As noted in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, climate change is one of the most important drivers of biodiversity loss" and is projected to further adversely affect the role of
biodiversity as a source of goods and services. The impacts of climate change on biodiversity have been of major concern to the Convention on Biological Diversity since 2002 when, following a request from the Conference of the Parties and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group was established to carry
Regional Energy Climate Change Adaptation 2016
A major objective of this report was to develop a regional assessment of Pacific Island sensitivity to projected
climate change as a component of the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning
(PACCSAP) program. The PACCSAP Program is intended to help partner countries including Cook Islands, Fiji,
Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa,
Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu and their communities better understand and respond to climate associated impacts.
Disasters, and therefore disaster response, in the Pacific are expected to be affected by climate change. This research addressed this issue, and focused on the immediate humanitarian needs following a disaster, drawing upon adaptive capacity as a concept to assess the resilience of individual organisations and the robustness of the broader system of disaster response..
Four case study countries (Fiji, Cook Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa) were chosen for deeper investigation of the range of issues present in the Pacific.
The Forum Secretariat in collaboration with a number of Member countries, Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) and development partners is exploring a range of modalities, approaches and enabling environments that might assist countries to more effectively harness climate change resources and implement them to address national priorities. A number of these modalities are already being implemented or explored in the region and provide a practical experience to draw from -
A guiding presentation on a series of regional dialogue seminars and field visits held in order to raise awareness, capacity and identify opportunities for effective policy coherence, implementation and mainstreaming of nature-based solutions at the national level.
PEBACC is a five year project implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to explore and promote ecosystem-based options for adapting to climate change.
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).
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 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.
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.
This report is primarily directed to analyzing the legal aspects of ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change. It sketches the impacts of climate change in the Pacific Island countries, recognizing that climate change directly impacts ecosystems, which provide for the needs of people as well as for the maintenance of the natural environment.
A Pacific information brief from the Pacific Invasives Partnership (a working group of the Roundtable for Nature Conservation in the Pacific Islands)
This Special Issue of the Journal of South Pacific Law aims to provide insight into the role of international law in addressing the short-term and long-term challenges posed by climate change to Pacific Island States and their populations. It focuses on the two international legal frameworks that were designed to protect the Earth’s climate system and the human person: international climate change law on the one hand, and international human rights law on the other.
This report summarises the projected changes in ocean chemistry for the Pacific island region (from 130°E to 130°W and 25°N to 25°S) at regional and sub-regional scales, assessing the vulnerability of Pacific coastal and oceanic habitats and fisheries to ocean acidification using an established framework, and discussing the implications for the Pacific island communities dependent on fisheries and aquaculture for food security and livelihood
This compendium presents a wide-ranging overview of more than 400 projects, case studies and research activities specifically related to climate change and Indigenous Peoples. It provides a sketch of the climate and environmental changes, local observations and impacts being felt by communities in different regions, and outlines various adaptation and mitigation strategies that are currently being implemented by Indigenous Peoples
This chapter describes the diversity and distribution of mangrove, seagrass and intertidal flat habitats in the tropical Pacific (25°N–25°S and 130°E–130°W), outlining the role they play in supporting coastal fisheries in the region, and summarising the critical requirements for establishing and maintaining these habitats.