WEATHERING THE STORM (2024)
This latest report on the relationship between and debt and climate change in the Pacific is called 'Weathering the Storm: Addressing Debt and Climate Vulnerability in the Pacific'. Released to coincide with COP29 in November 2024, it follows our first investigation into the issue, the 2022 report 'Twin Clouds on the Horizon.'
'Weathering the Storm' is a deep investigation into the nexus between achieving sustainable development and climate resilience. Severe weather events including cyclones like the one that hit southern Queensland and Northern NSW, often hit our Pacific neighbours. The damage they cause can cost millions to clean up. In the long run, money is also needed to build the physical and social infrastructure for Pacific nations to survive short term severe weather impacts, as well as insidious long-term climate impacts such as sea level rise and the decline of ocean ecosystems.
'Weathering the Storm', published with Caritas Australia and Caritas Oceania, investigates this issue by examining the debt situation of seven case study countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
The report finds that the gap between what is needed to finance climate resilience and what is currently being proposed not only increases Pacific nationsā€™ climate risks, but it also places them at greater debt risks. The report found that if the Pacific cannot rely on the international community to meet their needs for climate resilience, they will likely be forced to finance it through their own borrowing; it is this new borrowing that will drive up debt levels to an alarming extent.
The report also looks at other vulnerabilities that the debt problem could exacerbate, such as natural resource extraction/depletion and the reliance on seasonal migration schemes.
Donor countries such as Australia need to take the debt and climate nexus seriously. There is a USD one billion annual shortfall between what is needed to make Pacific nations climate resilient and what is currently being provided. Australia must set an example by giving more loan-free climate finance and also play its part in advocating for more just and equitable resolution mechanisms to sovereign debt crises.
'Weathering the Storm' is a deep investigation into the nexus between achieving sustainable development and climate resilience. Severe weather events including cyclones like the one that hit southern Queensland and Northern NSW, often hit our Pacific neighbours. The damage they cause can cost millions to clean up. In the long run, money is also needed to build the physical and social infrastructure for Pacific nations to survive short term severe weather impacts, as well as insidious long-term climate impacts such as sea level rise and the decline of ocean ecosystems.
'Weathering the Storm', published with Caritas Australia and Caritas Oceania, investigates this issue by examining the debt situation of seven case study countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
The report finds that the gap between what is needed to finance climate resilience and what is currently being proposed not only increases Pacific nationsā€™ climate risks, but it also places them at greater debt risks. The report found that if the Pacific cannot rely on the international community to meet their needs for climate resilience, they will likely be forced to finance it through their own borrowing; it is this new borrowing that will drive up debt levels to an alarming extent.
The report also looks at other vulnerabilities that the debt problem could exacerbate, such as natural resource extraction/depletion and the reliance on seasonal migration schemes.
Donor countries such as Australia need to take the debt and climate nexus seriously. There is a USD one billion annual shortfall between what is needed to make Pacific nations climate resilient and what is currently being provided. Australia must set an example by giving more loan-free climate finance and also play its part in advocating for more just and equitable resolution mechanisms to sovereign debt crises.