Press Statement - Forum Economic Ministers have stressed the critical and urgent need for financing to effectively respond to climate change.
Forum Members have called for strengthening access to, and management of, climate change finance describing this as critical for vulnerable Forum Island Countries. In the Action Plan following the 2013 Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, the Ministers emphasised the need for tangible outcomes with climate change financing over the next year.
The Ministers reiterated previous Communiqués of Forum Leaders identifying climate change as the greatest threat to livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific. The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Tuiloma Neroni Slade, said that climate change finance will remain an important issue for the region.
“The Ministers agreed that all stakeholders should work together to demystify and simplify the complexities of climate change financing,” the Secretary General said.
“They also stressed that Forum Island Countries want to use their own national systems to disburse climate change funds wherever possible.”
The meeting discussed the ‘Pacific Climate Change Finance Assessment: Nauru Case Study’. The Forum Secretariat developed the case study following a request from Nauru for assistance to improve their understanding of how to access and manage climate change financing.
“This case study provides a comprehensive assessment of the dimensions of climate change financing and implementation within Nauru’s particular development context and the strength of the country’s national systems,” Mr Slade said.
As part of the Nauru study, the Secretariat developed the ‘Pacific Climate Change Finance Assessment Framework’, distributed at the Pacific Climate Change Financing Workshop in June, and at the Pacific Plan Action Committee annual meeting.
Forum Members welcomed the development of a holistic framework strengthening Forum Island Countries’ ability to make informed decisions about climate change finance access and management.
They requested that development partners support the development of tailored national solutions for targeting the most appropriate sources for accessing and effectively managing climate change finance. These solutions could include direct budget support, extra budgetary funds, special funds, national and regional trust funds and project finance.
Forum Members also received an update about the climate change financing efforts coordinated by the Forum Secretariat working with regional and international stakeholders. These stakeholders include the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP), in particular the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community; and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.
The Nauru Case Study is available on the Forum Secretariat website: http://www.forumsec.org/resources/uploads/embeds/file/PCCFAF_NauruCaseStudy_Final%20Report.pdf