Page 28 - IB MAY 2017

Climate Change
Installation of early war ning system in Tuvalu

by Larry Thomas

CLIMATE change has become a global
phenomenon impacting the whole world.
There are cynics who say that there is no
such thing as climate change believing
that climate is just a natural procession
of evolution, a natural procession of
change. There are those who believe
that all of these natural catastrophes
and disasters is God’s way of punishing
humans for their immoral and depraved
way of living and predict that the end of
time is closing in on us.
Then there are those who see the
changes in weather patterns comparing
the present with the past seeing phe-
nomenal differences exacerbated by the
constant barrage of natural disasters the
world over. More often than not these are
people at the brunt of it all, experiencing
these extreme weather changes.
Some of these people are inhabitants of Tuvalu’s vulnerability to the ocean that aurrounds it and the effects of climate change puts its citizens on full-time alert. Photos: Supplied
small islands states and right here in the is no air service between the islands. The Development Program (UNDP) as the im-
Pacific quite a number of these islands only means of transport is through the plementing agency working closely with
have become quite vulnerable to the im- Government’s inter-island ferries. These the Tuvalu Department of Environment.
pacts of climate change. It is not unusual have critical implications especially for Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga says
for elders to tell you that 10 years ago the communications in the event of disaster that, “NAPA 2 is by no means the end,
coastline was ‘down there’ now it is ‘up and early response, after disaster. The it is simply a more elaborated adapta-
here’ it has shifted. And they point out current communication system is not tion programme for Tuvalu. We will
that fishing, is just not how it used to be quite adequate as “sometimes we have be mainstreaming adaptation into our
the. Nowadays they have to know where trouble with our broadcasting network national sustainable development strate-
it will ‘catch’ or go farther out to sea get when there is heavy rain and especially gies so NAPA 2 is a big component, and
a decent catch. during the hurricane season. Telecom- an important step towards and overall
One of these small island states is munication can also stop now and then long term adaptation plan”. Achieving
Tuvalu, one of the smallest countries in and contact with the outer island becomes the mitigation targets under the Paris
the world with a population of a approxi- a problem”, according to Moe Saitala, agreement is another point raised by
mately 12,000 living on low lying coral acting Director of Environment Sopoaga. “We appreciate the support
atoll islands that are only around three In 2007 island leaders in Tuvalu from the global community, funding and
meters above sea level. There are nine is- gathered to discuss plans of action they technical assistance but at the same time
lands including Funafuti the capital atoll. wanted to see for the immediate future. we must make sure the world also cuts
Funafuti is the only island connected by The National Adaptation Programme of down greenhouse gas emissions. The less
air transport to another country, Fiji, with Actions or NAPA was conceived and ac- we mitigate, the more we have to adapt”.
two flights per week. cording to Soseala Tinilau, NAPA 2 Proj- The project is the first of its kind for
Tuvalu is one of the most vulnerable ect Coordinator, ‘the leaders came up with Tuvalu with NAPA 2 divided into three
countries in the world to feel the effects of seven projects they wanted to implement. components. The first looks at building
climate change. Its atolls are exposed to First there was NAPA 1 which took care resilience in marine based livelihoods,
the extreme severity of cyclones, increas- of the coastal protection, water security the second on disaster risk prepared-
ing ocean temperatures and ocean acidifi- and the food security. With NAPA 2 the ness while the third component focuses
cation. Having experienced the effects of focus was on marine based livelihoods, on ‘integrating locally-specific climate
several cyclones in the past with Tropical disaster preparedness, and the strength- change concerns into existing outer
Cyclone Pam being the most recent there ening of the island Kaupules (local island islands Strategic Plans’ working closely
is a heightened alertness throughout the councils) and also the integration of with the island Kaupules.
islands to always be prepared! climate risks into island strategic plans’. The installation of the Early Warning
The remoteness of Tuvalu is com- Funding for the NAPA 2 project has System (EWS) falls under the second
pounded with the distances between the come from the Global Environment component ‘disaster risk preparedness’
capital atoll and the outer islands. There Facility (GEF) with the United Nations and looks at improving the early warning

28 Islands Business, May 2017