Project Description
Pacific Adaptation – Regional Capacity Development
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Regional Capacity Development TA 7394-REG was undertaken over 15 months from October 2010. The project focused on enhancing the capacity of five PDMCs’ – Fiji, Marshall Islands, Palau, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste – for adopting and implementing a national climate change adaptation strategy and associated action plans.
A flexible and locally appropriate method for climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning was developed in each country and carried out as a demonstration of adaptation planning and response. The overall project methodology was based on a synthesis of the KBR Climate Change Adaptation in Engineering Design methodology and the ICEM – International Centre for Environmental Management Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (CAM) Methodology. In each country, the demonstration of that method culminated in the identification of priority adaptation measures for a target strategic urban centre, economic sector and linked river basin.
The main findings and recommendations of the project facilitate further advancement of adaptation planning within each country, through:
- Guidance on mainstreaming the adaptation methodology. Focusing on policy development, improved institutional structure, knowledge and capacity development and country specific tasks such as integration with DRR programs and area development plans;
- Addressing substantive adaptation issues in the five countries. Focusing on addressing the adaptation deficit, prioritising key nodal points of infrastructure, recognising natural systems as the foundation of resilience and improving integrated water resource management and spatial planning; and
- Logical next steps to ensure implementation of proposed adaptation projects. Including strategies for operationalising National Plans of Actions for adaption, exploration of funding options and opportunities to upscale and implement adaptation measures and recommendations.
>> Read more about Strengthening the Capcity of Pacific Countries to Respond to Climate Change