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This proposal has been prepared by the Ocean and Islands Programme (OIP) within the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) in collaboration with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). It has been prepared in response to an invitation1 from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to assist the Cook Islands in deriving coastal related information to underpin and inform climate change adaptation decisions for coastal areas of Mangaia Island.

Technical report

The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change initiative is a regional effort that brings the Pacific nations together to enhance the capacity of countries to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change.Known simply as PACC, this regional effort constitutes an implementation framework, which caters for a long term approach to adaptation measures by strengthening policy frameworks, instituting design guidelines, and improving capacity with technical expertise. PACC projects are implemented nationally in any key areas; food production and food security, coastal management and water resource management.

Carbon stores in seagrass beds and coastal wetlands—including coastal peats, tidal freshwater wetlands, salt marshes and mangroves—are vast, unaccounted natural carbon sinks. The continued degradation of these coastal ecosystems through disturbance, drainage, reclamation and conversion to other land uses has resulted in substantial emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and loss of natural carbon sequestration. Conserving and rebuilding these critical ecosystems not only mitigates GHG emissions, but delivers important co-benefits including ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change. A drive to protect and rebuild coastal wetlands and seagrass beds calls for closer integration of these fragile land-ocean interfaces into national climate change actions and their inclusion into the activities of the international climate change dialogue.

Case studies on the Pacific Islands: Capacity Building for the Development of Adaptation Measures in Pacific island countries project - PACIFIC ISLANDS

Interest in the world’s forests has grown to unprecedented heights, especially with growing awareness of their role in the global carbon cycle. The possibility of mitigating climate change by reducing carbon emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation, and by increasing carbon uptake through afforestation and sustainable forest management, highlights the essential role of forests in supporting life on Earth.

Climate change is fast pushing communities, particularly the most poor and marginalized, beyond their capacity to respond. Across the world, staple subsistence crops are approaching their outer viable temperature ranges; erratic rainfall patterns and changing seasons are upsetting agricultural cycles and leaving many struggling to feed their families; and rising sea levels are causing the inundation of crops and the contamination of water supplies with salt water. This report draws on case studies from around the world and Oxfam’s experience working with rural communities to set out what is needed, and a range of interventions that are available, to enable people living in poverty to adapt to climate change. Nonetheless, there are limits to adaptation, and without rapid and significant global mitigation, these options will be quickly lost.

Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. It will affect the poor and vulnerable first and foremost. The world’s response to climate change today will bear directly on the development prospects of a large part of the world’s population, particularly those who contributed least to the cause of climate change. Integrating climate change considerations in national and sectoral decision-making processes and in development assistance programmes is critical to meeting this challenge. Mainstreaming climate change, by integrating the risks and opportunities it poses, can help ensure that our efforts today continue to advance development even in the face of climate change.