CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION IN VANUATU

Approach to Climate ChangeVanuatu ratified the UNFCCC in 1993 and the Kyoto Protocol (as a non-Annex I country) in 2001. It made its first national communication to the UNFCCC in October 1999 and the country’s Climate Change Office within the Vanuatu Meteorological Service has participated in workshops to prepare its second national communication. A National Action Plan on Adaptation was submitted in 2007. Vanuatu is a member of the Alliance of Small Island States. The United Nations Population Fund classes Vanuatu as one of the nations most vulnerable to natural hazards and says it faces significant hurdles because it is trying to eradicate widespread poverty at the same time as addressing climate change.Particular areas of potential impact from climate change include agriculture, water, coastal and marine resources, infrastructure and tourism. Numerous documents have been published that aim to help Vanuatu prepare for potential climate change impacts. A National Adaptation Programme for Action (NAPA) was published in June 2007, and in 2006, a Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management National Action Plan 2006- 2016, and a Priorities and Action Agenda 2006-2015 were released. The government published a draft National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Land-Based Resources (2012-2022) in July