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The aim of this guide is to deliver nationally prioritise key messages relevant to climate change science, the effects of climate change on the Pacific and options to mitigate its causes and to adapt to expected changes.

The Republic of Kiribati is made up of three main island groups: The Gilbert, Phoenix and Line Islands and one isolated raised limestone island, Banaba (Ocean Island). The climate of Kiribati is hot and humid year round. This tropical climate is closely related to the temperature of the oceans surrounding the atolls and small islands. However its seasonal rainfall is highly variable from year to year, mostly due to the El Ninõ Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

As a result of previous studies carried out through the support of UNEP to the South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) Regional Seas programme in the Pacific, a number of island States have been perceived as being under immediate threat of major environmental change should greenhouse-forced climatic warming and consequent sea level rise occur.

Water resources on coral atolls are from ground water lenses. These lenses are extremely fragile and in many areas very limited in magnitude. Water lenses are also primary longterm water storage facility for many people. The quality of the lens is dependent on rainfall and the width of the land. From this, it is clearly evident that water resources in Kiribati would be threatened by climate change involving more frequent (shorter with severer impacts) or longer duration droughts and coastal erosion

Recent environmental discourses and headlines on small island developing states (SIDS) have heralded the grave and impending threats of global warming and associated sea-level rise. These are undoubtedly significant challenges for SIDS, including atoll nations such as Kiribati. Nevertheless, securing small island state futures also requires a renewed commitment to addressing the obvious and immediate threats of urbanization, pollution and sanitation. Looking at pressures of development on freshwater, this article argues that the future survival of small island states and their societies also greatly depends on managing the impacts of development. Approaches which can concurrently strengthen the resilience of communities and their ecosystems will result in mutual benefits for both sustainable development and climate change adaptation.

The vulnerability issue is relevant for drawing up a panorama of the weaknesses and the strengths of a territory in face of natural hazards, at the crossroads of various determinants (spatial configuration, societal cohesion, environmental sensitivity, economic diversification, territorial coherence and level of development). In parallel, we argue that because of the numerous and partly irreducible climatic and anthropogenic uncertainties, it remains very speculative to try to directly measure the level of vulnerability of a specific territory to climate change. Our hypothesis is rather that monitoring the evolution of this territory’s current level of vulnerability is a better option than trying to quantifying how much it will be vulnerable in 2050 or 2100. In this view, the challenge consists in building tools which are usable by local decision-makers and stakeholders because they are the ones will be responsible for the monitoring approach.

This final report of the Kiribati National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA) Project presents an overview of the self-assessment approach taken, the main findings of the stock-take and thematic assessments, the cross-cutting assessment findings and a strategy for developing capacity to address needs and gaps identified during the assessments. The report is part of a series of reports produced under the Kiribati National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA) Project funded by the GEF. The aim of the NCSA is for countries that are Parties to the UNCBD, UNCCD and UNFCCC, to assess their own capacities and capacity development needs to address the requirements of the three conventions. The report builds on previous three stock-take and thematic assessment reports targeting each of the three conventions and presents the findings of a national cross-cutting assessment exercise to identify environmental as well as capacity issues that cut across the three conventions and their thematic areas. The aim of the assessment is to; identify cross-cutting issues, identify opportunities for synergies and strengthening integrated and coordinated approach to environment management and sustainable development.