Pacific, which will focus on the priority needs of the poor, as defined by an extensive program of qualitative and quantitative poverty assessment, based on listening to the voices of those in hardship or poverty. The new strategy will focus on improving access to basic services and creating employment opportunities. As the Government is beginning preparation of its Strategic Development Plan 8 (SDP8) for 2005-2007, it is timely to review ADB’s strategy and program for Tonga.