The adverse effects of climate change are a threat to the sustainable development of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) and the long-term effects of climate change may endanger continued existence of some islands. Increased atmosphere and ocean temperatures, greater rainfall variability, as well as increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events may cause sea levels to rise. In 2005 the Pacific Leaders endorsed the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change (PIFACC) 2006 to 2015. This second edition of the framework maintains the vision and goal of PIFACC but considers advances in understanding of climate change issues, developments in the global and regional climate change architecture, and the experiences of PICTs, Pacific Regional Organisations, donors and other development partners, in implementing climate change programmes.The goal of this Framework is to ensure PICTs people build their capacity to be resilient to the risks and impacts of climate change with the key objective to deliver on the expected outcomes under the following interlinked themes:
implementing tangible, on-ground adaptation measures
governance and decision making
improving understanding of climate change
education, training and awareness
contributing to global greenhouse gas reduction
partnerships and cooperation.
The purpose of this Framework is to strengthen climate change action in the PICTs by:
raising awareness of climate change issues
providing guidance on design and implementation of climate change measuresp
providing guidance on development of national and regional sustainable development strategies, sector policies and climate change-specific policies
providing a framework to enable measurement of progress of climate change action in the region.
The Pacific Climate Change Roundtable (PCCR) is the primary monitoring, evaluation and coordination mechanism for the PIFACC with the responsibility to:
help update the PICTs on regional and international actions undertaken in support of the PIFACC
share lessons learned from best practices in the implementation of climate change programmes
voluntarily collaborate in implementing and monitoring actions relevant to their priorities and work programmes
agree on mechanisms for measuring progress, identifying difficulties, and addressing actions needing special attention
disseminate information on new and existing funding modalities and opportunities.
In order to address needs at a national level, the publication advises that its implementation will require focus and support from regional organisations as well as the international community.