Climate Change Flagship: Key Dimensions

The Climate Change Flagship (CCF) includes five dimensions of climate change, which are the areas of work where SPC is supporting Pacific Island countries and territories: 

1. Adaptation and resilience

Adaptation involves making changes to reduce climate risks, while resilience refers to the ability of systems to recover and reorganise in response to these challenges. SPC support its Member States by building adaptive capacity through raising awareness, reducing the risk of damage to people, property, and ecosystems from climate change related extreme events, and taking advantage of the benefits of climate change, such as offering new products and economic opportunities to countries and communities.

 2. Mitigation and just transition

Mitigation focuses on reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions, while a just transition ensures that the shift to sustainable practices is fair and inclusive for all. SPC supports its Member States in developing strategies that include transitioning to renewable energy, enhancing energy efficiency, utilising carbon capture and storage technologies, promoting afforestation, implementing sustainable agricultural practices, managing waste effectively and supporting low carbon transportation solutions.

3. Loss and damage and climate security

Loss and damage refer to the impacts of climate change that communities cannot avoid or adapt to, posing significant risks to climate security. SPC plays a key role in supporting its Member States by monitoring the loss of critical resources (e.g., changes in tuna migration patterns or vital food crops), disaster rehabilitation efforts, providing support for displaced populations, monitoring the impacts on cultural practices and traditional knowledge, and assessing the effects on livelihoods.

 4. Climate finance
Climate finance involves funding to support actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. SPC assists its Member States by providing specialist project development expertise focused on climate change within specific sectors and supporting climate finance negotiations. Finance is both an action dimension and an enabling dimension.

5. Enabling actions
These actions are transversal and support all the dimensions listed above. They include advocacy, policy development, and leadership alongside science, information, and knowledge. It also includes monitoring, reporting, verification (MRV), and ensuring effective resourcing, partnerships, and collaboration.
 

Climate Change Flagship Outcomes

Through the CCFP, we aim to achieve the following four outcomes by 2031 with and for SPC members:

1. Adaptation and resilience: Increased adaptation and resilience of Pacific people and communities, critical infrastructure and built environment, and ecosystems and ecosystem services across the areas of SPC mandate
 

2. Mitigation and just transition: Pacific Island countries and territories have accelerated low carbon transition in an affordable and secure way across the areas of SPC mandate, resulting in the reduction, avoidance, or sequestration of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy security of the region.
 

3. Loss and damage, and climate security: Pacific Island countries and territories plan for, understand, address, and proactively act to minimise climate-related loss and damage leveraging the necessary regional and international support to facilitate this, in particular across the areas of SPC mandate
 

4. Climate finance: Pacific Island countries and territories effectively access and utilise significantly scaled up climate finance to fulfil their climate change priorities and commitments at all levels.

Focus on the Enabling Dimensions