Fund for Kiribati coastal project
11-Aug-2008 08:43 AM

THE European Commission (EC) has endorsed a Contribution Agreement between the Government of Kiribati and the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) for F$5.24 million in order to facilitate the development of an environmentally sustainable aggregate supply company in South Tarawa, Kiribati.

A EC/SOPAC joined statement says the initiative is designed to ease pressure on the island’s fragile shores and beaches which are presently used as the main sources of aggregates for building and development.

The main objective of the project is to develop environmentally safe sources of aggregate including dredging aggregates from the lagoon bed. Funded by the 9th European Development Fund, this project will be implemented over the next three years by SOPAC in conjunction with the Government of Kiribati.

“The management of risks associated with climate change is recognised by the European Union as an essential component of poverty reduction, which is at the heart of the European cooperation with developing countries” said Ambassador Wiepke van der Goot, Head of Delegation of the EC Delegation for the Pacific.

“Building resilience to climate change impacts represents an enormous challenge for Pacific ACP states and the EU will remain committed to support projects such as this one in the coming years.”

The project aims to support the community of Kiribati to combat coastal erosion on its most densely populated atoll, South Tarawa.

SOPAC Director Cristelle Pratt said Tarawa faced severe coastal vulnerability issues, which manifest as the loss of land, wave overtopping and the flooding of business, roads, houses as well as critical infrastructure such as the local hospital.

“This is an especially urgent issue in the face of climate change and potential rising sea levels. The local practice of mining the beaches for sand, gravel and rocks greatly exacerbates coastal vulnerability and erosion problems and is in fact one of the main underlying causes of shoreline instability in South Tarawa,” she said.

A survey by SOPAC found that local beach miners are now removing more than 70,000 cubic meters of sand and gravel from South Tarawa’s beaches every year.

SOPAC believes that the Government of Kiribati may also be providing an invaluable model for other small islands that are also facing difficult choices in an uncertain future.

The EU has a leadership role in promoting international action to tackle climate change.

The European Commission is proposing to build a new alliance on climate change between the European Union and the poor developing countries that are most affected and that have the least capacity to deal with climate change.

Through this Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA), the EU and these countries will work jointly to integrate climate change into poverty reduction strategies. The EU will provide substantial resources to address climate change in these countries