Global Climate Change Alliance Plus – Scaling-up Pacific Adaptation (GCCA+ SUPA)

Summary

The Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+) Scaling up Pacific Adaptation (SUPA) is implemented under the European Union Global Public Goods and Challenges flagship and financed from the general budget of the European Union. The initiative is about building sector resilience based on lessons from past actions whilst also enhancing the resilience capacity of sub-national governments and other stakeholders.

Climate change and natural disasters are two of the greatest challenges undermining the ability of all countries, in particular Pacific countries, to achieve sustainable development and reduce poverty. The Global Climate Change Alliance Plus – Scaling-up Pacific Adaptation (GCCA+ SUPA) action falls under the GCCA+ flagship initiative and will support the three priorities[1] of the GCCA+ and target countries where prior GCCA actions have been successfully implemented in small Pacific island countries.

The project will be implemented in ten countries (Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu) using a sector-based approach, and wherever possible focused on outer island communities, and implemented with a gender-sensitive and rights-based approach. This group of countries (with the exceptions of Tonga and Fiji) forms a specific group known as the Pacific Smaller Island States (Pacific SIS) established in 2005 at the Pacific Islands Forum Meeting, to recognise the special needs of smaller island states given their limited capacity, fragile and vulnerable environments. These eight countries, together with Tonga and Fiji, have voiced their concern on numerous occasions that climate change remains the single most important priority for their countries.

GCCA+ SUPA focuses on building sector resilience, based on lessons learnt from past actions, whilst enhancing the resilience capacity of sub-national governments and other stakeholders. The Action’s overall objective is to enhance climate change adaptation and resilience within ten Pacific island countries. The specific objective is to strengthen the implementation of sector-based, but integrated, climate change and disaster risk management strategies and plans. The overall amount of the Action covered by this co-delegation agreement is EUR 12.9 million.

The three outputs of GCCA+ SUPA are: 1. Climate and disaster risk information, knowledge management, monitoring and strategic planning capacities strengthened at national and regional levels; 2 Planning and decision-making capacities to address climate change and disaster risks at sub-national and community level strengthened, applying participatory, gender-sensitive and rights-based approaches; 3 Strategic and local interventions for climate change adaptation and mainstreaming scaled up in up to five sectors.

This action will be implemented in indirect management with the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). This implementation entails a co-delegation agreement with SPC as lead and coordinating organisation and SPREP as co-delegate. A separate Grant Agreement for an additional Euros 2.1 million will be signed between the European Commission and the University of the South Pacific (USP). Within a framework of close collaboration, each of the three regional implementing organizations has responsibility for delivery of a specific output: Output 1 – SPREP; Output 2 – USP; and Output 3 – SPC.

The Action contributes to the implementation of the 2017-2030 Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (endorsed by Pacific leaders in 2016)[2], as well as the Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change[3] and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030)[4].