Presentation on managing climate risk through ecosystem-based adaptation – linking urban and rural development planning by David Sheppard (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Samoa)

1. SPREP PRESENTATION
“Strengthening risk management, transfer
and sharing at the national level”
OECD Joint DAC-EPOC Task team meeting in Paris on Climate Change and
Development Co-operation.
David Sheppard
Director General
21 April , 2015
davids@sprep.org

2. This presentation will
• Introduce the Pacific context and SPREP
• Outline the risk from climate change in
the Pacific region
• Outline key elements of risk
management and transfer at the
national level
• Suggest implications for donors and
partners

3. INTRODUCTION TO THE
PACIFIC AND SPREP

5. EEZ Area
98%
Pacific
Island Land
Area 2%

6. ABOUT SPREP
• The Pacific regional agency for the environment – an
issue of sustainable development in our region
• Lead agency in the region on: (i) climate change; (ii)
biodiversity; (iii) waste management; and (iv)
environmental governance
• Focus on strengthening partnerships and
cooperation among Pacific Island countries &
territories
• 26 member countries (21 Pacific Island countries &
territories), 5 ‘metropolitan’ states (AU, NZ, FR, USA,
UK)
• SPREP is fully accountable to member governments
through an annual SPREP Meeting (SM)

7. 25th SPREP Officials Meeting (2014)
ICC, Majuro, RMI

8. The Vision
Mandate – 1993 SPREP Agreement
To promote co-operation in the Pacific region and
provide assistance in order to protect and
improve its environment and to ensure
sustainable development for present and future
generations
The Pacific environment, sustaining our
livelihoods and natural heritage in harmony with
our cultures

11. The SPREP structure – from 2012
Climate
Change
Adaption
Mitigation
Science &
Policy
Biodiversity &
Ecosystems
Coastal &
Marine
Threatened
Species
Invasive
Species
Biodiversity
Environmental
Monitoring
Monitoring
Governance
Planning
Waste &
Pollution
Marine and
Land
Pollution
Solid Waste
Hazardous
Wastes
Corporate
Services
Outreach
Information
& IT
Finance
HR

12. RISK FROM CLIMATE
CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC
REGION

13. Climate Change risk in the Pacific
• Due to small size, isolation, small
economies, and lack of capacity - Pacific
countries are extremely vulnerable and
highly exposed to the dangers of climate
change and extreme weather events
• PICs contribute 0.03% of the world’s
greenhouse gases but are in the climate
“front line” – and will potentially be the
first to disappear. Climate change is a
matter of survival and national security

14. Climate Change risk in the Pacific
• The IPCC has put emphasis on thresholds and has
given clear warning of unexpected or
unpredictable consequences as well as “tipping-
points”.
• The experience of small island communities in
the face of climate change has borne all of this.
• For all small island countries, there is immediate
danger, and climate change is causing serious
damage now. It is not an event of the future.

15.  What do we know and where do we want to be?
• Climate change is real

16. Climate impacts on coral reefs
 At a temperature increase of 1.5 small islands will
encounter severe climatic stresses – coral reefs will bleach
and eventually die at 2 degrees
Global mean temperature will increase in a variable
manner so localised impacts may be more intense than just 2
degrees increase

17. Vulnerable sectors in Kiribati
Water
resource
security
Coasts
Food
security
Health
Bio-
diversity
based
resources
Social
Dimension
NATIONAL SECURITY

18. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK
MANAGEMENT AND
TRANSFER AT THE
NATIONAL LEVEL

19. Climate change risks impact
development in the Pacific Region.
• Social, economic, political and environmental
development goals will not be achieved in the
region if climate change risks and impacts are
not considered at all phases of the
development process.
• This presentation will cover broad aspects of
risk management in the Pacific region

20. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(1) Build on experience
• There are major climate change
adaptation projects in the Pacific region –
PACC (SPREP/UNDP/GEF) and CCCPIR
(GIZ/SPC/SPREP).
• These need to be continued and
reinforced – we should not “reinvent the
wheel”

