15 November 2011: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) held a training workshop on how to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) demonstration projects.

Participants from Nauru, Niue, Tuvalu and Tonga attended the workshop, which focused on water sector climate change adaptation projects. The meeting was the first of a series of three workshops. The two additional training sessions will be held with the remaining PACC countries, with a focus on food security and the coastal sector.

According to SPREP, the first workshop was successful in increasing understanding of cost-benefit analysis concepts and processes, including how to incorporate climate change risks into the analysis.

PACC is aimed at building resilience to impacts of climate change in the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu in the key vulnerable socioeconomic sectors of coastal zone and associated infrastructure, water resources, food production and food security. It is implemented by UNDP in partnership with SPREP, and with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Australian Agency for International Development with support from the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Climate Change Capacity Development (C3D+) Programme. [SPREP Press Release]