Progress to date and current activities:

C-CAP mobilized to the region in November 2012, working primarily to establish its headquarters office in Port Moresby, and satellite office in Suva; hire staff; and finalize work plans in consultation with project subcontractor University of the South Pacific, Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PACE-SD) and partners in regional governments. 

After designing a Community Engagement Methodology that encompasses a project introduction, climate change risk mapping and vulnerable infrastructure identification, C-CAP piloted the training in four Papua New Guinea communities and two Fijian villages.  C-CAP is in the process of planning implementation of the methodology in Vanuatu and Samoa, slated for January 2013. 

Over the course of the year, C-CAP plans to work in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu and rehabilitate/build new social, economic, and/or water infrastructure in one province/district and five communities in each country.  At the end of 2013, C-CAP will continue disaster risk reduction and land use planning activities in these communities, and will identify 10-15 additional communities in each country to support.

Background:

Responding to challenges posed by climate change to the development and survival of Pacific Islands, the United States Government has made the Pacific a strategic focus by expanding bilateral and multilateral climate change related assistance to the region. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced at the meeting with Pacific leaders on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September, 2010 that the U.S.  Government intends to catalyse its increasing engagement in the region by addressing adaptation to global climate change. In response, USAID opened a Pacific Islands office at the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on October 5th, 2011. In coordination with development partners, USAID’s climate change program will support Pacific Island nations to reduce long-term impacts associated with climate change and achieve sustainable climate-resilient development, both of which will strengthen U.S. Government objectives by mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. The Coastal Community Adaptation Project (C-CAP) is part of USAID’s support to address climate change in the Pacific.