http://www.islandsbusiness.com/news/fiji/4007/assisting-small-island-states-in-the-pacific-to-ac/

International climate finance is an important consideration for small island states aiming to respond to climate change through mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the observed and anticipated negative effects of climate change. An important criterion for accessing certain kinds of climate finance is the level of 'mainstreaming' of climate change in national planning.

Mainstreaming, in this context, refers to the process of assessing and integrating the implications of climate change across the spectrum of government ministries, policies, programmes and budgets. It is intended to provide direction to actors whose main task may not be directly concerned with climate change adaptation and mitigation, so that they contribute to the achievement of national climate change goals. Mainstreaming climate change through the public sector improves the credentials of governments seeking international climate finance.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has assisted nine countries to make better sense of their climate change mainstreaming efforts. Two collaborating teams of consultants were engaged over a period of several months to review the state of climate change mainstreaming across national and sector policies, plans and budgets in each country.

The reviews were funded by the European Union through the SPC-implemented Global Climate Change Alliance: Pacific Small Island States (GCCA: PSIS) project. They are accessible on the SPC website through the GCCA: PSIS page http://www.spc.int/en/our-work/climate-change/gcca.html and via the following shortened hyperlinks.

Cook Islands - bit.ly/19d4xFc

Federated States of Micronesia - bit.ly/IYJtI7

Kiribati - bit.ly/IMvPrb

Marshall Islands - bit.ly/1diK550

Nauru - bit.ly/1e1DBfn

Niue - bit.ly/1bsSPpA

Palau - bit.ly/1brB3Q7

Tonga - bit.ly/18xeYmd

Tuvalu - bit.ly/1cwXjg1

Each review explores national climate change objectives, the coordination and linkages between policies and plans, and the institutional arrangements and financial and budgetary processes supporting climate change policies. The reviews, based on publicly available reports and information, provide findings and makes specific recommendations to assist these countries in the consideration of climate-related risks and responses in national development planning.