Climate Change Resilience
1 September 2014, Apia, Samoa - This afternoon, the work of the Pacific in integrating climate change and disaster risk management was showcased at the side event, Building Pacific Resilience – the Strategy for Climate and Disaster Resilient Development in the Pacific (SRDP). The Government of Tonga led the event with support from the UNISDR.
The Pacific is leading the way, globally, on this process as it will be the first region in the world to fully integrate disaster risk management and climate change in a single overarching regional strategy, which focusses on resilient development.
Discussions around resilient development for Pacific Island nations highlighted how countries and organisations have advanced, or are planning, the integration of climate change and disaster risks to address threats to sustainable development.
Prime Minister of Tonga LordTu'ivakanō
In his key note address, the Prime Minister of Tonga, Lord Tu'ivakanō, said 'the Strategy highlights the importance of partnerships and this is certainly something which this SIDS meeting is all about. A new mechanism to bring together climate change and disaster risk management practitioners at the regional level is being advocated'.
This new regional coordinating mechanism, the Pacific Resilience Partnership, is intended to oversee the implementation of the SRDP. The Pacific Resilience Partnership will build on existing structures and partnerships, such as the Technical Working Group established for the development of the SRDP, which has been a positive example of coordination and collaboration between various organisations and development partners in the region.
The event highlighted the need for all stakeholders to recommit to address the impacts of climate change and disasters in the Pacific region, and reaffirmed that assistance for the implementation of the SRDP will require considerable and ongoing support from the international and development community.
The session was moderated by Margareta Wahlström, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The Panel included the Hon. Minister Faamoetauloa Ulaitino Faale Tumaalii from Samoa's Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, Mr Jacob Werksman the Principal Adviser for DG CLIMA European Union, Mrs Emele Duituturaga, the Executive Director for Pacific Islands Alliance of NGOs (PIANGO) and Mr.Howard Politini the Vice Chair of the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO).
The Pacific is leading the way, globally, on this process as it will be the first region in the world to fully integrate disaster risk management and climate change in a single overarching regional strategy, which focusses on resilient development.
Discussions around resilient development for Pacific Island nations highlighted how countries and organisations have advanced, or are planning, the integration of climate change and disaster risks to address threats to sustainable development.
Prime Minister of Tonga LordTu'ivakanōIn his key note address, the Prime Minister of Tonga, Lord Tu'ivakanō, said 'the Strategy highlights the importance of partnerships and this is certainly something which this SIDS meeting is all about. A new mechanism to bring together climate change and disaster risk management practitioners at the regional level is being advocated'.
This new regional coordinating mechanism, the Pacific Resilience Partnership, is intended to oversee the implementation of the SRDP. The Pacific Resilience Partnership will build on existing structures and partnerships, such as the Technical Working Group established for the development of the SRDP, which has been a positive example of coordination and collaboration between various organisations and development partners in the region.
The event highlighted the need for all stakeholders to recommit to address the impacts of climate change and disasters in the Pacific region, and reaffirmed that assistance for the implementation of the SRDP will require considerable and ongoing support from the international and development community.
L - R Ms. Margareta Wahlstrom, Mr. David Sheppard, Tagaloa Cooper
The session was moderated by Margareta Wahlström, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The Panel included the Hon. Minister Faamoetauloa Ulaitino Faale Tumaalii from Samoa's Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, Mr Jacob Werksman the Principal Adviser for DG CLIMA European Union, Mrs Emele Duituturaga, the Executive Director for Pacific Islands Alliance of NGOs (PIANGO) and Mr.Howard Politini the Vice Chair of the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO).