ACCESSING CLIMATE ADAPTATION FINANCE IN THE PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES: CASE STUDY OF FIJI

Background: Under the Copenhagen Agreement, developed countries agreed to mobilize 100 billion USD a year by 2020 to fill mitigation and adaptation gaps in developing countries. Within this framework, climate adaptation finance was emphasized as an important source of finance for the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) – islands that bear little responsibility for climate change but are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Funding has been made available for the region; however, access to these funds has not been an easy task for the PICs and the gap between the inflow of funds and the actual needed amount is increasing. This study uses the case study of Fiji to understand the system of climate adaptation finance in the PICs, the challenges that hinder them from accessing the needed amounts of finance, and the opportunities that lie ahead. Methodological Framework: This study is a qualitative study that utilizes literature reviews, site visits and interviews to provide a comprehensive diagram of the climate adaptation finance system in Fiji and to identify challenges and opportunities in accessing climate adaptation finance. The key elements of the climate adaptation finance system include: actor groups, flows of finance and modes of access. The framework used for identifying challenges and opportunities of accessing climate adaptation finance was derived from various academic literature and restructured by the researcher. Results: The results of this study are divided into three parts. First, the current climate adaptation finance system in Fiji is composed of four main actor groups- donors, finance institutions, implementing entities, and recipient government; two flows of finance- bilateral and multilateral; and two modes of access- direct and indirect. Differing combinations of these three elements create diverse structures of climate adaptation finance. Second, the three main challenges of accessing climate adaptation finance are: difficulty in developing projects due to national capacity constraints; complex, long and different processes for accreditation and project approval; and the adverse effects of direct access accreditation on national systems. Third, the three main opportunities for future access are: streamlined processes for accreditation and project approval for PICs; increased attention to national institutional strengthening and capacity building; and regional information sharing and networking. Conclusion: This study portrays the complexity of the climate adaptation finance system in Fiji, identifies the challenges of accessing finance and suggests opportunities that could improve future access of climate adaptation finance in the Pacific region. The findings of this case study of Fiji serve as a broad reflection of the reality of accessing climate adaptation finance in the PICs and provide a basis for future research on climate adaptation finance in the Pacific region.