Climate Change Resilience
Key development and community sectors in Vanuatu are set to benefit from the USD 20.5 million Green Climate Fund (GCF) project, launched in Port Villa this month.
The project Climate Information Services for Resilient Development will be delivered by the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-hazards Division (VMGD) of the Ministry of Climate Change in collaboration with the Ministries for infrastructure, tourism, agriculture, fisheries, and water. This project will also work with the community sectors, with the overall goal of strengthening Vanuatu to better prepared and able to cope with climate change.
"With climate change we will see stronger cyclones and associated flooding; more intense periods of drought and heatwaves; as well as things like sea level rise and ocean acidification, all of which will have impacts on key economic sectors and livelihoods," said the Minister for Climate Change, Hon Ham Lini Vanuaroroa.
"The project will provide information and guidance to five key development sectors and the community here in Vanuatu so they can make better decisions when it comes to policy; planning; and every day actions such as when to harvest crops and timely responses to natural disaster like flooding from a cyclone."
Emua Village, Efate Island, Vanuatu. Photo by Stuart Chape
The project will see investments made in the VMGD to enhance management of climate data, and deliver climate related decisions services. It will also make investments in the five development and community sectors to help prepare them to better understand and use the information.
Example activities include investment in an annual programme of community training and 'community climate centres'; tailored climate information services and action plans for five sectors; as well as new equipment such as weather radar and automated weather stations to expand Vanuatu's climate and weather monitoring system.
"With this project Vanuatu is set to set a new standard in terms of understanding how climate change will impact on sectors, and more importantly in terms of how our country uses this information to make smarter, climate aware, decisions," said Mr Jesse Benjamin, Director General of the Ministry of Climate Change.
These might be policy decisions, planning and infrastructure decisions, operational decisions, and decisions at the community level, for example in relation to community fisheries and agricultural production."
The Official Project Opening and Inception Workshop was held at the Holiday Inn on Thursday, 22 February, 2018 with representation from Government; development and community sectors; the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) as well as development partners and the NGO sector.
The Climate Information Services for Resilient Development Project (CISDRP) spans four years from 2018 to 2021 with a total budget of USD 20.5M including a grant from the Green Climate Fund of USD 18.1M. The CISDRP is executed by the VMGD and SPREP, with the delivery partners, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), APEC Climate Centre (APCC) and the Australia Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
The project Climate Information Services for Resilient Development will be delivered by the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-hazards Division (VMGD) of the Ministry of Climate Change in collaboration with the Ministries for infrastructure, tourism, agriculture, fisheries, and water. This project will also work with the community sectors, with the overall goal of strengthening Vanuatu to better prepared and able to cope with climate change.
"With climate change we will see stronger cyclones and associated flooding; more intense periods of drought and heatwaves; as well as things like sea level rise and ocean acidification, all of which will have impacts on key economic sectors and livelihoods," said the Minister for Climate Change, Hon Ham Lini Vanuaroroa.
"The project will provide information and guidance to five key development sectors and the community here in Vanuatu so they can make better decisions when it comes to policy; planning; and every day actions such as when to harvest crops and timely responses to natural disaster like flooding from a cyclone."
Emua Village, Efate Island, Vanuatu. Photo by Stuart Chape
The project will see investments made in the VMGD to enhance management of climate data, and deliver climate related decisions services. It will also make investments in the five development and community sectors to help prepare them to better understand and use the information.
Example activities include investment in an annual programme of community training and 'community climate centres'; tailored climate information services and action plans for five sectors; as well as new equipment such as weather radar and automated weather stations to expand Vanuatu's climate and weather monitoring system.
"With this project Vanuatu is set to set a new standard in terms of understanding how climate change will impact on sectors, and more importantly in terms of how our country uses this information to make smarter, climate aware, decisions," said Mr Jesse Benjamin, Director General of the Ministry of Climate Change.
These might be policy decisions, planning and infrastructure decisions, operational decisions, and decisions at the community level, for example in relation to community fisheries and agricultural production."
The Official Project Opening and Inception Workshop was held at the Holiday Inn on Thursday, 22 February, 2018 with representation from Government; development and community sectors; the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) as well as development partners and the NGO sector.
The Climate Information Services for Resilient Development Project (CISDRP) spans four years from 2018 to 2021 with a total budget of USD 20.5M including a grant from the Green Climate Fund of USD 18.1M. The CISDRP is executed by the VMGD and SPREP, with the delivery partners, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), APEC Climate Centre (APCC) and the Australia Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).