Changing Climate for Quality Assured Regional Qualifications in the Pacific: An innovative collaboration (EU-PacTVET & EQAP)

The Pacific region embraces 22 countries and territories. With more than 7,500 islands over 30 million square kilometres, their combined land mass accounts for only two per cent of this area. Climate change and disasters threaten Pacific economies, livelihoods and cultures, and impact a range of sectors, including natural resources, agriculture, food security, education, public health and infrastructure. The Pacific leaders have continued to reaffirm the ongoing urgency of addressing the challenges posed by, and the impacts of, climate change as a regional priority.1 At the Forty-Sixth Pacific Islands Forum held in September 2015 the leaders of the Pacific small island states reiterated their concerns that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security and well-being of the people of the Pacific. Pacific Island Countries (PICs) recognise a commitment to sustainable development is a national responsibility but also realize that this cannot be achieved without a regional approach. The European Union Pacific Technical, Vocational Education and Training in Sustainable Energy (SE) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Project (EU PacTVET) aims to develop a quality assured regional qualification and accreditation process. This paper reflects discussions, views and validations from members of government agencies, private industry, training providers, non-government organisations, community groups, donors, and industry associations surrounding a regional accreditation strategy

Assessing the impacts of climate change on domestic crop production: Experience and perception of local farmers in North Malaita, Solomon Islands.

The aim of this research was to: 1) gather farmers' experiences and observations of climate change impacts on domestic crop yields during the last thirty years (1988-2018); 2) study climatic projections (2050) and their potential impacts on Sikwafata and Malu'u's crops; and 3) understand the knowledge engaged with, and adaptations taken, to avoid susceptibility to climate change. The data was collected using the snowball approach, in which the researcher contacts informants using information provided by previous informants. A thematic analysis was performed using NVIVO 10 software. For both sites, soil samples were taken to determine moisture content. Farmers reported changes in rainfall patterns (73.5%) and temperature (44.9%), while 26.5% indicated no change in rainfall or temperature (55.1%). About 83.7% of farmers anticipate increasing temperatures and rainfall to occur by 2050, with extreme impacts on crop productivity. The majority of the gardens (87.5%) were on hillsides, while 8.5% were on the lowland, with an average of three garden per farmer. The gardens (57.0%) were on rotational sites that had been abandoned for two to five years, while 43.0% had never been rotated. In comparison to Malu'u moisture content (47.4%), Sikwafata moisture content is 66.4% higher. Furthermore, farmers are aware of adaptation measures to reduce the risk of crop failure. However, the absence of scientific information on climate change and agricultural resilience has increased the vulnerability to extreme climate-related events harming food security and nutrition. Climate change will undoubtedly intensify, resulting in a global and local drop in crop production, thus compromising livelihoods in the future

Coastal protection: best practices from the Pacific

Pacific coasts are constantly changing as a result of natural processes such as tides, strong currents, rain, storm surges, strong wind, cyclones and sea level rise. With increasing human activities within the coastal areas in terms of human settlement, land use changes, flow of solid and liquid waste and coastal developments such as beach ramps, jetties, causeways, coastal protection structures, reef mining and extractions of sand and beach aggregates, there is ever increasing change along Pacific coasts. In addition, climate change and climate variability and extreme weather events have exacerbated the rate of change of Pacific coasts. The coast has been defined as the zone where the land and sea meet. The main features of Pacific coasts are dominated by coral reefs, reef ridges, inter-tidal ridges, beaches, cliffs, wave actions and mangroves. Pacific coasts are designated important areas for providing vital Pacific livelihood. The coastal ecosystems, human sett lement and other major supporting services and basic infrastructure are centred on the coastal zone. Coasts are being used for many reasons. The underlying problem is that Pacific coasts are in a state of crisis. A number of human engineering interventions over the past decade have contributed and accelerated the coastal erosion problem in the Pacific Region. The Pacific coastline is over 50,532 km long. Both natural processes and human engineering work are blamed for causing coastal erosion. This guide has been produced to inform and assist coastal experts, managers, and Pacific communities understand the various measures they can take to reduce coastal erosion

