Accessing Climate Adaptation Finance in the Pacific Island Countries: A Case Study of the Fiji Islands

Abstract

Accessing Climate Finance in the Pacific Island Countries: A Case Study of the Fiji Islands

Jihyea Kim Department of Environmental Planning Graduate School of Environmental Studies Seoul National University

The Paris Agreement made at the 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal that set the stage for a new era of enhanced climate finance for developing countries. Reaffirming the commitment of developed countries to mobilize 100 billion USD a year by 2020, the agreement stressed the equal importance of adaptation finance alongside mitigation finance and called for UNFCCC climate funds to balance their allocation and distribution of climate finance. Within this framework, climate adaptation finance was emphasized as an important source of finance for the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) – islands that bear little responsibility for climate change but are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Funding has been made available for the region

however, access to these funds has not been an easy task for the PICs and the gap between the inflow of funds and the actual needed amount is increasing.

This study uses the case study of Fiji to understand the system of climate adaptation finance in the PICs, the challenges that hinder them from accessing the needed amounts of finance, and the opportunities that lie ahead. The study is a qualitative exploratory study in that it seeks to determine the nature of the research issue on which little or no previous research has been done. Literature reviews, site visits and interviews are used as a means of exploring the research objectives and collecting initial information and data needed to answer the research questions.

The results of this study are divided into two parts. First, the three key elements of the climate finance system are financial flow, actor groups and modes of access. The current climate adaptation finance system in Fiji is consists of two types of flow- bilateral and multilateral

four main actor groups- donors, finance institutions, implementing entities, and recipient government

and two modes of access- direct and indirect. Differing combinations of these three elements create diverse structures of climate adaptation finance. Second, the three main challenges of accessing climate adaptation finance are: national capacity constraints that limit access

complex, long and different processes for access

and the potential adverse effects of direct access accreditation on national systems. The three main opportunities for future access are: increased attention to national institutional strengthening and capacity building

streamlined processes for accreditation and project approval for PICs

and regional information sharing and networking. The findings of this exploratory case study of Fiji serve as a broad reflection of the reality of accessing climate adaptation finance in the PICs and provide a basis for future research on climate adaptation finance in the Pacific region.

Keywords: Climate Change Adaptation, Adaptation Finance, Accessing Adaptation Finance, Fiji, Pacific Island Countries Student Number: 2014-24025