The United States Government, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme Announce Climate Adaptation Partnerships - September 8, 2011

September 7, 2011: U.S. Engagement in the Pacific: Fact Sheet

View Photos from the Forum.

Partnerships Are Part of Larger (USD) $21 Million U.S. Government Climate Assistance Program in the Pacific Small Island Developing States

AUCKLAND, NZ - The United States Government today formally joined forces with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) to advance climate change adaptation. These partnerships are part of a larger (USD) $21 million “fast start” finance commitment made by the United States for a Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) climate change program.

Through these partnerships, the United States, SPC and SPREP will strengthen the capacity of the countries and communities in the Pacific Islands to improve food security and water security, and to protect critical ecosystems.  The partnerships will also help these countries access information about climate impacts to make more effective and sustainable decisions in the face of climate change.  Representatives from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development were joined by representatives from SPC and SPREP to announce the partnership at a formal signing ceremony on the margins of the Pacific Island Forum and Post-Forum Dialogue.

Rainfall changes and extreme weather events will cause heightened food security challenges for the PSIDS in the coming decades.  As a result, the United States and SPC have partnered to strengthen food security among communities in Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.  The United States and SPREP will help improve the ability of communities in Kiribati to address the impact of climate change on water resources as well as help Kiribati’s Ministry of Health integrate adaptation into national health planning and policies.  The United States and SPREP also will work together to promote healthy ecosystems in the Solomon Islands.

The United States will manage the $21 million program through the U.S. Agency for International Development, which will open an office in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in the coming months.

Last year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the $21 million U.S. “fast start” finance assistance for the PSIDS over two years (2010-2011).  The PSIDS funding is a part of a larger commitment from the United States to work with developed country partners to provide “fast start” financing from 2010-2012.  The “fast start” financing was included in the negotiated packages agreed to at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen and Cancun.

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Quotes:

Thomas R. Nides, Deputy Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State:
“The United States recognizes that climate change poses a significant threat to the development and security of Pacific islands.  We have prioritized efforts to expand U.S. bilateral and multilateral adaptation assistance and are committed to helping Pacific Small Island Developing States adapt to the impacts of climate change.”

Nisha Biswal, Assistant Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development:
“USAID is committed to the success of these programs.  As the implementing U.S. government agency, USAID looks forward to collaborating with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Program and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to combat the climate adaptation challenges of the Pacific islands.”

Jimmie Rodgers, Director General, Secretariat of the Pacific Community:
“The impacts of climate change are more pronounced in the Pacific Small Island Developing States. For many of their citizens, climate change touches and impacts their lives on a regular basis. For them it is about how food security can be sustained, how health is protected, how education is enhanced, how safe water supply is safeguarded, how coastal areas are protected, how human settlements are climate proofed and how the impact of high water surges and flooding are reduced. This support from the United States is historic. It represents a new partnership approach of working with regional organisations which will help bring together the many aspects of the climate change support aimed primarily at complementing and further strengthening the capacity of the participating countries to respond effectively to the challenges of climate change.”  

David Sheppard, Director, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme:
“Climate change poses major challenges for the people and environments of the Pacific. In many cases it is a matter of survival. SPREP, working with SPC and other agencies, is developing and implementing practical approaches to help countries adapt to climate change. This landmark and most welcome support from the United States will make a major contribution to these efforts to respond to climate change. This support will focus on the priorities identified by countries, with a particular emphasis on practical programmes which will help building local capacity.”
 
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U.S. Engagement in the Pacific: Fact Sheet

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

September 7, 2011

 

The United States is a Pacific nation with deep, enduring, and historic ties to the countries of the Pacific region. As the region adapts to face the challenges of the 21st century, the United States is committed to engaging closely with friends and partners in all areas - diplomatic, defense, and development – to meet those challenges. To underscore this, Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides is leading the largest and highest-level U.S. delegation ever to participate in the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Auckland, New Zealand from September 8-10. The size and scope of the delegation - which includes senior officials from the White House, Departments of State, Defense, Commerce, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Coast Guard, and the Peace Corps - demonstrate U.S. commitment to the security and economic prosperity of the Pacific.

