World Oceans Day: Protecting people from disasters and building climate resilience
Oceans cover 70% of our planet and produce at least 50% of our oxygen. They support millions of species and are the main protein source for over a billion people worldwide. The people of Samoa love and respect the Pacific Ocean, their home: 70 percent live within one kilometer of the coast. But, with water rising and warming and climate disasters accelerating, Samoans know that they must prepare for the ocean to become a deadly force. 80 percent of Samoa’s 403 km coastline is considered sensitive or highly sensitive to erosion, flooding, and landslides. The country is exposed to disasters and extreme climate-related events, such as cyclones, storm surges, and droughts. Samoa stands on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and, according to the World Bank, faces a more than 40% chance of a potentially damaging tsunami in the next 50 years.
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Pilot Project for Climate Resilience (PPCR) and the Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) were created to support developing countries, including Samoa and several Pacific and Caribbean small island states that are highly vulnerable to climate change. PPCR helps strengthen the adaptive capacities and resilience of communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure. In the wake of the pandemic and to support a green and resilient recovery in developing regions, TAF launched a COVID-19 response initiative. With more than 135 projects combined in over 45 countries, PPCR and TAF generate disaster risk management (DRM) co-benefits that are documented in a new report: Strengthening Disaster Risk Management in Climate Resilience Action. The report analyzes connections between the PPCR and TAF portfolios and the Sendai Framework, an international agreement that focuses on preventing the creation of new risk, reducing existing risk
“The study collects, synthesizes, and highlights key results and lessons from CIF experience, and considers how to advance and further strengthen DRM through climate resilience action and as part of a more integrated approach to the world’s complex risk landscape,” explains Loreta Rufo, CIF’s Pilot Program for Climate Resilience Lead. “We must double down on integrated solutions and learn from examples. Among the many diverse experiences, this study identifies salient areas where climate resilience action and DRM are intertwined. For example, we must focus a greater effort on working with, rather than, against nature, with Nature-based Solutions.”
Samoa is a case in point. There, PPCR worked with the World Bank to fund two coral restoration sites at Sala’ilua (Savai’i) and Amaile (Aleipata), and crown-of-thorns starfish eradication in Savai’i. These Nature-based Solutions interventions are expected to help maintain live coral cover and, thus, contribute to coastal structural integrity. Corals will save lives if a major tsunami or cyclone hits these islands: 97% of wave energy is absorbed by a healthy reef. The Samoa program also propped up resilience by promoting high local community ownership and through several integrated and complementary interventions, from ridge to reef. For example, the replanting of 8.9 ha of degraded watershed areas with native species and the conservation and restoration of nearly 15 ha of mangrove reserves, helping to moderate coastal flooding, erosion, and sedimentation, benefited over 10,000 people. Tree planting activities are linked to income generation, ensuring enhanced livelihoods. In turn, this generates more resilience, as part of a virtuous cycle detailed in the report.
Read more about this example and other case studies in Strengthening Disaster Risk Management in Climate Resilience Action.