The Pacific National Stakeholders Meeting on Climate Financing gathered representatives of ten Pacific countries to discuss how they can increase their access to climate funds, use them sustainably and effectively deliver climate change adaptation initiatives.
15 April 2011: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) organized a Pacific National Stakeholders Meeting on Climate Financing on 14-15 April 2011, in Koror, Palau. The two-day meeting brought together representatives of ten Pacific countries to discuss means of increasing their access to climate funds and using them sustainably, and options available to Pacific Island countries to access and effectively deliver climate change adaptation initiatives.
The meeting aimed to better equip Pacific Island countries with the required knowledge of innovative country-level solutions, adaptation approaches in the Pacific, best practices, as well as international gaps that prevent better access to, and optimum utilization of, climate finance, including multi-donor climate funds.
The meeting was opened by Kerai Mariur, Vice President and Minister of Finance, Palau, who highlighted the region’s vulnerability to climate change and emphasized the importance of relating international discourse on climate change and climate finance to the realities of Pacific countries. Toily Kurbanov, UNDP Deputy Representative, stated that the meeting provided an opportunity to engage with Pacific Island countries and better understand their concerns and priorities on climate-related issues. He noted that strengthening national institutions is key to stronger and more sustainable results in any area of development, including climate change adaptation and climate financing.
The meeting included senior government officials from Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu, as well as representatives of regional agencies and civil society organizations. [UNDP Fiji Multi-Country Office Press Release]