USAID/Pacific Islands Projects in Palau: Global Climate Change and Environment

Rising sea levels, increased drought and storm frequency, and ocean acidification are among the negative impacts of climate change affecting the region. Many governments in the Pacific request additional support to address these challenges. USAID's Climate Ready project aims to help Pacific Island countries become more climate resilient, protecting the lives and livelihoods of Pacific Island peoples and increasing their prosperity. The project will work with government partners and other stakeholders to draft and implement policies to achieve adaptation goals, access larger amounts of financing from international climate adaptation funds, and improve the skills and systems within each country to better manage and monitor adaptation projects. Institutional Strengthening in Pacific Island Countries to Adapt to Climate Change (ISACC) is a project that works with eight Pacific Island countries, including Palau, to scale up national adaptation policies. The project links local partners, allowing them to pool their resources, manage their climate finances more effectively, and develop multi-sector approaches to adapt to climate change and reduce their risk to disasters. ISACC is assessing how Pacific countries manage their climate change finances and piloting a tool for them to better track these funds. In Palau, ISACC will support the recruitment of a National Climate Change Coordinator to be embedded in government to support climate finance, capacity building, and policy development. The project will also work with the Palau Conservation Society to revive traditional landscapes and associated ecological knowledge to increase food, environmental, and economic security of communities. The Pacific-American Climate Fund (PACAM) awards grants to civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Pacific to implement and scale-up climate-resilient, community-level adaptation measures. PACAM guides CSOs throughout the grant implementation and helps them comply with USAID reporting procedures. In 2015, the project awarded 15 grants totaling $7.7 million that supported locally-driven and innovative initiatives on forestry, fisheries, and agriculture. USAID works with the U.S. Peace Corps to raise environmental awareness among remote communities and increase their resilience to climate change impacts. In Vanuatu, Peace Corps volunteers train community members on climate change, adaptation measures, and disaster preparedness. In Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, volunteers train community members to build seawalls, improve water and sanitation, construct safe houses for use during extreme weather events, and integrate sound environmental practices into project planning. The Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands are vulnerable to natural hazards, including drought, floods, and storms. Through USAID/OFDA funding, the Marshall Islands Red Cross Society, Micronesia Red Cross Society, and Palau Red Cross Society partner with local government agencies, businesses, and communities to build awareness of disaster response activities and cultivate a trained volunteer base for emergency responses. USAID/OFDA supports the International Organization for Migration to build the disaster management capacity of Palau through the Australian Government's climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and education program. USAID assistance in Palau focuses on contingency planning for typhoons, improving school-based preparedness for disasters, and facilitating humanitarian assistance and logistics training. USAID/OFDA and the U.S. Forest Service train partners from national and local government, as well as nongovernment organizations (NGOs), in Palau and Vanuatu to improve disaster preparedness. In Palau, the project is conducting incident command system (ICS) workshops with key partners and integrating ICS with existing response systems. In Vanuatu, the project is supporting training courses for participants from the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office, provincial governments, and NGOs to enhance disaster response capacity and facilitate emergency communication systems among the approximately 80 islands that comprise the country. USAID/OFDA partners with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to monitor and prepare for El Niño-related drought in Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Solomon Islands. The program collaborates with national disaster response agencies to develop systems to monitor food production and supply, particularly in remote locations where information gathering proves difficult.