The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Vanuatu signed the convention on 9 June 1992, and deposited its instrument of ratification on 25 March 1993. The treaty entered into force on 21 March 1994 once 50 Parties had ratified it.
Vanuatu is classified as a non-Annex I party to the convention, which highlights its context as especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and thus have special needs and concerns.
Vanuatu ratified the Kyoto Protocol in July 2001 and the Paris Agreement in September 2016.
The National Advisory Board on Climate Change & Disaster Risk Reduction is mandated by Vanuatu’s Council of Minister’s to oversee and coordinate all of Vanuatu’s engagement with and obligations under the UNFCCC. For this purpose, the NAB Secretariat works together with a specially appointed UNFCCC Taskforce .
In 2012, Vanuatu began to reform its engagement with the UNFCCC, particularly in regards to the composition and capacity of its delegation and transparency of decision-making. For the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19), Vanuatu sent a gender-balanced delegation comprised of government, civil society, and academic delegates who achieved unprecedented success for the nation at the negotiations. The reforms were progressed at COP20 & COP21. The Delegation for 2016’s COP22 will seek to forward Vanuatu’s top priorities around climate finance & loss and damage.
In regards to its UNFCCC obligations, Vanuatu submitted its Initial National Communication (INC) to the UNFCCC in October 1999, and a Second National Communication (SNC) has been finalized in 2016. The Vanuatu National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) was submitted in December 2007. Vanuatu has a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) focused on rural electrification. Vanuatu’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) was submitted in September 2015, and a Nationally Determined Contribution document is forthcoming.
*Vanuatu has not yet completed its First Biennial Update Report (BUR), or its National Adaptation Plan (NAP).
Vanuatu’s political focal point for UNFCCC matters is Mr. Yvon Basil and the technical focal point is Mr. Jesse Benjamin. The National Designated Authority (NDA) for the Green Climate Fund is Mr. Jesse Benjamin. A list of all Vanuatu's focal points are below and thematic focal points can be found here.
Vanuatu is a member of the UNFCCC’s Climate Technology Center & Network (CTCN)
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), The Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol require that developed country Parties (Annex II Parties) shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties in implementing the Convention. To facilitate this, the Convention established a Financial Mechanism to provide funds to developing country Parties.
A Standing Committee on Finance was established under the UNFCCC to assist the COP in meeting objectives of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention. Although not a fund in itself, the Standing Committee on Finance has been tasked with, among other things, preparing a biennial assessment of climate finance flows. The operation of the Financial Mechanism is entrusted to one or more existing international entities. The operation of the Financial Mechanism is partly entrusted to the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Parties decided to designate the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention, in accordance with Article 11 of the Convention. The Financial Mechanism is accountable to the COP, which decides on its climate change policies, programme priorities and eligibility criteria for funding. The Kyoto Protocol also recognizes, under its Article 11, the need for the Financial Mechanism to fund activities by developing country Parties.
In addition to providing guidance to the GEF, Parties have established four special funds: the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), both managed by the GEF, and the GCF under the Convention; and the Adaptation Fund (AF) under the Kyoto Protocol.
Article 9 of the Paris Agreement stipulates that developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation. Other Parties are encouraged to provide or continue to provide such support voluntarily. The Paris Agreement makes reference to a global goal of at least USD 100 billion per year to be mobilized from public and private sources [1] by 2020, and a new bigger goal is to be agreed by 2025.
But this is not enough, the $100 billion goal is only a starting point, not an end point. Securing a sustainable, climate-resilient future will require significant investment on the order of USD 5.7 trillion annually in green infrastructure like clean water, sustainable transport, and renewable energy in order to prevent climate change’s worst effects.
The Paris Agreement marks a step forward in reporting and improving transparency of finance, which is essential to ensure accountability and avoid “double-counting.” Developed countries committed in Paris to continue reporting every two years on finance they have provided and mobilized, but also to start reporting on public funding they intend to provide in following years.
To meet these ambitious climate finance goals, a complex international climate finance framework has evolved, with more than 60 different international funds available for developing countries [2]. Climate finance is now flowing through multilateral channels – both within and outside of UNFCCC financing mechanisms – and increasingly through bilateral channels, as well as in some Pacific Island countries through national climate change trust funds (e.g. Tonga).
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[1] Public finance offered by developed countries at COP21 will likely result in at least $18.8 billion per year by 2020. New COP21 pledges to climate funds, including the Adaptation Fund, Least Developed Countries Fund, and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), added up to more than $1.5bn. All multilateral development banks have also pledged to scale up climate finance in developing countries substantially by 2020, to more than $30 billion per year.
