Blue-Green Development in Kiribati: Sustainable community-based development for climate and pandemic resilience
Small island developing states in the Pacific face particular challenges due to their remoteness in the Corona pandemic and in adapting to the impacts of climate change. To reduce dependence on external supplies and services, the project is developing new strategies that combine new sources of income, ecosystem and coastal protection, as well as food security. To this end, it supports two urban local councils to develop, adopt and initiate the implementation of plans improving the resilience towards climate change and COVID (Climate Covid Resilience Plans). This promotes inclusive and sustainable community-based development in line with national policies and programmes. The implementation through traditional governance systems will demonstrate how increased participation and collaboration at all levels of government and society accelerates sustainable development.
- Countries
- Kiribati
- IKI funding
- 799,764.86 €
- Duration
- 08/2022 till 07/2025
- Status
- open
- Implementing organisation
- ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability e.V.
- Implementing Partner
-
- Commonwealth Local Government Forum Pacific
- Kiribati Local Government Association
State of implementation/results
- Climate and COVID Resilience Plan (CCRP) Progress
- The project is co-creating Climate and COVID Resilience Plans with two urban councils in South Tarawa, Kiribati. CCRP planning efforts have followed ICLEI’s resilience framework: mapping existing policies, consultations with traditional communities to co-create, then validate, local risk and vulnerability assessments, and crafting an action agenda. Engagement with traditional maneaba governance mechanisms adds a hyperlocal dimension to community consultation.
- The Teinainano Urban Council (TUC) CCRP is complete after substantial engagement with five place-based communities, maneaba community leaders, and TUC administration in 2023 and 2024; the project is now working with TUC staff to transform the CCRP into a formal climate plan. In Betio Town Council (BTC), the project is currently validating risks and vulnerabilities.
- Livelihood activities
- All 10 communities have identified priority livelihood needs as a means of fostering resilience. There is a uniform desire to cultivate nutritious, fresh food, particularly in the wake of COVID’s disruption to supply chains.
- The project has enlisted local horticultural experts to deliver trainings to local community members (a vast majority of whom are women) and an international expert to explore biochar production for soil in Tarawa.
- After identifying local investment gaps (small market structure, biochar manufacturing, aquaponics projects, etc.) via the project, KiLGA applied to ICLEI’s Transformative Actions Program (TAP) pipeline to upscale project activities across Tarawa and Kiribati.
- Exchange Events
- ICLEI facilitated TUC Mayor Baraniko Baaro’s attendance for the entirety of COP 28 in Dubai (funded by UAE). Mayor Baaro made several high-level interventions, including his intervention at the Global Stocktake High-Level Event on Mitigation and an address at the COP28 Global Climate Action High-Level event.
- CLGF Pacific’s March-April 2024 mission coincided with the Mayoral Forum on the World Meteorological meeting gathering mayors of councils across all of Kiribati. The Office of the President reaffirmed its commitment to this project and upscaling efforts across Kiribati. The project presents a unique opportunity to operationalize the national government’s commitment to the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP), as expressed at COP 28.
- At the 4th Clean Pacific Roundtable in Funafuti, Tuvalu (08.2024), organized by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP), CLGF Pacific presented project findings during a session on resilient waste.
- The project joined the ICLEI Daring Cities Virtual Forum in 2023 and 2024, as part of the side events “Voices on the Frontline: Advocacy for Small Island Developing States” (04.09.2024) and “Building resilience in Small Island Developing States: Community-centered approaches” (22.09.2023) under ICLEI’s Frontline Initiative.
Latest Update:
02/2025
Project relations
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