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The island countries of the Pacific are scattered across an enormous area that makes up nearly one third of the globe. This huge region is nearly all ocean—about 30 million square kilometers of it.

The National Fisheries Authority (NFA) underwent a reorganisation process from 1999–2003. As part of the reorganisation, provincial and lower-level government (LLG) agencies were given greater responsibility for the development and management of inshore fisheries resources. This approach was intended to: • build natural resource management capacity at provincial and local government levels; • improve the effectiveness of fishery management arrangements through greater stakeholder participation in the management process; • meet NFA's obligations under the Organic Law to provincial and LLGs, which requires central agencies to devolve responsibility for natural resources development and management to lower levels of government; • provide revenue-raising opportunities for provincial and local governments; and • free NFA of primary responsibility for managing numerous and dispersed local fisheries, which NFA is not equipped to do.

Recent studies have shown that the Cook Islands' social infrastructure has limited preparedness against weather-related vulnerability. The inherent geographical vulnerability of the country to climate change can be ameliorated by initiating integrated infrastructure and social development, including human resources development.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) uses the country environmental analysis (CEA) as the tool to assist with early incorporation of environmental considerations into the country strategy and program (CSP) for its developing member countries. The CEA provides targeted information necessary for informed decision making on environmental constraints, needs, and opportunities, including those that impinge upon poverty partnership agreements, as appropriate. The focus is on adding value to planned and ongoing development initiatives by reducing environmental constraints and exploiting environment related opportunities.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) uses country environmental analysis (CEA) as a tool to assist with incorporation of environmental considerations into country partnership strategies (CPS), formerly referred to as country strategies and programs (CSP) and updates (CSPU), for its developing member countries (DMC). The CEA provides targeted information necessary for informed decision-making on environmental constraints, needs, and opportunities, including those that impinge upon poverty partnership agreements. The focus is on adding value to planned and ongoing development initiatives by (i) reducing environmental constraints; (ii) exploiting environment-related opportunities; and (iii) promoting actions that can lead to improved mainstreaming of environmental considerations into national economic development and planning processes.

The Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is not only intended to assist the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in updating its Country Partnership Strategy with the Government of Vanuatu but also to assist Vanuatu’s other development partners by providing a roadmap to address the current environmental issues. Prepared in a participatory manner, the CEA provides background information on Vanuatu’s environmental constraints, needs, and opportunities, describes the environmental issues that are most important to Vanuatu’s sustainable development strategy, and outlines the possible role that ADB and other development partners could play in helping to address the critical environmental constraints.

The recent financial crisis confronting the Asian ans Pacific region, as well as problems of forest fires and atmospheric haze, confirms that development is not a linear process, but can be slowed and interrupted by unexpected shocks and setbacks.