[2] http://www.climatefundsupdate.org/
Submissions on APA Item 5 (c) Item 5, “Modalities, procedures and guidelines for the transparency framework for action and support referred to in Article 13 of the Paris Agreement”
Modalities for the accounting of financial resources provided and mobilized through public interventions in accordance with Article 9, paragraph 7, of the Paris Agreement. FCCC/SBSTA/2016/2, para. 107
Submissions on APA Item 4(b) Item 4, “Further guidance in relation to the adaptation communication, including, inter alia, as a component of nationally determined contributions, referred to in Article 7, paragraphs 10 and 11, of the Paris Agreement”
Technology framework under Article 10 para 4 of the Paris Agreement. FCCC/SBSTA/2016/2, para 26
Paris committee on Capacity-building. FCCC/SBI/2016/L.24
Vanuatu UNFCCC COP 23 TaskForce Members
|
NAME |
POSITION |
LOCATION |
|---|---|---|
|
Sanlan Willliam |
CHAIR | Acting Head, UN Division |
Department of Foreign Affairs |
|
Anna Bule |
SECRETARIAT | Manager, NAB Secretariat |
NAB Secretariat, Ministry of Climate Change and Natural Disasters |
|
Priscilla Samson |
MEMBER |VCAN Representative |
Oxfam |
|
Christopher Bartlett |
MEMBER |NAB Technical Advisor |
German Agency for International Development (GIZ) |
|
Alexandria Masteia |
MEMBER| Ministry of Climate Change Secrtor Analyst |
Ministry of Finance |
|
Wycliff Bakeo |
MEMBER | Ministry of Climate Change Sector Analyst |
Prime Minister's Office |
|
Dorosday Kenneth |
MEMBER | Director, Department of Women |
Department of Women's Affairs |
Vanuatu UNFCCC COP 23 Delegation to Bonn, Germany
The 7 priority negotiating areas for Vanuatu this year are Adaptation, Mitigation, Climate Finance, Loss and Damage, Gender, Non-party stakeholder and Implementation
|
NAME |
THEMATIC WORKING GROUP |
FUNCTIONAL TITLE |
|---|---|---|
| Hon. Prime Minister Charlot SALWAI | Head of Delegation | Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s Office |
| Hon. Ham LINI | Alternate Head of Delegation |
Minister of Climate Change, Ministry of Climate Change |
|
Mrs. Marie-Justine SALWAI |
|
Advisor, Prime Minister’s Office |
|
Mr. Emiliano BOULETARE |
|
First Political Advisor, Prime Minister’s Office |
|
Mr. Johnson NAVITI |
|
Director General, Prime Minister’s Office |
|
Mrs. Roline Lesines TEKON |
|
Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade |
| Mr. Eden NIAL | Close Protection Officer, Prime Minister’s Office | |
|
Hon. Albert Abel WILLIAMS |
|
Member of National Parliament, Government of Vanuatu |
|
Mr. Jesse BENJAMIN |
Mitigation |
Director General, Ministry of Climate Change |
| Mr. Clifford BICE | First Political Advisor, Ministry of Climate Change | |
|
Mr. Christopher TAVOA |
Implementation |
Director, Advisory Unit - State Law Office |
|
Ms. Dorosday Kenneth LIU |
Gender |
Director, Department of Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare |
| Ms. Anna KALPOKAS | Adaptation | Manager, Ministry of Climate Change |
|
Mr. Mike Sam WAIWAI |
Technology |
Executive Officer, Ministry for Climate Change |
|
Ms. Diana SALILI |
Adaptation |
PHD Student, University of the South Pacific |
|
Mr. August LETLET |
|
Director General, Ministry of Finance and Economic Management |
|
Ms. Zoe Touteniaki AYONG |
AOSIS |
Advisor, Ministry of Climate Change |
|
Ms. Kate DONNELLY |
NAB Sec |
Delegation Co-Coordinator, Ministry of Climate Change |
|
Mr. Eddy MALILIU |
Non-Party Stakeholders |
Resilience Program Officer, CARE International Vanuatu |
|
Ms. Alexandra MASTEIA |
|
Expenditure Analyst, Department of Finance and Treasury |
|
Mr Sanlan WILLIAM |
Implementation |
Head, United Nations Division, Department of Foreign Affairs |
|
Ms. Hellen Wilson TOM |
|
Administration, Finance & Procurement Manager, Department of Energy |
|
Mrs. Margaretha WEWERINKE |
Compliance |
Technical Advisor, Ministry of Climate Change |
|
Mr. Stanley WAPOT |
|
Program Manager Governance and Sustainable Development, Programs Division, MSG |
|
Mr. Hanington TAMLA |
Adaptation |
Director, Department of Forests |
|
Ms. Priscilla SAMSON |
Non-Party Stakeholders |
Coordinator, Vanuatu Climate Action Network |
|
Mr. Brain PHILIPS |
Least Developed Countries |
Manager, Project Management Unit, Ministry of Climate Change |
|
Mr. Willy MISSACK |
Non-Party Stakeholders |
Policy Coordinator, Vanuatu Climate Action Network |
|
Ms. Moirah MATOU |
Climate Science |
Acting Seasonal Outlook Forecaster, Ministry of Climate Change |
|
Dr. Christopher Bartlett |
Adaptation |
Technical Advisor, Ministry of Climate Change |
|
NAME |
POSITION |
Contact |
|---|---|---|
|
Mr. Jesse Benjamin |
Director General |
Private Mail Bag 9054 |
|
Mr Yvon Basil |
Acting Director General |
Private Mail Bag 9051 |
|
Mrs. Anna Bule |
Secretariat |
Port Vila |
|
Mr. Sylvain Kalsakau |
Deputy Permanent Representative & Elections Officer |
800 Second Avenue, Suite 400c |
|
Mr. Brian Phillips |
Project Manager |
Private Mail Bag 9054 |