Vanuatu Marine Ecosystem Service Valuation SUMMARY & Final report

This study,conducted in 2015, aimed to determine the economic value of seven marine and coastal ecosystem services in Vanuatu. The study forms part of the broader MACBIO project (Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Management in Pacific Island Countries and Atolls) that aims to strengthen the management of marine and coastal biodiversity in Pacific island countries.

This report uses these generic methods to provide recommendations for climate resilient development in the PICs in the following sectors: coastal protection, flood management, water resources management, protection of infrastructure against changes in temperature and precipitations, protection of buildings against cyclone winds, and adaptation in the agriculture sector.

Le changement climatique est l'un des sujets dont on parle le plus dans le monde parce  qu'll affecte le quotidien de tous les habitants de la planete, y compris ceux qui vivent dans les iles du pacifique. Les scientifiques disent que lechangement climatique pourrait rendre les saisons chaudes plus longues et amener beacoup de pluies durant la saison humide.

The Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning (PACCSAP) Program aims to develop the capacity of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to manage climate risks. Ultimately climate change adaptation involves the management of identified climate change risks. This project is a component of PACCSAP, and aims to increase the capacity of decision makers in PICs to make informed decisions on climate change adaptation using CBA. By investigating two case studies this PACCSAP project has tested the application of CBA for managing climate risks in the Pacific.

The devastating impacts of climate change are already being felt around the globe, threatening sustainable development and resilience, impairing socioeconomic development and reinforcing cycles of poverty. Scientists are increasingly able to confidently attribute the increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events – such as droughts, heatwaves, floods and cyclones – to human-induced climate change. 

Tropical Cyclone (TC) Pam was one of the worst
natural disasters in the history of Vanuatu. The
country suffered loss and damage to an extent
that vastly overwhelmed its own capacities. A
strong El Niño, in the months following the cyclone, acted
as additional multiplier for existing development problems,
especially with regard to water and food security
in rural areas. In many ways, the cyclone and its impacts
reflect political, conceptual and operational challenges
that lie at the heart of the current debate on loss and

Pacific Tool for Resilience 

PARTneR will enable Pacific government Ministries and stakeholder organisation to effectively developed and used risk-based information to support development decision making on DRR & DRM

PARTneR will tailor RiskScape, a disaster impact mapping and modelling software developed jointly with New Zealand NIWA and GNS science. 

Republic of Vanuatu’s First Biennial Transparency Report (FBTR)

Under the Vanuatu’s First Biennial Transparency Report to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Submitted by: Ministry of Climate Change, Republic of Vanuatu

Executive summary

First state-of-the-art quantitative and probabilistic assessment of major perils in the Pacific

• Covering entire landmass of 15 island countries 
• Regional exposure database; – one of the largest and most comprehensive globally
• Analysis of fiscal risk exposure based on country risk profiles
• Disaster risk financing solutions
• Open access to risk information

Executive Summary

This paper sets out a framework for ‘Risk Governance’ to help practitioners mainstream climate and disaster risk1 into development decision making in the Pacific. It is based largely on the experiences of testing this framework in the Pacific via the Pacific Risk Resilience Programme (PRRP). It aims to:

i) articulate the rationale for strengthening risk governance as the foundation for transformational and therefore more sustained risk mainstreaming;

ii) draw upon lessons and challenges from mainstreaming other cross-cutting issues;

As part of the preparedness towards any forthcoming disasters and continuous monitoring of the agricultural sector, the RRU in collaboration with FAO and DARD have established an early warning early action system that is run by the Risk and Resilience Unit (RRU) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB) to the agricultural extension officers. The department of agriculture has a total of 45 extension officers that are based on all of the 6 provinces covering almost all the area councils of every island.

A national debriefing workshop to identify lessons learned following Tropical Cyclone Pam (TC Pam) was facilitatedby the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) with support from the Pacific Community (SPC) and

The FRDP identifies three inter-related goals that need to be actively pursued by all stakeholders, working in partnership, in order to enhance resilience to disasters and climate change in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.

The Forty-Seventh Pacific Islands Forum was held in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia from 8 – 10 September 2016 and was attended by Heads of State and Government of Australia, the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The Solomon Islands was represented by their Deputy Prime Minister, the Republic of Fiji, Niue and the Republic of Palau by their Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Kiribati by a Special Envoy.

The annual cyclone season for the Republic of Vanuatu commences in November and extends to the end of April the following year. While cyclones can develop outside of this period, their cyclical nature increases the predictability of such occurrences and thus enables pre-planned measures to be formulated beforehand and community preparedness programmes to be put in place and promulgated.

This Urban Risk Management Strategy (the URMS or the Strategy) provides a response to the hazards,  risks and urban growth trends identified for Vanuatu’s two urban areas, the greater Port Vila Urban Area and Luganville. It is Stage 3 of the Risk Mapping and Planning for Urban Preparedness Project (the Project) being undertaken by the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department (VMGD) as part of the broader Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction Project.

Following TC Pam NDMO recognised the need for enhanced community based disaster risk management responses. As such over the last year NDMO has been working with its key in country partners to review, revise and update certain processes and tools. One of those DRM processes and tools is the community based disaster assessment process.

As of the 2009 Census, the total population on the island of Santo was 39,606 people. Santo is the second highest populated island in Vanuatu, second only to Efate. Luganville, with a population of 13,167 is the second largest town in Vanuatu and is located on the southern coast of the island, approximately a 1.5 hour drive from the project site. According to the 2009 Census, the annual population growth rate for Santo is 2.4%.

It is a plan that details the prevention, preparedness, response and recovery arrangements in the event of a cyclone impacting on the Republic of Vanuatu. This plan clearly states out the guidelines and information to all responding agencies on what needs to be done in coordinated planning during a cyclone in line with the National Disaster Management Act NO 31 of 2000 and the Disaster Risk Management National Action Plan 2006-2016.