Kiribati will soon have a national integrated action plan on climate change and disaster risk management.
Kiribati is adapting the process for developing a joint national action plan for climate change and disaster risk management (JNAP) by developing a Kiribati Joint Implementation Plan (KJIP) to facilitate the implementation of the recently endorsement Disaster Risk Management Plan and the National Framework for Climate Change and Climate Change Adaptation Framework.
Through the KJIP cohesive actions to improve resiliency to climate change and disasters will be prioritised for action consistent with national development goals.
Gathering water from a well in Kiribati
The KJIP development is led by the Government of Kiribati, which has established a core group of national experts from the various sectors including civil society and community groups.
“The KJIP process is nationally led and we’re pleased to be working with the national expert team,” said Dr Netatua Pelesikoti, the Director of Climate Change, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
“The process is equally important as the product (the KJIP) as the process demonstrates participatory approaches, careful assessment and analysis of vulnerability, prioritisation and costing. However, the implementation expected to follow once the plan is completed and approved, is highly anticipated by the experts group and the people of Kiribati”.
This view was also raised during a meeting with Kiribati Parliamentarians where Parliamentarians called for a focus on implementation, in particular, the need to ensure that national and community capacities are strengthened to enable timely responses to climate change impacts, thus reducing disaster risks.
Kiribati National Experts Team leading the development fo the KJIP with members from regional organisations.
SPREP is leading a regional support team made up of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, GIZ, United Nations Development Programme and Australia AID. The team was in Kiribati during the first two weeks of February to start the process.
As a key part of developing the KJIP, stakeholder and community views and development aspirations are collected and discussed together with a literature review that includes studies and reports on climate change impacts, exposure to hazards and vulnerability.
It is expected that the Kiribati Joint Implementation Plan will be finalised by the end of this year.