Pacific Island Commonwealth Member States (Pacific CMSs) are highly vulnerable to climate change (high confidence; robust evidence, high agreement). Impacts of climate change on extreme events relevant to Pacific CMSs vary, dependent on the magnitude, frequency, and temporal and spatial extent of the event, as well as on the biophysical nature of the island and its social, economic, and political setting (high confidence).
In the Pacific Islands region, fish and invertebrates (specifically shellfish) fulfill important ecological roles in coastal and oceanic habitats, and many species are targeted by fisheries, making vital contributions to food security, livelihoods, government revenue and cultural heritage. This report discusses how climate change is expected to have profound effects on the status and distribution of coastal and oceanic habitats, the fish and invertebrates they support and, as a result, the productivity of fisheries and aquaculture
This report focuses on marine/coastal inundation and sea level and how they are affected by climate change.
The region of interest is the Pacific Islands, with a focus on Commonwealth countries (Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu).
This paper points out that the exposure to climate hazards varies between states based both on geographical factors (such as the propensity to experience cyclones and droughts, island types and topography) and on such factors as population and infrastructure distribution, all of which provide a framework for considering regional vulnerability to climate change.
This paper discuss the profound effects of climate change on oceanic fish habitats, food webs, the fish stocks they support and, as a consequence, the productivity of fisheries
This paper discuss impacts of climate change on corals according to standardized metrics. It also deals with non-climate drivers because of the synergistic effects they have with climate drivers affecting Pacific corals.
This report synthesizes the emerging evidence of climate impacts at different temperature thresholds for Pacific islands. All evidence points to vast differences in impacts in a 1.5˚C world, compared to the +3˚C world to which our current policies and climate change pledges are leading us. For Pacific islands and marine and coastal ecosystems in the region, these differences cannot be overstated; even a 0.5˚C difference (between 1.5˚C and 2˚C) may mean that critical tipping points are crossed.
This CMEP report provides a summary of climate change impacts on coasts and seas in the Pacific island region, and how Pacific islands can respond.
Doumenting ADB’s ongoing and emerging climate change mitigation and adaptation programs, and how they continue to play a catalytic role in helping Asia and the Pacific meet the challenges brought about by climate change
This study, commissioned by the UNEP/CMS Secretariat, aims to identify how climate change is likely to affect individual migratory species, and the degree of threat that they face.
In the South-West Pacific region, 2020 was the second or third warmest year on record, depending on the data set. Near-surface temperatures over the land and ocean averaged across the region were about 0.37–0.44 °C above the 1981–2010 average.
Circular 21/150
Inform Plus proposed 5 pillars
- Component 1: Environmental Governance
- Component 2: Monitoring and field data collection for environmental standards and standardised environmental indicators
- Component 3: Data management utilising the Pacific Island Network Portal (PEP). Production of information products for decision makers based on existing data sets.
- Component 4: Enhance and expand GIS use for data collection, analysis and presentation to inform decision makers
Summary table of the status of Pacific Island countries in relation to International and Regional conventions.
The themes of the SOE were selected by local stakeholders and experts to provide a checklist on the state of the environment for Niue. A number of sub-topics and indicators were identified under the themes to help focus the discussion and this SOE report.