21 Jul 2005

Kiribati climate change defence plan comprehensive, says World Bank consultant

8:30 pm on 21 July 2005

A consultant for the World Bank says the Kiribati government has come up with a comprehensive strategy to deal with climate change.

The recently-declared strategy explains how Kiribati plans to tackle potential hazards, including changing frequency and intensity of bad weather, and of periods of drought.

It examines how it would impact on people's livelihoods, where and what kind of housing structures they would put up, impact on fishing patterns, and how to cope with a growing population.

A consultant for the World Bank on the project, Tony Hughes, says planners have managed to pull these issues together into a single climate defence strategy.

"...so they're concerned about climate change in general, what does it mean, how to understand it, how to get your mind around it and try to see where it's going. Then there's a concern about how it'll affect Kiribati directly, in changed weather patterns, changing frequency and intensity of bad weather, and of periods of drought."