• Enhanced U.S. Engagement: Deputy Secretary Nides’ delegation is the latest step in U.S. efforts to enhance engagement in the Pacific. It follows the June visit to eight Pacific island countries by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Patrick Walsh, USAID Assistant Administrator Nisha Biswal, and Brigadier General Richard Simcock. That trip, the first of its kind, represented a whole of government approach encompassing diplomacy, defense, and development. It also coincided with Pacific Partnership 2011, the latest in a series of Pacific Partnership deployments that collectively have provided medical, dental, and educational services to more than 250,000 people and completed more than 150 engineering projects in 15 countries. This year, Pacific Partnership included ships and personnel from five countries, treated over 50,000 patients and worked with Pacific Islanders to construct or improve community centers, schools, healthcare facilities, and water systems.
• Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change: USAID will open a Pacific Office in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea before the end of 2011. The office will administer a $21 million grant to support climate change adaptation in the Pacific Small Island Developing States and strengthen the region’s capacity to improve food and water security, protect ecosystems, and access global climate change information and resources.
• Improving the Environment: The United States supports programs across the Pacific on weather services and disaster preparedness, coral reef and marine conservation, invasive species, pollution and waste, and forests. USAID is partnering with the New Zealand Aid Program on a cooperative waste management project in Kiribati that will help the Government of Kiribati tackle municipal waste management issues, including collection, segregation, and proper long-term disposal.
• Removing the Explosive Remnants of War: Many of the United States’ strongest bonds to the Pacific were forged in the battles of World War II yet many Pacific Island countries continue to deal with the legacy of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other remnants of war. Since 1993, the U.S. Department of State has spent over $1 billion on humanitarian mine and UXO action, in over eighty countries around the world. During the same period, other U.S. agencies including the Department of Defense, USAID, and the Centers for Disease Control have spent an additional $800 million on related humanitarian mine/UXO efforts. State Department projects in the Pacific region have been conducted in Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. The United States is exploring with friends and partners new initiatives to address this challenge including the launch of a new regional project to remove UXO from Tarawa, Kiribati.
• Maritime Security: Enhancing maritime security and maritime domain awareness is critical to combating piracy, illegal fishing, and transnational crime in the Pacific. The U.S. Coast Guard partners with six Pacific Island countries through Shiprider Agreements which extend the reach and power of partner nation law enforcement officers by hosting them on U.S. Coast Guard vessels and aircraft to patrol national Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). At the PIF, the Coast Guard will sign two new Shiprider Agreements with Nauru and Tuvalu. Since 2009, the U.S. Coast Guard has also conducted eight joint operations with Australia, France, and New Zealand, part of an ongoing effort to increase maritime domain awareness and surveillance. We are working with these and other partners to develop new multilateral approaches in the western and central pacific.
• Women’s Empowerment: In November 2010, the State Department launched a “Women’s Empowerment Initiative in the Pacific Region” in collaboration with the governments of Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, and the World Bank Group. This year the Initiative will sponsor three policy dialogues, the third of which will be hosted by the United States and Australia in November. This dialogue will bring together government officials, NGOs, and academics from 14 countries to focus on effective means to prevent and address gender-based violence in the Pacific region.
• Food Security: The U.S. Department of State, USAID and the New Zealand Aid Program have begun work on a collaborative assessment of agricultural policy constraints in Papua New Guinea affecting food security. The resulting analysis and recommendations will be used by PNG and its development partners to pursue reforms benefitting the agriculture and agribusiness sectors.
• Peace Corps: Since 1966, more than 12,500 Peace Corps Volunteers have served throughout the Pacific Islands providing capacity building and training in areas such as business development, environment, health, and education. Peace Corps currently operates in Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu though in the past also had programs in the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, and Niue.