21. 14 PICTs
Cook Islands
Fiji
FSM
Nauru
Niue
Palau
PNG
Samoa
Solomons
Tokelau
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu

22. Pacific Adaptation to Climate
Change(PACC) the Model Project
SPREP & UNDP PACC Team with the Hon. Henry Puna, Cook Islands Prime Minister

23. PACIFIC ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
www.sprep.org/climate_change/pacc
PACC Solomon Islands – Food Security
Solomon Islands
Farming and water systems exposed to inundation by high tides, storm
surges and to changes in rainfall duration
PACC focus on introduction of new farming methods and different crop
varieties – work in Ontong Java in Malaita Province

24. VANUATU (EPI) – PACC SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE
PROOFING OF INFRASTRUCTURE
DESIGN AND
CLIMATE
PROOFING OF
ROADS AND
AIRSTRIPS
LINKING TO
NATIONAL
ROADING PLAN

25. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(2) EBA must be a key part of the solution
• Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) is critically important
in the Pacific region
• CBA, such as in Lami City, Fiji, have shown the benefits
of EbA versus “hard” infrastructure approaches to cc
adaptation and risk management
• Key elements include the protection of coastal
mangrove vegetation and better management of
ecosystems, including addressing key issues such as
invasive species

26. 26

27. 2014 Signing with
Government of Germany: “Natural Solutions to
Climate Change” Pacific Ecosystem-based Adaptation
to Climate Change (PEBACC) Project
Signing with Parliamentary State Secretary Schwarzelühr-Sutter from the German Federal
Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety

28. Nature Conservation and Protected
Areas (NCPA) Framework
• Ecosystem based
Adaptation in the Pacific
region also links with key
biodiversity frameworks
such as the NCPA
Framework adopted in
2013 and launched by CBD
Executive Secretary at the
SIDS Conference, Apia,
2014

29. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(3) Link CCA and DRR
• Pacific region has integrated climate
adaptation and disaster risk reduction at
regional and national levels
• WHY? – many approaches are similar (e.g.
climate proofing, EbA) and with our
limited resources it makes sense to link
these key areas

31. Integrated Approach for DRR and CCA
• Regional Integrated Approach for DRR and CCA from 2015
onwards
• “integration is a great opportunity for the region to deal with
the impacts of climate change and disasters”

32. The PMC
• The Pacific Meteorological Council
(PMC) is a specialized subsidiary
body of SPREP, established in RMI in
2011 to facilitate and coordinate
the scientific and technical
programme and activities of the
Regional Meteorological Services.
• Supported by the Pacific
Meteorological Desk Partnership
• Guided by the Pacific Islands
Meteorological Strategy (PIMS)
2012-2021

33. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(3) Link CCA and DRR
• At the national level JNAPs have been
prepared to integrate climate adaptation
and DRR
• These build on and reinforce the NAP
process and define priorities for
adaptation, in the context of DRR, and
mainstream CCA and DRR into national
development plans and sectoral policies

34. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(3) Link CCA and DRR
• The Pacific Climate Change Centre, with
support from the Government of Japan
will be a major initiative for integrating
climate change and disaster risk
reduction in the Pacific region –
planning is staring this year with JICA

35. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(4) Ensure use of best information and ensure it
reaches key target audiences
• There is considerable information available, and
the priority is making this available in a way that is
relevant to key target audiences, including policy
makers and local communities
• Recent work with WMO and the Government of
Korea is strengthening climate modelling and
predication

36. Collaboration with PACCSAP
• Making scientific research available
and accessible
• Collaboration improved in
communication science e.g. Climate
Crab
• PCCSP and PACCSAP developed
tools
• PACCSAP is in final stages and
recommendation from PMC on
climate science

37. Pacific Climate Change Portal
http://www.pacificclimatechange.net/
• Key tool for knowledge management
• Managed by SPREP on behalf of other CROPs
• Essential for transfer and sharing of risk management
experience
• Important to link to global initiatives such as the NAP
Global Network (Anne Hammill)
• Information targeted at key levels – decision makers
to communities

