Search the SPREP Catalogue

This report details a ten month scoping study conducted to assess the relative vulnerability of rural livelihoods across Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to climate change. The study focuses on East Timor (Timor-Leste) and 15 PICs (Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Fiji, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu) (Fig. 1). This 7-page executive summary has been provided at the request of AusAID to offer an extended overview of the key issues and findings of this study. Further details are provided in the body of the report.

This report serves as the proceedings of the PACC Technical Meeting that was held at the Institute of Applied Sciences Conference Room, University of the South Pacific, Suva on the 5th – 9th October 2009. It hopes to encapsulates in summary form the different technical presentations provided by workshop facilitators and country delegates. Detail presentations will also be made available through the PACC website for further information and clarification if so needed by the reader.

‘Climate change and adaptation’ is a central topic on the 5th World Water Forum. It is the lead theme for the political and thematic processes, the topic of a High Level Panel session, and a focus in several documents and sessions of the regional processes. To provide background and depth to the political process, thematic sessions and the regions, and to ensure that viewpoints of a variety of stakeholders are shared, dozens of experts were invited on a voluntary basis to provide their perspective on critical issues relating to climate change and water in the form of a Perspective Document.

Small island countries are no different from other countries in that freshwater is essential to human existence and a major requirement in agricultural and other commercial production systems. However, the ability of the island countries to effectively man-age the water sector differs in Small Island Devel-oping States (SIDS), as they are constrained by their small size, isolation, fragility, natural vulnerability, and a limited human, financial and natural resource base.