Accredited qualifications for capacity development in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

Increasingly practitioners and policy makers working across the globe are recognising the importance of bringing together disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. From studies across 15 Pacific island nations, a key barrier to improving national resilience to disaster risks and climate change impacts has been identified as a lack of capacity and expertise resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programmes in the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation sectors. In the 2016 UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, it was raised that most of the training material available are not reviewed either through a peer-to-peer mechanism or by the scientific community and are, thus, not following quality assurance standards. In response to these identified barriers, this paper focuses on a call for accredited formal qualifications for capacity development identified in the 2015 United Nations landmark agreements in DRR and CCA and uses the Pacific Islands Region of where this is now being implemented with the launch of the Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals, for DRR and CCA. A key issue is providing an accreditation and quality assurance mechanism that is shared across boundaries. This paper argues that by using the United Nations landmark agreements of 2015, support for a regionally accredited capacity development that ensures all countries can produce, access and effectively use scientific information for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The newly launched Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals who work in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation may offer a model that can be used more widely

Accredited qualifications for capacity development in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

Increasingly practitioners and policy makers working across the globe are recognising the importance of bringing together disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. From studies across 15 Pacific island nations, a key barrier to improving national resilience to disaster risks and climate change impacts has been identified as a lack of capacity and expertise resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programmes in the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation sectors. In the 2016 UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, it was raised that most of the training material available are not reviewed either through a peer-to-peer mechanism or by the scientific community and are, thus, not following quality assurance standards. In response to these identified barriers, this paper focuses on a call for accredited formal qualifications for capacity development identified in the 2015 United Nations landmark agreements in DRR and CCA and uses the Pacific Islands Region of where this is now being implemented with the launch of the Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals, for DRR and CCA. A key issue is providing an accreditation and quality assurance mechanism that is shared across boundaries. This paper argues that by using the United Nations landmark agreements of 2015, support for a regionally accredited capacity development that ensures all countries can produce, access and effectively use scientific information for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The newly launched Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals who work in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation may offer a model that can be used more widely

Accredited qualifications for capacity development in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

Increasingly practitioners and policy makers working across the globe are recognising the importance of bringing together disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. From studies across 15 Pacific island nations, a key barrier to improving national resilience to disaster risks and climate change impacts has been identified as a lack of capacity and expertise resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programmes in the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation sectors. In the 2016 UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, it was raised that most of the training material available are not reviewed either through a peer-to-peer mechanism or by the scientific community and are, thus, not following quality assurance standards. In response to these identified barriers, this paper focuses on a call for accredited formal qualifications for capacity development identified in the 2015 United Nations landmark agreements in DRR and CCA and uses the Pacific Islands Region of where this is now being implemented with the launch of the Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals, for DRR and CCA. A key issue is providing an accreditation and quality assurance mechanism that is shared across boundaries. This paper argues that by using the United Nations landmark agreements of 2015, support for a regionally accredited capacity development that ensures all countries can produce, access and effectively use scientific information for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The newly launched Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals who work in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation may offer a model that can be used more widely

Planning for community relocations due to climate change in Fiji

As a consequence of the impacts of climate change, some households and entire communities across the Pacific are making the complex and challenging decision to leave their homelands and relocate to new environments that can sustain their livelihoods. This short article charts how the residents of Vunidogoloa village in Fiji relocated in early 2014 to reduce their vulnerability to encroaching sea level and inundation events that regularly devastated the community. As a consequence of the Vunidogoloa relocation, this article also explores how the Fiji Government is planning for similar resettlement transitions, including vulnerability and adaptation assessments to develop a list of potential community relocations and the development of national relocation guidelines. This study draws from key informant interviews (n = 8) with government officials, as well as representatives from intergovernmental and local nongovernmental organizations, who are involved in the relocation issue. Given the speed at which these national, top-down initiatives are being forged and especially in light of the absence of any mention of relocation in Fiji’s 2012 climate change policy, careful and inclusive engagement across all scales and stakeholders, including communities “earmarked” for relocation, is paramount