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In the Cook Islands, the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) project focuses on coastal zone management on Mangaia Island. The project is helping to ‘climate-proof’ coastal development, and to develop an integrated coastal management policy and plan for Mangaia

On all islands in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) rainwater is the primary source of freshwater, putting the country at high risk from droughts. The water sector was therefore chosen by the RMI Government to benefit from the PACC project, and the project has been working since 2008 to increase the country’s resilience to drought events. This report details the process undertaken in the PACC demonstration project, to design and implement various measures to enhance Majuro’s water reticulation system.

The ocean on which Earth depends for relatively predictable weather, temperature and provisioning of goods and services is now changing more rapidly than it has for millions of years.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are areas of the ocean set aside for long-term conservation aims.| MPAs support climate change adaptation and mitigation while providing other ecosystem services.| Currently 6.35% of the ocean is protected, but only just over 1.89% is covered by exclusively no-take MPAs.| Most existing MPAs do not have enough human and financial resources to properly implement conservation and management measures.| Increased political commitments can help boost the governance of and resources available to MPAs.

There are opportunities to capture more experience from initiatives at the local level, which can support objectives of the NBSAP and strengthen national reporting. Further research on gender and biodiversity can usefully build on the knowledge base on gender and environment themes, and gender and climate change in particular. Research and sharing of experience are also needed to promote and strengthen understanding and awareness of the relevance of gender to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in the nation context.

Ocean warming may well turn out to be the greatest hidden challenge of our generation. Whilst some may be aware of the challenges a warming ocean presents to coral reefs, few know about the other consequences this holds for the ocean. Ocean acidification emerged as a new story around 2004, with problems already being encountered due to changes in ocean chemistry, and yet add ocean warming and there is a far bigger story to tell. In this report, we assess the scale of the challenge and explore this issue from a range of different perspectives – oceanography, ecosystems and species. We also look at the impacts ocean warming might have on the every-day benefits we derive from the ocean – its ‘goods and services’. This is a very timely report. We know the ocean is warming. Until very recently, the debate on climate change has focused on specific themes such as land surface temperatures, melting ice caps in Greenland and Polar Regions, and shrinking glaciers in mountain ranges. It has only occasionally mentioned the ocean. When the ocean was included, the issues discussed generally related to dramatic changes to coral reefs, as we have seen in 2016 when water temperature rises turning beautifully-coloured reefs a ghostly white from bleaching.

Brochure on building partnerships for EU overseas to meet biodiversity and climate change challenges

Improve baseline knowledge about biological, economic, social and cultural aspects of mangrove resources and uses in each country and the link between healthy mangroves and disaster risk reductions, for informed adaptation to climate change at national and community level.

Improve baseline knowledge about biological, economic, social and cultural aspects of mangrove resources and uses in each country and the link between healthy mangroves and disaster risk reductions, for informed adaptation to climate change at national and community level.