Latest additions to the knowledge base

Earlier this year, a first logistics training was organised between the Tokelau National Disaster Management Unit and Samoa Red Cross. The training brought together committees, government and community members to learn more about the role of logistics in emergency preparedness and response.

New Zealand is working on a weather station to help the island state of Tokelau build its knowledge of and resilience to climate change by having better access to forecasts and record changes. Reliable information on the localised impact of climate change will allow Tokelau to evaluate risks and prioritise work to mitigate them.

An international initiative to improve early warning systems against extreme weather and support climate change adaptation is gaining momentum to protect more people in more places. Financing has been extended to cover the Caribbean and West African regions. The initiative is improving early warning systems to protect the most vulnerable populations in LDCs and SIDS.

The Atoll Water Security Workshop had participants from the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Tokelau, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati discussing water security challenges and some of the solutions that are already being applied at national and community level. Sub-regional collaboration in tackling common challenges is highlighted as valuable, and can help dealing with drought.

Uncertainty about future climate creates challenges in both adaptation planning and evaluation. Defining and determining success in adaptation therefore can be difficult. This publication, however, does not attempt to address all of the issues and

Building local disaster resilience is a matter of survival for the people of Tokelau, whose sole link to the rest of the world is a fortnightly boat service that takes 24 hours to their nearest neighbor, Samoa.

The small islands of the Pacific continue to lead the world in efforts to unite climate change and disaster risk reduction initiatives under one development agenda. “Sustainable development for us is a matter of national security,” said Mr David Sheppard, the Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), before a packed forum entitled ‘Meeting the sustainability challenge in the post-2015 era: A vision for resilient nations, large and small’. “We are working to protect people and the environment and that means we have to support livelihoods in a way that reinforces sustainable development and builds on the rich tradition of human settlement in the Pacific. There are many examples of Pacific solutions being tailored for Pacific problems.”

This paper reviews 19 laws and policy documents from 15 Pacific countries and territories. Drawing on evidence from these documents, this paper analyses how: (i) Pacific Island countries and territories identify their risks and vulnerabilities to natural