Pacific Countries to Finalise FirstEver Climate Mobility Framework
Afirst-ever framework to address disaster displacement in the Pacific is in its final stage and developing countries are confident this will lessen climate vulnerability.
The Regional Climate Mobility Framework will delve into strengthening efforts in the Pacific to collate, assess and analyse data to inform evidence-based policy development on resilient development alternatives.
In Fiji, 27 per cent of the Fijian population live within one kilometre of the coastline while 76 per cent are within just five kilometres, according to the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development.
Most of these communities are already moving away from the rising seas that have inundated their homes, ruined their farming land with saltwater, flooded their ancestral burial grounds and left them vulnerable to landslides.
The ministry’s permanent secretary, Salaseini Daunabuna, said to prevent and respond to disaster displacement, tailored approaches must be considered to confront specific challenges that were compounded by the impacts of poverty and inequality.
“I wish to emphasise the importance of collaboration to garner greater coherence around our responses to disaster displacement,” she said while opening the regional consultation on disaster displacement in Nadi, yesterday. “Discussions at the UNFCCC, the review of the Sendai Framework, Nansen Initiative, the Global Compact on Migration (GCM), the Platform
for Disaster Displacement, and the Sustainable Development Agenda, must connect with our national and regional plans.”
She said planned relocation demanded greater resource mobilisation, an improved enabling environment through targeted legislation, policies, strong institutional and governance arrangements.
International recognition
The two-day workshop has been organised by the Platform for Disaster Displacement (PDD) and funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation. According to Ms Daunabuna, PDD has amplified the voice of the Pacific at global platforms, including United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 26, Global Platform in Bali and the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) in New York.
“Ensuring that the concerns of the Pacific and best practices are shared with other members’ states and development partners is important in leveraging the work of countries in this space,” she said.