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This brief report outlines how the climate of the Pacific is projected to change, how climate change has affected fisheries elsewhere in the world, and how it is expected to affect fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific. The emphasis is on the implications for economies of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). It concludes with general recommendations that should help the regional and national management agencies and other stakeholders in fisheries to adapt to maintain the benefits of fisheries. The assessments of the projected effects of climate change, and the recommended approaches for adaptation, are preliminary. They are derived from the early phases of a major regional project to assess the vulnerability of fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific to climate change coordinated by SPC and supported by AusAID1. The project is due to be completed by mid 2010 and will deliver a much more comprehensive assessment of likely impacts, practical adaptations, and investments needed to address key gaps in knowledge.

Development efforts are increasingly at risk. A faltering global economy, food and energy insecurity, conflict, global climate change, declining ecosystems, extreme poverty, and the threat of epidemics seriously challenge progress towards improving social welfare and economic growth in many developing countries. In 2008, the deaths of approximately 140,000 people in the Myanmar cyclone and the collapse of more than five million buildings and damage to 21 million more in the China earthquake, were stark reminders that disaster risks associated with tropical cyclones, floods, earthquakes, droughts and other natural hazards are a key part of this interlocked set of threats. The Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction focuses attention on that challenge. It identifies disaster risk, analyses its causes, shows that these causes can be addressed and recommends the means to do so. The over-riding message of the Report is that reducing disaster risk can also help in reducing poverty, safeguarding development and adapting to climate change, with beneficial effects on broader global security, stability and sustainability. Given the urgency posed by climate change, the Report forcefully argues the case for taking action now.

The National Capacity Self Assessment Project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through UNDP is assisting stakeholders in Solomon Islands self asses their capacity to address global and environment issues and develop a plan of action to address priority capacity building needs. The project focuses on three international Conventions, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). This thematic report focuses on the UNFCCC and is a follow up from an earlier stocktake report. The thematic assessment process is intended to identify climate change issues and a range of related convention requirements that are not adequately addressed, their underlying causes, the contributing factors, and the key barriers. The analysis leads to an assessment of the nature of the capacity needs and opportunities for capacity development. This report presents the outcomes of a comprehensive analysis of the stock take report and recommendations from a national consultation workshop in July 2006 that considered the Stock-take report, and establishes the root causes of the capacity gaps identified.

Throughout Micronesia, marine ecosystems are under increasing pressure from large-scale and localized threats such as climate change, overharvesting of resources, and land-based sources of pollution. Recognizing the great dependence upon the natural resources of their islands, the leaders of Micronesia are committed to assisting communities in managing these resources for their continued use. One Micronesia-wide movement for addressing these critical threats is the establishment of protected areas networks. Well-managed protected areas create healthy reproductive populations of coral reef assemblages, more resilient to threats such as climate change, serving to replenish fish and corals at local and regional scales. In the past 3 years, the Conservation Society of Pohnpei, the Kosrae Conservation and Safety Organization, the Yap Community Action Program, the Chuuk Conservation Society (CCS), the Micronesia Conservation Trust, and the Nature Conservancy have partnered with the communities, State and National governments of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) to understand the current distribution, abundances, and status of marine ecosystems by conducting rapid ecological assessments (REAs) in the states of Pohnpei (2005), Kosrae (2006), Yap (2007) and Chuuk (2008). Chuuk State contains one of the largest lagoons in Micronesia, and 3 outer island groups comprised of 11 atolls and 3 single islands. A team of local resource managers and regional scientists conducted the Chuuk REA from 28 July to 21 August, 2008, encompassing a total of 69 sites in 21 days. A summary of the survey follows, while the complete report is available from CCS.

The waters surrounding Choiseul contain some of the highest diversities of coral and reef fish in the world, with the 2004 Solomon Island Marine Assessment showing that the Solomon Islands are part of the global centre for marine diversity known as the Coral Triangle. Other countries that make up the Coral Triangle are Indonesia, Philippines, parts of Malaysia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea. Since 2004 The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Lauru Land Conference of Tribal Community (LLCTC) and Choiseul provincial fisheries have assisted five local communities around Choiseul in their efforts to establish Marine Conservation Areas (MCA) on their traditional reefs. The first MCA to be established was the Zinoa MCA. Zinoa is located on the south-west side of Choiseul in the Solomon Islands. The Zinoa MCA was established by traditional leaders in November 2004, covering 150 hectares and consisting of two islands and associated reefs that occur approximately one kilometre offshore from Voza village on the Choiseul mainland. The reefs around Zinoa Islands are representative of this region of the South coast of Choiseul. In early 2005 sea cucumbers, trochus and giant clams around Zinoa Islands were reported by traditional reef owners to be only a tiny fraction of their former abundance and food fish populations were also reported to be in decline.

The United Nations Development Assistance Framework for Tuvalu for 2003-2007 is based directly on the analysis and findings of the Common Country Assessment, the UNDAF and CCA having been developed as a single process. Together, they provide a framework for the United Nations agencies to serve Tuvalu in accordance with the Secretary General's vision of a unified UN system at the country level.

The Solomon Islands faces a crucial test of sustainability as a nation. Its component provinces resent the rule of its centralist government. The economy, weakened through a decade of poor economic management and low quality governance, has been pushed to the brink of collapse by a civil uprising between militia of two of the country's main islands. Post-Independence gains 111 health, education and infrastructure are being eroded. The commercial timbers of the nation's natural forest resources are almost spent. A frank and detailed assessment of the country's circumstances is a necessary pre-requisite to identifying the areas where UN agency support can assist recovery.

The preparation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF)for Papua New Guinea for the period 2003-2007, as well as the Common Country Assessment (CCA) report on which it is based, has moved the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Papua New Guinea closer toward the UN Secretary General's vision of a unified system at the country level.

The United Nations Development Assistance Framework for Kiribati for 2003-2007 is based directly on the analysis and findings of the Common Country Assessment, the UNDAF and CCA having been developed as a single, coherent process. Together, they provide a framework for the United Nations agencies to serve Kiribati in accordance with the Secretary General’s vision of a unified UN system at the country level.

The preparation of the Common Country Assessment (CCA) followed by the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) are key elements in the promotion by the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) for Vanuatu of the UN Secretary General’s vision of a unified system at the country level. The CCA/UNDAF process has allowed those UN agencies actively supporting development in Vanuatu to jointly assess, with the government and other major stakeholders, the key challenges facing the country. Through the UNDAF, the UN agencies have reviewed these challenges as well as their own comparative advantages and based on the Government’s own development aspirations identified a programme of support for the 2003-2007 period.