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Mainstreaming Environment for

Poverty Reduction
Problem of small communities in small island
countries of the Pacific

International Conference on
The Environments of the Poor: Responding to Climate Change
and the Green Economy - Making Sustainable Development
More Inclusive
New Delhi, India - November 2010
 Presentation Outline
Part 1 Pacific Island Region at a Glance
• The Pacific profile
• Development challenges
• Climate change threats
• Vulnerability of resources and people
• Poverty, environment and climate change nexus in the Pacific

Part 2 The Case Study

• The case of Solomon Islands
• Pro-poor climate change adaptation planning framework
• Strategic framework for climate resilient investment and
capacity building in small island communities

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 The Pacific Profile

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 GDP Growth and Human Development
Index
GDP Growth (% pa) Human Development Index
Country 1998 2008
2008 2009* 2010**
Index Rank Index Rank
Cook Islands -1.2 -0.1 1.0 0.822 2 0.837 1
Federated States of Micronesia -2.9 -1.0 0.5 0.861 1 0.816 2
Fiji -0.1 -2.5 -0.5 0.774 3 0.823 3
Kiribati -1.1 -0.7 0.8 0.590 7 0.770 4
Nauru 1.0 0.0 2.0 0.647 6 0.745 5
Palau -1.0 -3.0 0.5 0.667 4 0.726 6
Papua New Guinea 6.7 4.5 5.5 0.569 9 0.724 7
Republic of Marshall Islands -2.0 0.0 0.5 0.563 10 0.716 8
Samoa -3.0 -0.8 0.5 0.583 8 0.700 9
Solomon Islands 6.9 0.0 2.0 0.663 5 0.647 10
Tonga 2.0 -0.4 0.4 0.425 12 0.648 11
Tuvalu 1.3 1.5 1.6 0.515 11 0.606 12
Vanuatu 6.3 3.8 4.6 0.371 13 0.587 13
Average PICs*** 5.4 2.3 3.7 0.314 14 0.444 14
Source: ADB Asian Development Outlook 2010, SPC/UNDP Human Development Indicators Database
* estimated growth rates; ** forecast growth rates
*** includes Timor Leste but excludes Nauru & Niue

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 Development Challenges
Population explosion
 Increasing urbanization puts pressure on infrastructure and
services
 Mainstreaming the marginalized outer islands and remote
community people
 Creating productive employment for the unemployed
Poor performance of the economy
 Narrow economic and export base
 Increasing fiscal stress and maintaining the quality of public
services
 Improving state-owned enterprises, stimulating the weak private
sector, reducing external dependence
 Reducing food and energy insecurity and poverty
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 Development Challenges
Policies, institutions and capacity
 Addressing the lack of appropriate policies and reforming
inadequate ones
 Addressing the lack of institutions and strengthening the weak ones
 Improving human resource capacity (technical/management/skill)
at all levels
 Ensuring transparency and accountability
Environment and climate change
 Arresting/reversing the declining natural resource base (land, forest
resources, coastal resources, fresh water, biodiversity, etc.)
 Managing natural disasters posing risks of economic losses
 Tackling food insecurity in a sustainable manner

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 Climate Change Threats
 Temperature increase
 Sea surface temperature increase
 Sea level rise
 Increase in cyclone frequency and intensity
 Extreme storms
 Prolonged drought periods
 Changing rainfall patterns
 Storm surge, high/king waves
 Floods
 Ocean acidification

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 Vulnerability of Resources and People
 Damage to coastal resources (including mangroves and
coral reefs) threatens homes and livelihoods.
 Soil erosion taking agricultural base
 Salt water intrusion causes soil salinity, destroys
standing crops and reduces fresh water supply.
 Reduced crop yield reduces income and food security.
 Increased outbreak of diseases
 Death and destruction from cyclones
 Forced migration
 Vulnerability of poor urban slum dwellers

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Poverty , Environment and Climate Change
Nexus in the Pacific
Climate change

