The Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS) hosted a workshop early this week to launch the development of Provincial Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessments (CVRAs) and Provincial Climate Change Adaptation Strategies.
This work aims to empower local communities to lead the way in building resilience to climate change.
This initiative is delivered under the Local Climate Adaptive Living (LoCAL) Facility in Solomon Islands, with support from the Government of New Zealand of SBD 73 million and the European Union of SBD 53.5 million.
With this support, LoCAL will deploy approximately SBD 55 million for four cycles of performance-based payments to finance climate adaptation projects identified by communities and provincial governments. This locally-led approach will ensure that resources are directed to where they are needed most.
LoCAL builds on the highly successful Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) under the Provincial Governance Strengthening Programme (PGSP). The PCDF has been implementing performance-based grants for over 15 years, delivering over 1,683 projects and creating over 11,000 jobs nationwide. In financial year 2024-25 alone, over SBD 63 million was allocated to provincial governments, with SBD 30 million contributed by the Solomon Islands Government.
In opening the workshop, Minister for MPGIS, Hon. Wayne Ghemu, highlighted the results of the PCDF, and the relevance of this work to its continuing success “These achievements reflect our unwavering commitment to empowering provincial governments and communities to address climate challenges. Through partnerships with LoCAL, working alongside other partners including the World Bank and UNDP, we are integrating climate change adaptation into national systems to build resilience from the ground up.
The Provincial climate vulnerability and risk assessments, and the Provincial climate adaptation strategies that will be developed with input from today’s workshop will play an important role in this process”.
Recognized internationally as a benchmark for climate finance delivery, UNCDF’s Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility currently operates in 38 countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, positively impacting over 18 million lives worldwide.
“The Government of New Zealand is delighted to partner with the Government of Solomon Islands, the European Union, and UNCDF to implement LoCAL and support the development of Provincial-level climate vulnerability risk assessments and climate adaptation strategies. These strategies will ensure local communities in Solomon Islands are equipped to respond effectively to climate change,” stated the New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner Solomon Islands, Rebecca Williams.
This perfectly captured the spirit and objectives of the contribution of the European Union, which was represented at the workshop by Mr. Francesco Ponzoni, Programme Manager, Delegation of the European Union to the Pacific.
Zoe Tate, Technical Specialist with UNCDF noted that “We have high hopes for the Provincial climate risk and vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies. First and foremost, these provide a resource to be used by Provinces to guide long term strategic climate change adaptation planning. More broadly we hope they will be a tool that informs national climate change adaptation planning and all investments made by the Government of Solomon Islands Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF).”
– MGPIS
Photo caption
Participants of the Workshop on Provincial Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment and Provincial Climate Strategies pose for a group photo with the Minister of MPGIS, Hon. Wayne Ghemu outside the Ahara HP Hotel conference room
