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This country diagnostics assessment reviews the current disaster risk financing (DRF) landscape and enabling environment in Fij, with a particular focus on risk transfer instruments- insurance, reinsurance and capital markets. The assessment is based on a modified version of the W&W Development Framework for accommodating international best practice, as well as public and private sector stakeholders' inputs.

To assess the effectiveness of the 20 Groynes installed on 2014 at Makaunga and Talafo'ou beaches and suggest the appropriate actions to implement as a way forward

There has been a continuous global concern regarding the disastrous impacts of climate change, sea level rise and climate related hazards. Scientific findings revealed that the global climate system is being adversely affected due to the accumulation of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. This has been scientifically proved to be caused by anthropogenic activities.

The goal for the General Assembly in creating the Regular Process for the Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects, was to ensure a comprehensive overview of the ocean and the relationships between the ocean and humans, covering all environmental, social and economic aspects. Such an overview would serve as a background to the many decisions that must be taken in that field at the international, national and local levels in pursuit of sustainable development. The first World Ocean Assessment was completed in 2015 and represents a major step towards that goal.

Coastal communities play a key role in supporting all components of the ocean economy, as well as a range of social and cultural values, and all forms of coastal and marine management governance. This ocean supports a wide range of economic activities, including the harvesting of food, shipping seabed mining, offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation tourism and recreation use of marine genetic resources, production of fresh water by desalinization and production of salt.

The Pacific Climate Change Finance Assessment Framework (PCCFAF) has been developed in response to the need to approach climate change financing in an informed way, commensurate with the specific circumstances and challenges of FICs. While existing global approaches are being developed and trialled, they do not always consider aspects that are particularly relevant to the situation of small island developing states. Rather than developing a parallel framework the PCCFAFblends Pacific relevant aspects, especially climate change sources and capacity, into existing assessment approaches. This approach has emanated from, and has been piloted and refined through a case study of Nauru.

The Copenhagen Accord declared that deep cuts in global emissions are required “so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius”. The Accord called for an assessment that would consider strengthening the long-term goal including “temperature rises of 1.5 degrees”. Since December 2009, 140 countries1 have associated themselves with the Copenhagen Accord. Of these, 85 countries have pledged to reduce their emissions or constrain their growth up to 2020.

Massive coral bleaching episodes have impacted the function of the reefs and increased rates of mortality. Coral reefs support over one million plant and animal species and their economic value is pro¬jected to more than US $ 30 billion annually. Extreme climatic con¬ditions, however, are most likely to increase in the future with cur¬rent climate scenarios. Projected increases in carbon dioxide and temperature exceed the conditions under which coral reefs have flourished over the past 500 000 years. Coral reefs are crucial bio¬diversity hotspots and support both coastal fisheries and tourism in many regions. Coral reefs, however, are in decline in many regions as a result of numerous pressures, including, but not limited to, extreme climate events, unsustainable fishing practices, diseases, sedimentation, and discharge of untreated sewage. Increasing re¬silience and securing rapid recovery of coral reefs will be essen¬tial for the ability of these ecosystems to support coastal fisheries and coastal livelihoods and cultures in the future. However, this resilience and recovery may be seriously impounded by unsustain¬able coastal infrastructure development and marine pollution from land-based sources. At the current rate of growth, coastal develop¬ment may impact up to 90% of the tropical and temperate coast¬lines by 2032 if development continues unchecked. While progress has been made to reduce the discharge and impacts of oil spills and persistent organic pollutants (POP’s), there now needs to be a focus on the largest current threats to the coastal marine environment : untreated sewage and piecemeal coastal development.

Greenhouse gas emissions are the main anthropogenic cause of current climate change. The magnitude of future change will be affected by the extent to which these emissions are reduced. Regardless of climate change mitigation activities implemented today or in the near future, however, historical emissions and inertia in the climate system mean that further climate changes are inevitable. Some effects of climate change are already noticeable and there is a need and opportunity to be better prepared for future change. Individuals, societies and institutions should be aware of the impacts that climate change is likely to have and should have strategies in place to adapt to them. Forest, and the goods and services they provide, are essential for human well-being. An assessment of the likely impacts of climate change on forests and forest-dependent people, therefore, is important for effective climate change adaptation. Such an assessment can also assist the development of options for avoiding the harmful effects of climate change and to take advantage of the opportunities provided by it.

The people, environment and economy of the Kingdom of Tonga are highly susceptible to the effects of climate change, climate variability and sea level rise. This high vulnerability is a function of the country’s degree of exposure to climatic events and its limited capacity to adequately adapt to these effects. Although the concentrations of Tonga’s GHG emission are insignificant in comparison to global standards, the country is still working towards effectively implementing its share of the global actions aimed at mitigating the causes of climate change. Such adaptation and mitigation requirements are putting significant pressure on the country’s limited resources and international and regional assistance has been a main source of support. Since acceding to the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1998 the government and people of the Kingdom of Tonga have been implementing measures to address climate change issues at the national level and contribute to global efforts. While there has been some progress there are also a range of areas where more work is needed and where capacity needs to be developed and strengthened. This report presents the experiences and challenges faced by the government and people in addressing climate change related issues and identifies the priority capacity development needs of the country to enable it to address climate change and also meet its obligations as a Party to the UNFCCC.