Solomon Islands progresses work on national climate change and disaster risk finance

Honiara, Solomon Islands – Pacific Islands Countries are working to address emerging issues around accessing and managing climate change and disaster risk finance with targeted approaches to the current challenges, including the development of human resources capacity and strengthening of country systems. At the request of the Solomon Islands Government, a multi-agency team visited the Solomon Islands in December 2016 to work with the Government to assess their processes and systems using the Pacific Climate Change Finance Assessment Framework. The assessment team has consulted with 180 individuals including representatives from government, private sector, development partners, NGOs and faith-based organisations as well as stakeholders and communities in two provinces, Choiseul and Temotu. This week, the multi-agency team is back in Honiara to present and validate the preliminary findings of the assessment. The mission started with a Policy Briefing for Permanent Secretaries on Monday, followed by a workshop for government officials, donor representatives, NGOs, faith-based organisations and private sector on Tuesday. Stakeholders have welcomed the preliminary findings and acknowledged the importance of the work undertaken. In welcoming the joint team, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM), Dr Melchior Mataki commended the team, saying “this assessment has brought new perspectives, particularly in reference to the inclusion of a comprehensive gender and social inclusion component.” He reiterated the commitment of the Solomon Islands Government to progress the findings of the assessment and outlined that a number of recommendations are related to work being already being planned. The Secretary to Cabinet, James Remobatu, noted that the assessment is useful because it provides a range of options to the Government for becoming more strategic, recognizing the volatility of international climate finance. Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination (MDPAC), Shadrach Fanega, highlighted the harmonization of this work with relevant objectives of the National Development Strategy to build a strategic multi-sectoral 'packaged' response that addresses development goals. This, he said, was the opportunity to raise the profile of climate change across Government. Integral to this is the need to establish relevant indicators to ensure that the impact of climate change and disaster risk financing can be realised. The preliminary findings show that Solomon Islands accessed a significant amount of climate change and disaster risk finance over the past 7 years. Most of those resources were from the multilateral sources and focused on adaptation. Further, that the Solomon Islands is showing leadership by committing domestic resources to address climate change and disaster risk management and has taken steps to shift its policy mix towards resilient development, guided by the new National Development Strategy 2016 – 2035. The assessment provides a range of options that the Government and partners can consider to further strengthen national systems and institutions. This assessment has been undertaken as a coordinated approach by regional agencies including the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Pacific Community (SPC), the USAID/SPC “Institutional Strengthening for Pacific Island Countries to Adapt to Climate Change” (ISACC) project, the DFAT/GIZ project “Climate Finance Readiness for the Pacific” and with the support of UNDP Pacific Risk Resilience Programme (PRRP), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (PFTAC). Both the USAID/SPC ISACC Project and the DFAT/GIZ Project will also support the implementation of the assessment findings in the Solomon Islands. A number of other partners have also expressed interest in supporting the recommendations. The final report will be presented to the Solomon Islands Government in early March 2017. Media Contacts: Ariela Zibiah – Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat - media@forumsec.org or +679 9921198 Lauren Robinson – The Pacific Community (SPC) – LaurenR@spc.int or +679 3370733