Under a United States Country Studies Program, The United States government committed a total of USD$ 25 million to assist developing countries and those with economies in transition to meet their obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to carry out greenhouse gas inventories and develop plans for responding to climate change. Under the umbrella of this program, SOPAC completed the study of the Vulnerability of Betio to Accelerating Sea-level Rise in 1997. Following this, the government of Kiribati requested SOPAC to conduct another project, extending the coverage of this study to include the area from Bairiki to Bonriki, Tarawa Atoll.
The objective of this project is to quantitatively assess the physical vulnerability of chosen sites on Tarawa to accelerated sea-level rise in the range of 15-95 cm (using scenario IS92) by the year 2100, particularly focusing on overtopping and flooding.