Climate Change Resilience
Pacific Island negotiators will be meeting in Apia, Samoa, later this month (May 15th) to better prepare for the Pacific Voyage to Paris. Under the United Nations climate negotiations, countries are working towards a new climate agreement which aims to address the growing threat of climate change. Given the high vulnerability of the Pacific region to the impacts of climate change it is particularly important that the voices of the Pacific are heard, and that the Pacific's needs and concerns are included in this new global agreement.

SPREP, in partnership with the Government of Sweden, and the Climate Analytics High Level Support Mechanism, are hosting a one day climate change negotiators meeting to assist countries in developing their strategies for Paris.

Sailing Abaiang Kiribati
Photo: Abaiang, Kiribati (Carlo Iacovino/SPREP)

Next month from 1 – 11 June over 190 parties will be coming together under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to further refine what has been called the draft negotiating text, towards this new Paris agreement. The Pacific islands have made it clear that any new agreement must meet three key goals:

• It must be ambitious enough to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to a level which will allow for the on-going sustainability and survival of all Pacific island nations.
• It must provide adequate financial and technical support, to support Pacific Island countries in their on-going efforts to address climate change.
• It must also make provisions to address loss and damage from the adverse impacts of climate change.

The one day workshop in May is to better prepare Pacific Island negotiators for the meetings that lie ahead of them, along the road to Paris, and to ensure that the Pacific voices are taken into account in this new agreement.

For further information, please contact Diane McFadzien, Climate Change Adaptation Adviser, [email protected]