Climate coordination hopes from Marshall Islands meeting
Environment specialists from around the Pacific region are meeting in the Marshall Islands to address issues such as disaster preparedness, climate funding and alternative energy.
Transcript
Environment specialists from around the Pacific region are meeting in the Marshall Islands to address issues such as disaster preparedness, climate funding and alternative energy.
Our correspondent in the Majuro says there are 150 delegates at the two week long annual meeting run by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Program or SPREP.
Giff Johnson told Jenny Meyer the focus is on improving coordination and action on climate issues.
GIFF JOHNSON: For example there's a plan now to integrate disaster and climate planning which had been on separate tracks between SPREP on the one hand and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, SPC, on the other hand; to get those two operating as a single programme or a coordinated programme on both disaster management and climate response. And then there's a lot of talk about climate financing going on.
JENNY MEYER: I understand that in fact the climate financing is going to be up to $100 billion dollars a year being pledged for various projects around the region, is that right?
GJ: The key word in the climate funding community is 'pledged'. And for a lot of the smaller Pacific Islands their concern is that it's very difficult to translate the pledges into on the ground funding because of difficult donor requirements and so on. But essentially what has transpired is that $100 billion a year is being pledged by the developed world nations for, not just the Pacific, but for developing nations including small islands. So there's obviously a huge pot of money that is supposed to become available. And this money, a lot of money will be flowing through a new climate green fund, which according to SPREP Director General, David Sheppard, he explained to me that they've finally got the organisation set up into various institutional things, hiring staff, but once the green climate fund gets into action it will be managing money that is supposed to be available for climate response projects.
JM: So hopefully that will mean that actually we can see a bit more action getting underway, rather that necessarily little bits of projects going here and there; is that the aim? That there's going to be a more coordinated effort and more oversight?
GJ: I think the fact that there is a fund now being officially set up, is a way to translate pledges into action. Because the establishment of the green climate fund dates back to the 2009 climate negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, so it's taken five years to get it set up and nearly ready to get into action. A key element out here is that donors want accountability, you know they want to know how their money's being used, so Pacific Islands that want to access the funding also need to do their part. They've got to have their national plans set up so they've got their priorities lined up. They need financial management, because frankly there's just a higher standard of requirement for donor funding these days.
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