15 October 2010: The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), together with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), provided training to Tongan Government staff on the use of customized software for assessing the effects of climate change.

Officers from the Ministries of Environment and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food, Forests and Fisheries, Lands, Survey and Natural Resources and the Meteorology Department received training on the software, which focused on examining and assessing the impacts of climate variability and change in Tonga. Key results of the climate change scenarios of the TongaSimCLIM software include that: although annual precipitation is projected to increase in Tongatapu as a result of climate change, the dry period is expected to get drier; and projections under a high climate sensitivity scenario and worse case story line for global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions show a possible sea-level rise of 952 mm for Tongatapu by the year 2100, this is compounded by the island slowly sinking.

The training was undertaken as part of the Programme on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Pacific Island Region, which is supporting Tonga in the development of effective land use planning processes, adaptation strategies, and supporting databases to help the land-based sector better cope with climate change. [SPC Press Release]