Climate Change

GCF was established to assist developing countries finance their mitigation and adaptation programs.

CCDA acting managing director, Ruel Yamuna, said work on accessing the GCF has been going very smoothly.

Yamuna highlighted that CCDA as the focal point for GCF in PNG, is working on reaching out to stakeholders making sure that they understand the different project proposal designs.

The Climate Change & Development Authority and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will sign the official documents for the project on Thursday, February 9.

Both parties have agreed to finalise the framework of the project aimed at enhancing capacity to develop a sustainable GHG inventory for PNG.

The JICA Team will be providing technical assistance in terms of capacity building for PNG’s GHG Technical experts so that PNG may be able to carry out the GHG Inventory data collection, preparation and reporting for PNG.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said: “As part of this, it is essential that funding be streamlined to enable climate change projects to be rolled out around the country.”

He said an important focus for current GCF engagement is to work with Pacific countries to develop project proposals before submitting to the GCF Board for deliberation.

“The process of identifying and developing projects is driven by individual countries and ensures that projects are developed that are specific to the dangers faced by our people.

In a recent meeting with the GCF chairman, Ewen McDonald, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill highlighted the need for finance and capacity building to enable PNG to implement its obligations under the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

“Our nation and the region faces serious threats from extreme weather exacerbated by climate change,” the Prime Minister said.

“Developing countries did not cause climate change, but we all suffer because of climate change.

Colin Tukuitonga was speaking as the regional agency marked its year of operations.

The US is a founding member and a significant funder of programmes undertaken by the SPC, which include extensive climate change activities.

But the Trump administration is full of climate change deniers and the president has said it is a hoax perpetrated by China.

The event will take place on Thursday, January 26 in Port Moresby.

PNG’s Strategic Program for Climate Resilience is aimed at achieving transformation change in addressing the current and future threats from climate change and related disasters.

The PNG Government had obtained an Asian Development Bank grant of US$24.25 for the building resilience to climate change (BRCC) project.

The project’s aims is to bring about change by mainstreaming climate resilience into development plans that address country priorities, focusing on vulnerable communities.

Data from Nasa and the UK Met Office shows temperatures were about 0.07 degrees Celsius above the 2015 mark.

Although the Met Office increase was within the margin of error, Nasa says that 2016 was the third year in a row to break the record.

The El Niño weather phenomenon played a role, say scientists, but the main factor was human emissions of CO2.

The data are the first of the New Year to confirm many projections that 2016 will exceed 2015 as the warmest since reliable records began in the 19th century, it said in a report.

The Arctic was the region showing the sharpest rise in temperatures, while many other areas of the globe, including parts of Africa and Asia, also suffered unusual heat, it said.

A few parts of South America and Antarctica were cooler than normal.

Weather forecaster at the PNG National Weather Service (PNGNWS), Leo Hawarri says climate change has slowed down the north-west monsoon period and the cyclone season.

Hawarri explained that PNG is into the cyclone season however the country is only experiencing heavy rains without strong winds due to the effects of global warming and climate change.

He said that climate change has affected the flow of the normal weather pattern delaying the strong wind pattern.

He stressed that PNG normally experiences the monsoon heavy rains and strong winds during this time.

Ban, who will step down as head of the U.N. after 10 years at the end of this month, described climate change as the single most pressing danger facing the world and called last year’s Paris agreement his “greatest achievement” in office. The agreement, which was reached in December 2015 in Paris, outlines an action plan to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial times.