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Development of the private sector is the centrepiece of Tonga's strategic development pathway towards a more progressive Tonga, supporting a higher quality of life for all.

The Kingdom of Tonga (Tonga) is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change due to its geographic location, status as a SIDS, and the importance of natural resources to its main economic sectors of fisheries, agriculture and tourism. The World Risk Report 2017 has ranked Tonga as the second most at-risk country in the world for natural hazards, including cyclones and flooding, as well as sea level rise. Although Tonga makes a negligible contribution to global GHG emissions, there is no doubt that climate change is already affecting Tonga’s development and the livelihood of its people and future

This NDC review process was designed to provide a formal framework within which governments would increase the ambition of their actions against climate change and reduce its GHG emission over time, with the intention that each successive NDC would represent a progression beyond a country’s current NDC and ultimately allow to meet the aims of the Paris Agreement goal .

Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga, is a well-established whale-watching destination in the South Pacific. Between July and October, the waters around the archipelago represent one of the most important breeding grounds for Oceania humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The Tongan government allows tourist swimming activities with whales and tour operators strongly promote the practice of swimming-with-whales, focusing primarily on mother-calf pairs. However, there is increasing evidence, derived from empirical research on swim-withcetacean tourism, that this kind of interaction affects cetacean behaviour and can lead to negative effects on the cetaceans involved. This study represents the first assessment of humpback whales’ behavioural responses to vessel and swimmer approaches in Vava’u. Fifty-six surveys took place during the 2016 and 2017 whale breeding seasons aboard dedicated research and tour vessels. Whale dive time, number of reorientation events, and respiration rates were documented in both the absence and presence of boats and swimmers. Vessel approach type, swimmer placement, and whale avoidance responses were also recorded

This document reports the monitoring of the Social and Environmental Safeguards of the Climate Resilience Sector Project (CRSP) for the period of January 2019 to June 2019. Outstanding Issues from the previous report are given in Table 1. During this reporting period, ESU has monitored the CRSP project activities, identifying challenges and measures to address these challenges as well as proposed activities for the next period of activities.

This summary report examines major drivers of change to the environment that emerge from the global, regional and national factors. It evaluates the main environmental pressures created by these drivers and examines their environmental impact.

The natural environment has always been a part of Pacific island culture. It has shaped our way of leaving in our early lives. the kingdom of Tonga SOE report aims to give Tonga the best and clearest status of it environment by answering the following key questons:|What is the current condition of the Tongan environment?|What are the risk the Togan environment faces and what measures have been put forward to minimise them? This could provide lessons for the Togan.|Where is the environment of Togan headed based on the assessed thermatic areas?|some of the drivers that triggers the change of the environment in TOgan are, social, economic, technological and culture forces referred to as drivers.

Tonga’s marine ecosystems are worth at least TOP 47 million per year, exceeding the country’s total export value. We are strongly committed to sustaining these values to build an equitable and prosperous blue economy.

This video demonstrates how to use the Tonga Environment Data Portal, created for the Inform project