26 August 2010: Solomon Islands is the first country in the Pacific, and the fourth country worldwide, to qualify for the Adaptation Fund under the UNFCCC, which will finance projects in vulnerable developing countries aimed to help adapt their agricultural resources and food security to climate change threats.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is providing planning support to the Solomon Islands Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Meteorology and its partners, in the preparation of a detailed operational and technical implementation plan requested by the Adaptation Fund board. The plan is for the project titled “Enhancing resilience of communities to the adverse effects of climate change in agriculture and food security,” which aims to strengthen technical skills and resources within public and private institutions, with activities expected to commence in 2011. Among the activities to be executed under the project are the construction of nurseries and germ plasma centres to protect crop varieties, and food storage units resilient to extreme weather conditions. Solomon Islands is expected to receive US$5 million from the Adaptation Fund. [UNDP Press Release]