Fourteen Pacific Island countries will benefit from a US$1.06 billion regional climate programme backed by a US$250 million Green Climate Fund (GCF) grant to strengthen infrastructure and essential services against climate change.
The Regional Programmatic Approach on Climate Action (RPACA) will combine the GCF grant with about US$809 million in Asian Development Bank(ADB) co-financing to support climate-resilient infrastructure, improve adaptation planning and expand access to climate finance over the next decade.
GCF Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Hemant Mandal said the programme would support up to 26 infrastructure and adaptation financing sub-projects over 10 years, reaching about 3.7 million people, or 18 per cent of the Pacific population.
“RPACA is a landmark regional programme that will enable 14 Pacific island countries to invest in climate adaptation and resilience of infrastructure and critical services.
“The programme is Pacific-owned and led and reflects the scale of partnership required to meet the Pacific’s climate challenge,” Mandal said.
The programme covers Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Pacific island countries face growing risks from sea-level rise, tropical cyclones, flooding and drought, with transport, water, energy and health infrastructure often located in exposed areas.
However, access to adaptation finance remains fragmented, while countries face gaps in climate-risk assessments, investment planning, project preparation and financing options.
RPACA aims to address these barriers through two linked areas of work: strengthening public financial management and climate finance systems, and preparing and implementing climate-resilient infrastructure projects.
The programme will support improvements in fiscal risk analysis, adaptation investment planning and the design of climate finance instruments. It will also develop a regional blended-finance approach to expand adaptation lending for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Infrastructure investments are expected to include coastal and flood protection, water systems, transport networks, energy facilities and health infrastructure.
The programme will help Pacific governments turn national adaptation plans into costed, investment-ready project pipelines, improving their ability to secure funding for priority climate measures.
It will also support assessments of interconnected climate risks affecting infrastructure and essential services, rather than treating individual projects and hazards in isolation.
The programme is designed to link national financial reforms with infrastructure investment, using shared regional approaches while allowing implementation to respond to each country’s needs.
Its expected benefits include stronger community livelihoods, improved health, food and water security, more resilient infrastructure and protection of ecosystems and the services they provide.
The GCF grant and Asian Development Bank financing will provide the funding base for the regional programme, which aims to strengthen the ability of Pacific countries to plan, finance and deliver adaptation measures at scale……PACNEWS
