Pacific scientists are helping to redefine how adaptation is organised and delivered across some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
Their work took centre stage at the 8th International Adaptation Futures Conference (AF2025), held in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand from 13 to 16 October 2025.
Hosted by the University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha with regional Oceania and international partners, Adaptation Futures is the leading event of the World Adaptation Science Programme (WASP).
The conference brought together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from more than 100 countries to exchange lessons on how adaptation science can guide practical action.
Among the contributors was the SPC’s Climate Change Flagship (CCF), represented by Ms Anne-Claire Goarant, Coordinator of the CCF.
Ms Goarant explained that the Flagship aligns SPC’s divisions and technical expertise to strengthen regional coordination, capacity building, and programmatic support for adaptation.
“The Pacific contributes less than one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet faces some of the world’s highest adaptation costs. Our role is to ensure that scientific knowledge and technical capacity translate into practical outcomes for the member countries we serve.”
The Climate Change Flagship currently brings together more than 275 climate-related activities across 22 Pacific Island countries and territories, supported by around 127 full-time technical specialists roughly 17 per cent of SPC’s workforce.
More than 90 per cent of its climate portfolio focuses on adaptation, enabled by the flexible, multi-year Anchor Investment from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). This partnership allows SPC to strengthen cross-divisional collaboration and develop programmatic funding approaches that match Pacific priorities.
Ms Goarant added that these efforts build on the Climate Change Flagship’s early findings, which show how coordinated action is improving regional impact.
“Climate Change Flagship’s first phase achieved cross-divisional integration, clearer value-add for members, and stronger alignment with regional frameworks for climate finance mobilisation. Enabled by MFAT’s support, the Climate Change Flagship has advanced programmatic funding models and flexible investment mechanisms tailored to Pacific contexts demonstrating that institutional coordination is essential for scaling adaptation. “
MFAT’s manager for this investment, Ms Jacob says, “this programmatic investment has allowed SPC to look across its whole organisation and better understand where their strengths in climate action lie, and how SPC can better support their member countries. With such a large and diverse organisation, it is important to find ways to enhance collaboration and integration of work programmes. The Flagship is demonstrating this and showing impacts across a broad spectrum of work.”
In Nauru, Mr Being Yeeting and national fisheries scientists are using fisheries and marine ecological monitoring and socio-economic data to guide fisheries policy through the Resilient Coastal Fisheries and Aquaculture Project, funded by the Adaptation Fund.
“Our people rely on the ocean for food and income and climate change threatens both. By strengthening institutions and supporting community-led practices, we are building not only the resilience of the local people, but also the resilience and sustainability of our fisheries and marine resources to climate change impacts.”
Mr Otheniel Tangianau from the Cook Islands described how the Pacific Partnership for Atoll Water Security is enhancing water security for atoll communities by integrating modern water management practices with traditional knowledge and fostering knowledge sharing across the Pacific. This approach is already benefiting the people of the remote outer islands, improving long-term water security tailored to the unique needs of atoll life. Around half of Pacific people still lack access to safe drinking water and two-thirds lack adequate sanitation, a challenge intensifying under climate stress. “True resilience is built through partnerships, not just technology. Solutions last when communities own them.”
Together, these examples illustrate how adaptation in the Pacific is both science-driven and locally defined. The Climate Change Flagship’s research shows that resilience gains are greatest when projects are embedded within local governance systems, backed by sustained partnerships, and supported through flexible regional mechanisms.
Lessons from Nauru and the Cook Islands reaffirm that effective adaptation depends on aligning technical evidence with traditional knowledge, ensuring that national institutions and community networks evolve together to sustain impact over time.
Under the Kiwa Initiative, SPC and partners launched the Pacific’s first accredited Micro-Qualification in Nature-based Solutions.
Ms Tara Bartnik, Regional Technical Advisor with WaterAid Australia, emphasized that nature-based solutions are essential for improving people’s lives and noted tangible, on-the-ground progress resulting from their implementation.
Programme Manager of the Kiwa Initiative at SPC, Dr Rebbecca Stirnemann, said education is one of the most powerful investments for resilience.
“It is more than funding a course. By supporting this micro-qualification, we are helping Pacific practitioners to design their own Nature-based Solutions approaches that protect biodiversity, strengthen livelihoods, and reflect local knowledge. Education ensures that these solutions are scaled in ways that endure for generations.”
The new Oceania-wide micro-qualification in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is a first-of-its-kind accredited training designed for Pacific practitioners working on climate resilience. Developed by SPC, SPREP and Auckland University of Technology, and hosted by Griffith University with support from the Kiwa Initiative, the course blends science with Indigenous knowledge to teach practical ways of restoring forests, reefs and wetlands to adapt to climate change.
Accredited under the Pacific Qualifications Authority, it gives learners across 11 Pacific countries the tools to design and implement locally led NbS that protect ecosystems, sustain livelihoods and build long-term community resilience.
Ms Goarant added that the CCF’s collaborative model is helping shape regional adaptation systems that draw on the Pacific’s collective expertise.
“Adaptation is not a choice for Pacific communities it is survival. The Pacific’s experiences offer tested models for flexible finance, interdisciplinary way of working, and governance grounded in community leadership.”
As the world prepares for COP30 in Belém, the Pacific’s integrated adaptation approach offers more than lessons it offers proof. Regional science, flexible finance and community leadership are already delivering results at scale. The challenge for the global system now is to match that resolve with the support and partnership it deserves, with holistic and long-term approach to Climate change adaptation in the Pacific, the adoption of proactive adaptation strategies, stronger international collaboration and increased specific financial support for SIDS.
For more information:
Anne-Claire Goarant, Climate Change Flagship Coordinator, Climate Change and Sustainability Division, Pacific Community (SPC) | [email protected]