38. FINPAC: Red Cross Signing
SPREP partnering with IRC on Government of Finland Pacific Climate Change Project linking
with communities for capacity building outreach

39. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(5) Improve donor and partner coordination
• There are many donors and partners working in
the Pacific region on climate change
• Mechanisms for improving coordination need to
be improved
• A number of useful mechanisms exist in the Pacific
region including the DPCC and country based
examples such as those in Choiseul province,
Solomon Islands

40. Choiseul Integrated
Climate Change
Programme
Choiseul Province,
Solomon Islands

41. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(6) Better ocean governance and management is needed
• The Pacific is 98% ocean - management and sustainable
use of the Pacific ocean and marine resources is
essential for the livelihoods of Pacific people
• Climate change has significant impacts on fisheries
resources, including migration of key fish stocks
• Ocean acidification, if unchecked, are likely to have
major adverse effects on marine ecosystems, including
fish stocks.

43. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(6) Loss and Damage (L&D) is a key aspect
• Pacific countries have supported AOSIS on
establishing an international mechanism
to address loss and damage from the
adverse effects of climate change.
• Mechanism is proposed to sit under
UNFCCC and have 3 mutually connected
components

44. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(6) L&D- Components of Loss and Damage
• An Insurance Component to help SIDS and other particularly vulnerable
developing countries manage financial risk from increasingly frequent
and severe extreme weather events;
• A Rehabilitation Component to address the progressive negative
impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise, increasing land and
ocean temperatures, and ocean acidification; and
• A Risk Management Component to support and promote risk
assessment and management tools and facilitate and inform the
Insurance Component and Rehabilitation Component.

45. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(6) L&D - General
• We need to understand what is required in countries to
properly establish a climate risk financing mechanism or
structure, which would serve as the strategy for its financing
and operation.
• Difficult to estimate at the outset the capital that may be
needed to facilitate and support initiatives taken through the
mechanism as a whole.
• The amount needed will depend upon how many of what
products might be needed where, as well as the degree of
subsidization that may be needed to make these tools most
effective for the policy goals sought to be achieved.

46. RISK MANAGEMENT - INSURANCE
• The Pacific region is generally poorly insured - most PICs only legally require
insurance for cars, most businesses undertake a form of self-insurance (savings,
collateral)
• Mutual support in the face of disasters is a form of risk transfer and risk
sharing. This also occurs at the State level, as shown by the assistance offered
by Pacific Island Countries to Vanuatu and Tuvalu in the aftermath of Cyclone
Pam.
• Increasing frequency of natural disasters make premiums beyond the scope of
PICs
• A mixed funding/implementation model is most likely to be required - involving
mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund, donor support, national support,
linked with initiatives taken by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to
climate-proof infrastructure, through the Pilot Programme on Climate
Resilience.
• Pacific needs to learn from the experience of other regions, including the
Caribbean and Africa

47. KEY ELEMENTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT
(6) L&D – moving forward
• SPREP is working with GIZ on a Loss and
Damage project in the Pacific region, in 3 pilot
countries - Samoa, Kiribati and Vanuatu
• Will assess options for implementation of the
3 elements of L&D in the Pacific
• Consultant will commence shortly and report
will be delivered mid-year

48. IMPLICATIONS FOR
DONORS AND PARTNERS
IN THE PACIFIC REGION

49. IMPLICATIONS FOR DONORS
• Invest in and support adaptation and risk
management programmes that are working
(PACC, CCCPIR)
• Build on mechanisms and projects which
strengthen donor coordination (Choiseul,
DPCC)
• Strengthen work with and through effective
regional agencies, such as SPREP

50. IMPLICATIONS FOR DONORS
• Support work on Loss and Damage in
the Pacific region, including on
assessment of options for insurance and
risk management
• (Please) continue to support Pacific
countries in their efforts to adapt to a
changing climate and to natural
disasters

51. THANK YOU