Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the opening yesterday of the Ready Project office was timely because of the bureaucratic nightmare in trying to access funds for climate change.

“Adaptation is a huge focus in these countries – so the climate Ready office being set up here is obviously quite timely,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum, who is also the Minister Responsible for Climate Change, said.

He made the comments yesterday during a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) new Ready project office in Suva.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum made a call on relevant stakeholders to build capacities within Pacific island countries to acquire the soft skills required to access climate adaptation finance.

“The carbon footprint of most Pacific island countries including many other smaller countries in the world is almost negligible, however they are the cold face of climate change – they are the ones that need to adapt a lot more quickly to the effects and ravages of climate change,” he said.

The Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum thanbks Les Baker of the USAids Climate Ready office in Suva before unveiling the plaque yesterday. Photo:Jone Luvenitoga

United States Ambassador Judith Cefkin said the United States government was pleased to partner with Pacific Island governments, civil society and private sector to strengthen the resilience of all citizens in the region.

She said the new Ready project would assist Pacific governments address policy constraints and attract international financing that focused on climate and disaster risk reduction.

The project will serve the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

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