Climate Change Planning Technical Assistance in the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States

Deanna Spooner, Whitney Peterson, Meghan Gombos, Wendy Miles, Stanton Enomoto, Meredith Speicher, and Patricia Fifita

Posted on: 10/02/2022 - Updated on: 10/06/2022

Posted by

Wendy Miles

Published

2017-07

Abstract

What are the existing climate-related activities, priorities and institutional frameworks for implementing climate change adaptations within each jurisdiction? At the request of the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), the PICCC was asked to provide technical assistance to CNMI, Guam, American Sāmoa, RMI, FSM, and Palau in understanding and planning for localized impacts of global climate change. OIA requested that the PICCC engage key cross-sector decision makers and stakeholders within CNMI, Guam, American Sāmoa with the objectives to identify and articulate near-term priorities for funding as well as a process for developing long-term climate change adaptation plans. OIA also requested an analysis for all six jurisdictions of their existing climate adaptation policies, laws, and major activities. The desired outcomes of this technical assistance project were to increase each jurisdiction’s capacity to

Understand the complexities of climate change adaptation planning, vulnerability assessments, and climate adaptation plan implementation
Be better prepared to complete a climate change adaptation plan application for funding purposes
Be able to prioritize existing climate change initiatives and plan development activities for funding purposes.

It was envisioned that the project’s final outputs would aid each jurisdiction additionally in identifying critical gaps to be filled by further technical assistance and funding requests to governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Authors on CAKE

Deanna Spooner Meghan Gombos Wendy Miles

Citation

Spooner, D., D. Polhemus, W. Peterson, M. Gombos, W. Miles, S. Enomoto, M. Speicher, and P. Fifita. (2017). Climate Change Adaptation Planning in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands: Assessment of Current Capacity and Recommendations for Future Opportunities (pp. 109). Honolulu, USA: Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative.

View Resource

Download Resource

Organization(s)

Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative

The PICCC provides a range of scientific and technical tools to help managers in Hawai‘i, the Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and other Pacific Island groups make informed decisions for landscape-scale conservation of natural and cultural resources including climate models at the archipelagic and island scales, ecological response models, and implementation and monitoring strategies for island species, resources, and communities.