Available capacity-building support

  • Technical assistance to Nauru and Solomon Islands with the development of their GCF readiness proposals and NAP proposal for Solomon Islands.
  • Secondment and capacity building on climate finance to the Government of Papua New Guinea in 2018.
  • Led national climate finance assessments using the Pacific Climate Change Finance Assessment Framework in Nauru, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Kiribati.

The Pacific Climate Change Finance Assessment Framework

A key initiative undertaken by the PIFS in collaboration with regional organisations and partners to support member countries assess their climate finance readiness is the Pacific  Climate Change Finance Assessment Framework (PCCFAF) developed in 2012 in response to the need to approach climate change financing in an informed and holistic way which recognises and takes into account the specific situations and challenges faced by Pacific Small Island Developing States. The PCCFAF provides guidance for the assessment of a country’s national context to access and manage climate change finance across seven (7) interrelated pillars. These are funding sources, policies and plans, institutions, public financial management (PFM) and expenditure, human capacity; development effectiveness and gender and social inclusion. The climate change finance assessments are undertaken by a multi-agency team and taken through a multi-tiered approach which assesses both the national and sub-national climate finance context and landscape. To date ten[1] Pacific Island Countries have undergone  climate change finance assessments.  The PCCFAF has been recognised by the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance in their report in 2018 as a global ‘good practice methodology for monitoring, verification and reporting of climate change finance provided and received.

https://www.forumsec.org/regional-reports-and-frameworks-of-the-pacific-islands-forum/

[1] Nauru, Republic of Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati have undertaken climate change and disaster risk finance assessments under the PCCFAF. Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa have undertaken assessments under the UNDP led Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR). Vanuatu has undertaken a review of its CPEIR under the PCCFAF.

Enhancing Climate Finance Partnerships and Engagement with the Private Sector

Private sector engagement in climate finance has been a longstanding agenda for Pacific Economic Ministers. In response to previous directives, PIFS has been working closely with the private sector in the Pacific to progress several initiatives, including:

  • Successful convening of the Polynesia sub-regional private sector workshop on climate finance in Cook Islands from 3 – 4 October 2019 for private sector and government reps from Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, French Polynesia and Niue. The workshop was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance for Cook Islands. A similar meeting for Micronesia is planned for early 2020 to be followed by a follow up meeting for Melanesia in late 2020.
  • National private sector mapping on climate finance for Cook Islands currently being undertaken through a consultant. This was support by a national private sector consultation workshop on 1 – 2 October 2019. The outcome will be a GCF concept for the private sector and also a report on what businesses in Cook Islands are doing related to resilience building. Similar national mapping has been completed for Samoa and Vanuatu. Solomon Islands and Tonga are planned before the end of 2019.
  • Convening of the Melanesia sub-regional private sector workshop on climate finance in Port Moresby in April 2018 for private sector and government representatives from PNG, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu.
  • Development of a Private Sector Options Papers for enhanced engagement in Resilience investments.

Consolidated Matrix of PFM issues for Pacific Island Countries.

Robust PFM systems are essential to accessing climate change finance and also for the effective delivery of large scale climate change projects. As part of the policy advisory effort to support member countries enhance their access to climate change finance, PIFS in collaboration with the Australian DFAT/GIZ Climate Finance Readiness in the Pacific Project  has developed a Public Finance Management and Systems (PFMS) Regional Issues Consolidated Matrix.  Guided by the findings of a detailed analysis of PFM systems and issues, a consolidated PFM issues matrix identifies gaps in national PFMS that requires improvements and attaches a traffic light colour coding: RED signifies priority urgent reform and actions;  YELLOW signifies issues that exist but can be addressed in the medium to longer term longer; and GREEN signifies issues that are satisfactory and would need ongoing monitoring to maintain the standards attained and avoid require This hierarchical consolidation of PFM issues allows for better coordination and targeted support. It also allows for issues to be addressed in an organized and cascading manner, addressing immediate and urgent needs first before moving on to address issues that exist but which do not require urgent attention, while maintaining those areas that are already meeting international standards.

Further work is being undertaken to establish a revised approach for assessing PFM through expanding the current IMF PEFA framework to include climate finance considerations. This work is not intended to change the PEFA methodology but to expand on it by weaving in climate finance considerations into the PEFA fabric, recognising the capacity constraints facing PICs. The outcome will improve decision making processes with regards to a country’s climate change finance engagements and simultaneously support the macroeconomic stability, efficient resource allocation, effective economic management and better service delivery.

Activities undertaken in the last quarter

Regional Climate Change and Disaster Risk Finance Workshop and Media Training on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Finance: The gathering provided a platform for improving knowledge and awareness of climate change and disaster risk finance and an opportunity to strengthen learnings and build partnerships between the critical players necessary to implement climate change and disaster risk initiatives in the Pacific. Key speakers and participants shared lessons learnt and experiences of different modalities used to access financing, including challenges and opportunities that exist, and the interplay of the broader enabling environment such as PFM, institutions, coordination, capacity and skills and their enhancements to support access and management as well as public-private partnerships to deliver climate change and disaster risk finance. The audience at the meeting included government officials from ministries responsible for environment and climate change and key agencies such as Planning and Finance; Development Partner Representatives; NGO and Private Sector Representatives and Media personal. Meeting report: :  https://www.forumsec.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Regional-Climate-Finance-Meeting-Report_2019_web-version.pdf

Recent publications

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  • Regional Synthesis Report of the Pacific Climate Change and Disaster Risk Finance Assessments: The Regional Report is a synthesis of the key observations and recommendations for the application of the PCCFAF (and CPEIR) across the ten Pacific Island Countries that have undertaken assessments. In a region where approaches to CCDR financing are collectively decided and where countries learn from each other and share lessons, the synthesis report provides useful information to help countries navigate the complex landscape and stringent requirements of the global CCDR finance architecture. https://www.forumsec.org/regional-reports-and-frameworks-of-the-pacific-islands-forum/

  • National Climate Change and Disaster Risk Finance Assessments: The National Climate Change and Disaster Risk Finance Assessments enable an examination of a country’s climate change and disaster risk finance landscape and architecture and help to clarify elements of climate change finance such as the key funding sources accessed over a 5 – 7 years period, and the broader enabling environment related to accessing and managing climate change finance such as PFM, institutions, policies and plans, human capacity, development effectiveness and gender and social inclusion. The observations and recommendations developed allow national governments to identify opportunities and areas to further strengthen in order to enhance access to and better management of climate change and disaster risk finance. https://www.forumsec.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/RMI-CCF-Assessment.pdf

Contact person

Exsley Taloiburi, Climate Change Finance Advisor and Resilience Team Leader.

Email: [email protected]

 

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