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Programme to help Pacific Islands cope with climate change  
 

Article from Marianas Variety, website: http://www.mvarietynews.com 
Fri, 3 Jul 2009  
Pohnpei, Micronesia ------ Adapting to the adverse effects of current and future changes 
in climate is a reality that a five-year regional project will help Pacific communities put 
into action. 
 
The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project will bring a total of $13.125 million 
into 13 Pacific Island countries.  
 
 This funding will help start adaptation projects on the ground in three major climate 
change concerns; food security, water and coastal management. 
 
Recently in Samoa, the PACC inception workshop brought together the representatives 
from the 13 different Pacific countries to help prepare them to carry out this project at the 
national level.  
 
 “We will try and get the PACC countries to take ownership of the project and also 
understand the administrative and reporting requirements needed for the project.  We 
need to address this with them so that implementation at the national level would be 
easier and they can begin work immediately at the national and community pilot level,” 
said PACC Project Manager Taito Nakalevu who is based at the Secretariat of the Pacific 
Regional Environment Programme 
 
The 13 countries involved in PACC will be better prepared to ensure that this project will 
begin smoothly at national level.  
 
During the inception phase, participants will work on communications strategies, have a 
finalized annual work plan, fully understand the reporting requirements and have 
established stronger partnerships.  
 
These are just a few of the workshop outcomes. 
 
Mr Nakalevu said the workshop is just the beginning, and there will be more technical 
workshops to assist with the PACC project coordinators during the implementation 
phase. 
 
“Hopefully all that was learned at the inception workshop will trickle down to national 
inception or meetings where they can start the project at national level and flow on from 
there.  The PACC project will engage the communities from the word “go!” to the 
completion of the pilots whether it is food security, water or integrated coastal 
management,” he said. 
 

 

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Under the project, Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands will focus on 
food prosecution and food security.  The Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, 
Samoa and Vanuatu are developing coastal management capacity and Nauru, Niue, 
Republic of Marshall Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu are looking to strengthen their water 
resource management. 
 
“This project is a beginning towards real implementation work in the Pacific.  Most 
climate change projects implemented in the past were enabling activities and capacity 
building. There is a need for other areas and sectors to be looked at and PACC is a small 
step towards addressing adaptation efforts at the national and community level on the 
ground”, said Mr Nakalevu. 
 
The PACC is funded by the Global Environment Facility with the United Nations 
Development Program as its implementing agency and the Secretariat of the Pacific 
Regional Environment Program as implementing partner. 
 
Mr. Simpson Abraham, Sustainable Development Planner, from the FSM Office of 
Environment and Emergency Management and Mr. Weston Luckymis, Director of Public 
Works in Kosrae, are in Apia, Samoa now to attend the Inception Workshop this week. 
 
According to Mr. Andrew Yatilman, Director of OEEM, “The FSM project funded under 
the PACC this time is Kosrae’s coastal road.  The PACC grant will supplement Compact 
Infrastructure Grants allocated for Kosrae to “climate-proof” the road in Kosrae.”