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COVID-19 brought an abrupt end to buoyant cruise ship tourism, and the closure of national borders led to the demise of island tourism. Typically, in Vanuatu and Samoa, resorts, restaurants, and other components of the formal and informal sectors closed down. Much employment was lost (especially of women), creating development problems at every level, alongside a reversion to self-reliance, raising questions over the future of tourism industries and national and island economies.

The Republic of the Fiji Islands has generally returned to normalcy after a period of political unrest and uncertainty. Instability over a period of nearly two decades, highlighted by the military coups that occurred in 1987 and again in 2000, has brought into focus the urgent need to achieve peace and security, in order to restore private sector confidence, and to accelerate various proposed public sector reforms needed to promote sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.

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.