From July 10 to 12, 2023, 55 stakeholders, including elected and government officials, practitioners, scientists, and NGO representatives, from 16 Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs), gathered in Nadi, Fiji, for a regional workshop focused on Adapting Coastal Cities and Territories to Sea Level Rise in the Pacific.
Organised by the Sea’ties initiative led by the Ocean & Climate Platform, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC), and with financial support from the Fonds Pacifique (French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs), and the KIWA Initiative, this workshop marked the conclusion of a cycle of five regional workshops (Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the West Coast of the United States, and West Africa). These workshops informed the Ocean & Climate Platform’s Policy recommendations for coastal cities to adapt to sea level rise.
Drawing on insights gained from individual interviews and the workshop, the Sea’ties initiative is releasing the report “Adapting Coastal Cities and Territories to Sea Level Rise in the Pacific: Challenges and Leading Practices.” Complementing previous reports, it provides an overview of current adaptation challenges faced across the region, along with inspiring initiatives to address them.
Pacific Island Countries and Territories are facing rapidly changing ocean and coastal conditions due to climate change, and are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise (SLR). In a region where many islands are low-lying, where the vast majority of the population lives by the ocean and where the coast is rapidly urbanising, SLR is an existential issue and it is paramount to fast-track both mitigation and adaptation action.