Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Call for Pacific countries to manage their own capacity for climate change adaptation

Posted at 05:47 on 12 November, 2012 UTC

A regional climate change financing expert says that Pacific Island governments need more space to decide for themselves how to manage the climate change adaptation process.

Most Pacific governments now have climate change adaptation as a key priority in their national development plans.

But a regional and international issues advisor with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Coral Pasisi, says the many forms of climate change assistance from various global partners can become overwhelming.

She says the governments often spend too much time being drawn into climate change discussions with one development partner after another.

“So they very rarely get a moment to breathe on top of their existing huge development agenda that they have to deal with to think how much capacity have I actually got to address climate change, how much capacity do I need in country that’s going to be able to control all these well-wishers that come in, or do I need to establish some of that capacity myself as a country?”

Coral Pasisi