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Regional organisations ply a central role in coordinating regional climate change adaptation responses across small island developing states (SIDS), 58 countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. The effectiveness of these organisations in coordinating adaptation efforts is underexplored in the academic literature, and this paper helps to fill the gap. By developing the Framework for Assessing Regional Organisations Coordinating Climate Change Adaptation, it qualitatively assesses the adaptation-related inputs, projects/programs and outputs of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme

The region is under a La Niña watch. Current weather patterns were in a climate state of ENSO neutral during the quarter.

Well below normal rainfall was recorded in Hawii, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, the Marshall islands, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.

Waste managemment and pollution control remains one of the most pressing environmental issues facing the Pacigic region. Cleaner Pacific 2025 Pacific regional waste and pollution management strategy 2016-2025 is a comprehensive long-term strategy for integrated sustainable waste management and pollution prevention and control in the Pacific Islands region until 2025, providing strategic management framework to address waste, chemicals aand pollutants that will reduce associated threats to sustainable development of the region.

La stratégie Cleaner Pacific 2025 est une stratégie globale á long terme portant sur la gestion durable des déchets et le contróle et la prévention de la pollution de maniére intégrée dans les ;iles du Pacifique, sur les dix prochaines années (2016/2025) Cleaner Pacific 2025 fournit un cadre de gestion stratégique pour répondre aux problématiques sur la gestion des déchets, des produits chimiques et des polluants (WCP) et permet dátténuer les menaces associées qui pésent sur le déve;oppement durable de la région.

The Oceania region is very prone to natural disasters having experienced two Category 5 cyclones in as many years; Tropical Cyclone (TC)Pam struck Vanuatu on 13 March 2015 and TC Winston struck Fiji on 20 February 2016.

The Twenty-seventh SPREP Meeting of Officials and High Level Ministerial Segment (27SM) was held from 19-22 September, 2016 in Alofi, Niue. Present at the Meeting were representatives from American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, United Kingdom, United States and Wallis and Futuna.

From the perspective of Pacific island states and territories (PICTs) much of the intense speculation and debate over climate policy seems irrelevant and immature given the oft-repeated warnings of the severe consequences for low-lying islands and atoll countries of climate change. The Pacific is not just ‘any region’ when it comes to climate change but rather, as Farbotko (2010) argues, is an ‘experimental space’ of climate change ‘canaries’. The position of the Pacific at the frontline of climate change has spurred voluminous research, however studies of the politics of climate change within the region is limited, particularly with regard to and regional processes. This paper explores the regional politics of climate change in the Pacific. Within the grand architecture of global climate governance, the region provides compelling new insights into the ways climate change is constructed, governed, and shaped by—and in turn shapes—regional and global climate politics. Through an exploration of regional governance as a strategy by which small vulnerable states respond to urgent crises, the paper explores both the potential and the limitations of collective action on environmental issues following the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris 2015. We argue that evolving regional governance on climate change is mobilizing resources and finance to combat climate change. On the surface it appears to be a successful manifestation of solidarity among states and territories facing a shared fate. This solidarity has been institutionalized in three key regional organizations that mobilize resources climate change action through distinct policy narratives about the place of the Pacific in global climate crisis. These organizations also distribute these resources to members. As a result climate finance in the Pacific is mostly generated by multilateral rather than bilateral donors. However, despite this apparent demonstration of regional agency, beneath the surface regional climate governance is heavily dependent on donors for finance and expertise. This exposes a dual vulnerability of PICTs. They are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change while also being extremely vulnerable to growing dependencies on donors to address these impacts.

From the perspective of Pacific island states and territories (PICTs) much of the intense speculation and debate over climate policy seems irrelevant and immature given the oft-repeated warning of the severe consequences for low-lying islands and atoll countries of climate change

This discussion paper results from a speech prepared for the keynote address at the 2016 State of the Pacific Conference, held at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia, 13-15 September. In it Dr. Aqorau discusses the state of regional cooperative affairs int he Pacific Islands, particularly with respect to fisheries, through his own observations, but not as he puts it 'an academic sweep of our complex region. I want it to be rooted in the perceptions and experiences of an Islander!'