4. Understanding the Links Between Climate Change and Disaster Management in Pacific Island Countries

Small island developing states (SIDS) are especially vulnerable to problems associated with climate change and, of course, with disasters, for two main reasons: (1) Their geographical location, in regions vulnerable to sea level rises; (2) Their limited capacity to adapt, as a result of constraints in respect of access to financial resources and technologies. This chapter discusses how Pacific Island Countries (PICs) address the challenges of climate change in the Pacific region. It shows some of the empirical evidence available and outlines some of the actions currently being taken on climate change and disaster risk management in the Pacific Island states. Finally, it summarises some of the lessons learned from the Pacific region and lists some of the challenges and measures that need to be implemented in order to achieve a better integration of climate change and disaster management in the Pacific Island Countries. This chapter is partly based on the experiences gained through the “Small Developing Island Renewable Energy Knowledge and Technology Transfer Network (DIREKT)”, which is a cooperation scheme involving universities from Germany, Fiji, Mauritius, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. The aim of this project is to strengthen the science and technology capacity, in the field of renewable energy, of a sample of ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) small island developing states, by means of technology transfer, information exchange and networking. The project is funded by the ACP Science and Technology Programme, an EU programme for cooperation between the European Union and the ACP region.