Climate Change Adaptation Programmes on Water Security in the Pacific: A focus on the Solomon Islands

Abstract

Not all basic water sources are readily available and accessible to most Pacific Island Countries (PICs). The limited drinking water sources such as rainwater, surface water, groundwater, desalinated water and imported water are extremely vulnerable due to the demand of increasing populations for food production, limited financial and technical capacities to manage water resources and natural and anthropogenic disasters. Unless effective and sustainable Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) measures are implemented, climate change will exacerbate the existing development issues by increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme events such tropical cyclones, drought, heavy rainfall that leads to flooding and damage to water infrastructures. Such events will further increase the cost of ensuring water security in most PICs. CCA programmes emerged and have been implemented in PICs by international and regional organisations such as the Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Programme (PICCAP) since 1997. In the context of the Solomon Islands, the CCA programme on water security is channelled through the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA). Despite such interventions, the relation between the objectives of NAPA and the water sector is not clearly defined. There is no specific aim to operationalise those objectives. Furthermore, since the Solomon Islands is a Least Developed Country (LDC), it is more difficult to implement CCA policies given the country is struggling to address current development issues. This paper seeks to evaluate CCA programmes on water security in PICs with a focus on the Solomon Islands. Information was gathered through desktop reviews of existing literature.