Environment

Poverty
(Food Security)

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 Poverty Highlights of the Pacific
 On average, approximately 25% of Pacific households and almost
30% of the population are living in a state of basic needs poverty.
 Approximately 7% of households and 10% of the population are
food poor; country range is 0 – 12% (Kiribati and Fiji).
 Limited evidence shows increased poverty in some (e.g., FSM, PNG
and Samoa) and improvement in others (Tuvalu) between pre-2000
and around 2008.
 Poverty is higher in rural than in urban areas.
 PNG levels of basic needs and food poverty are higher than the
regional average.
 Children especially of poor households are particularly vulnerable.

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 Why Poverty in the Pacific
 Poverty in the Pacific is the outcome of a set of
complex economic and social processes which require
process interventions
• Depletion of resources
• Declining access to opportunities
• Slow income growth and worsening distribution
• Damaging consequences of environmental degradation
and climate change
• Weakening traditional social values, safety nets and
harmony

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The Case of Solomon Islands

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 Profile of the Solomon Islands
Profile of Solomon Islands
Population (mid 2010 estimate) 549,574
Population growth rate 2009 (%) 2.9
% urban population (2008) 17.9
Current GDP at PPP $ million (2008) 1,105
GNI Per Capita Current $ 2008 1,010
Land Area (km2) 30,407
2
EEZ Area (km ) 1,340,000
scattered archipelago of mountainous islands
Terrain and coral atolls
agriculture: 8.9% industry: 13.5% ,
GDP by sector services: 77.6% (2004 est.) 
Labor force by sector agriculture 70% industry and services 30%
Resources Timber, fish, copra, palm oil, cocoa
Human Development Index (1998) 0.371
Human Development Index (2008) 0.587
Human Poverty Indicator (1998) 49.1
Human Poverty Indicator (2008) 31.3
Growth Rate of GDP (% pa) 2004 8.0
Growth Rate of GDP (% pa) 2009 0.0
Source: Adapted from 2010 Pacific Regional MDG Tracking Report, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
ADB. 2010. ADO 2010 . Manila.

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 Climate change threats to the poor
communities of the Solomon Islands
 Temperature increase
 Honiara: max temp (trend) 0.02°C/decade;
Auki max: temp (trend) 0.03°C/decade
 Sea level rise - 0.7mm/yr since 1994
 Increase in cyclone frequency and intensity
 Changing rainfall patterns and amounts
 Honiara: rainfall (linear trend) -0.26mm/decade;
Auki rainfall (linear trend) - 0.56mm/decade
 Storm surge, high/king waves due to sea level rise
 Floods

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 Vulnerability of resources and people in small
communities of the Solomon Islands
 Sea level rise is already causing coastal erosion and significant
damage to rural infrastructures including wharves and roads,
threatening livelihoods.
 Coral bleaching in some parts of Solomon Islands
 Saltwater intrusion, as a result of King Tides, is affecting food
security and groundwater resources.
 Heavier, more frequent rains and less predictable rainfall
patterns have caused flash floods, drought and crop failures.
 Commercial logging of lowland rainforest is depleting carbon
stocks and destroying biodiversity.
 More frequent and intense cyclones and storm surges, and
erosion and landslides are undermining agricultural systems and
compounding poverty.
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 Poverty Highlights
 The capital Honiara shows the highest incidence of
poverty.
 Poverty rates are also high in Choiseul, Malaita, Makira
and Temotu provinces.
 The poor are often located in illegal settlements
(squatters) and remote parts of rural areas.
 Income inequality in urban and rural areas are closely
similar.
 Poor households are often headed by single women, the
handicapped, and the elderly -- all lacking support and
income.

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 Pro-poor Climate Change
Adaptation Planning Framework

Preparing for action

Adaptation Planning Framework for Small
Island Communities

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Strategic framework for climate resilient investment and
capacity building in small island communities

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