Strategy 2030 - A blueprint for NDC implementation in Pacific Island Countries

Abstract

Climate change constitutes a major threat to the Pacific way of life despite the region’s countries contributing negligibly towards climate warming greenhouse gas emissions. It poses a substantial risk to the economic, social and environmental progress of the region and exacerbates threats to the realisation of fundamental human rights. With the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-induced events such as cyclones and droughts, Pacific economies run the risk of losing decades of development gains in a matter of hours to the perils of a rapidly changing climate. Slow onset events like sea level rise increase the risk of inundation and coastal flooding, exacerbate erosion and saltwater intrusion into rivers and underground aquifers, and cause infrastructural damage. The problem is acute in the region’s atoll states.