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The Regional Pacific Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Hub’s “Strategy 2030” was officially launched today by the Prime Minister and Chair of the Pacific Small Island Developing States, Hon. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama.
The “Strategy 2030” has been developed at the request of the Pacific island countries, presenting a pathway for partner countries to ensure smooth implementation of their NDCs.
Speaking at this program, Prime Minister Bainimarama said the document is a key influencer for the shared prosperity and security of Blue Pacific, mirroring the Paris Agreement processes and aligning with the sustainable development agendas of the Pacific island countries.
“Fiji is honoured to host the Pacific NDC Hub on behalf of all our neighbours. The NDC Hub is a major collective effort. It reflects the common challenges and the common aspirations of the Pacific peoples. It helps us share our accumulated wisdom and experience. It helps us take our future into our own hands in the face of the most serious challenge the world faces today. It is one more thing that unites us and gives us a voice and a message to the rest of the world.
“That message is that we Pacific people will not wait for events to control us. We welcome solutions from everywhere, but will not wait for others to come up with them. We have ingenuity and experience and research and scientific knowledge to bring to the table for our own benefit,” PM Bainimarama said.
Prime Minister Bainimarama thanked the Governments of Germany, Australia, New Zealand and the UK for providing seed funding for this regional initiative, whist also recognising the founding partners of the Pacific NDC Hub, including the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), the Pacific Community, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, the Global Green Growth Institute, the United Nations Development Programme and the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Speaking at this occasion, the Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency John Feakes acknowledged Prime Minister Bainimarama for his vision and drive to realise the Regional Pacific NDC Hub.
“This is just one element of Pacific leadership on climate change in action. The NDC Hub is ‘made for the Pacific, by the Pacific’. And indeed the NDC hub has been conceived, developed and continues to be led by its Pacific Island members, to support the Pacific’s leadership and action on climate change under the Paris Agreement.”
High Commissioner Feakes said that Australia stands with the Pacific island neighbours to tackle the challenges of climate change.
“Key to our partnership in the Pacific is support to dedicated regional organisations and resilience initiatives – such as the Pacific Regional NDC Hub. So I am pleased to announce that Australia will provide a further AUD$500,000 (around FJD 786,000) to the NDC Hub for its second phase. This will support implementation of the hub’s vision for Pacific Island Countries –sustainability, low-carbon growth and development and climate resilience.”
Reaffirming New Zealand’s commitment to tackling climate change, the Deputy High Commissioner of New Zealand, Ms. Michelle Podmore said, “Climate change is an existential crisis for communities in the Pacific, who wish to defend their homes and livelihoods against the impacts of climate change. Here in Fiji, the major cyclones that we have experienced in the last year are one example of the multiple threats facing Pacific countries. Other countries in our region are currently experiencing water stress from lack of rainfall, or battling the increasing tides as they come further and further inland.
“Climate change targets, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are at the heart of turning this picture around. NDCs are how countries make the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and its objective of keeping global warming at safe levels, a reality,” Ms. Podmore said.
The NDC Hub was officially launched by the Fijian Prime Minister and COP23 President Hon. Voreqe Bainimarama in 2017 in Bonn, Germany. The Pacific NDC Hub works with its 14 Pacific member countries and these are: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are national climate change action plans, which highlight country’s climate actions on climate change mitigation and adaptation and are communicated through climate targets, policies, and projects. As a signatory to the Paris Agreement, countries are required to prepare and communicate successive NDCs in accordance with the ambition mechanism of the Paris Agreement. These plans are submitted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, typically in five or ten year periods.
