MECDM in collaboration with MPGIS concluded one day workshop on Provincial Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment and Provincial Climate Change Strategies

Ministry of Environment Climate Change Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) in collaboration with Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS) concluded one day workshop on Provincial Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment and Provincial Climate Change Strategies at the Heritage Park Hotel yesterday.

The workshop aims to validate the approach to development of Provincial Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment (CVRAs) for Solomon Islands.

Speaking during the workshop on behave of the Supervising Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) Director National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) under MECDM Mr. Jonathan Tafiariki stated The Ministry has a clear mission: to strengthen the resilience of our nation and our people, and to support every Solomon Islander to adapt to these unprecedented changes.

“Central to this mission, is the health and productivity of our environment and the communities that rely on it. Healthy ecosystems regulate our climate, protect our shorelines and sustain livelihoods, from fishing and farming to tourism and local crafts”.

Director Tafiariki also said the development of the CVRAs and corresponding Provincial Climate Change Adaptation Strategies will be essential tools for communities and governments to move toward these goals:

Our National Climate Change Policy recognise climate change as the defining challenge for Solomon Islands and the Pacific

• At the national level, we are preparing a Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment and Adaptation Plan to identify sectoral priorities.
• At the provincial level, MECDM’s Climate Change and Risk Reduction Officers are embedded in all provinces to support the development of CVRAs and adaptation strategies.
• At the community level, we are rolling out the Solomon Islands Integrated Vulnerability Assessments, or SIIVAs.These combine local Knowledge with scientific data to assess impacts on water, agriculture, food security, and coastal infrastructure – ensuring solutions are practical, community-led, and context-specific.

“Through these connected processes, we are ensuring that climate adaptation is not just a plan on paper, but a living process embedded in provincial development and national decision-making”. Tafiariki add.

He also stated climate change is a crisis that well define our generation. For Solomon Islands, it is an everyday emergency-threatening our land, our livelihoods, and even our survival as a nation. That is why today’s validation workshop is so important. It is about ensuring that our CVRAs and PCCAS are credible, inclusive and actionable.

In his final remakes Mr. Tafiariki wishes to acknowledge the Government of New Zealand and the European Union (EU) for their support in initiating the so-called LoCAL program under UNCDF through MPGIS in collaboration with Climate Change Division under the Ministry of Environment in addressing Climate Change issues to the grassroot level in the Solomon Islands.

Director Tafiariki also thank every individual participant who have availing their time in attending the program. Through this work-together with the National Adaptation Plan and community-level assessments-we will be able to direct resources where they matter most, and ensure that adaptation is not just discussed, but delivered for our people and communities.

Climate Change is not a distant problem_ it is here, it is real and it is the single most urgent threat to our future. It is reshaping our daily lives: from shifting rainfall and rising sea levels, to stronger cyclones, saltwater intrusion, food security and health risk. No province, no community, is immune.

The attendee of the workshop was the Minister for MPGIS with his PS and staffs, New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, MECDM staffs, Women and Youth, NGOs, Private Sectors and other line ministries representatives.

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