Fiji is working tirelessly to protect, manage and restore its ecosystems by actively promoting and incorporating Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in its ever-increasing disaster management models.

Assistant Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Alvick Maharaj made the comment at the 60th Session of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) Parliamentary Assembly and the 41st Session of the ACP-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly, last week in Strasbourg, France.

“Fiji’s Climate Change Act is the world’s most comprehensive pieces of climate legislation, covering issues such as long-term net-zero commitments, carbon budgets, carbon market establishment, climate-induced human mobility, nature-based solutions, and the legal recognition of maritime boundaries relative to sea level rise, climate finance and intergovernmental resilience building,” he said.

“To cope with the increasing effects of climate change and to better safeguard their sustainable development, disaster risk reduction (DRR) has become increasingly important for many island nations.”

Mr Maharaj said the Government stood strong in its commitment towards the “Build Back Better” approach when dealing with disasters.

“After Tropical Cyclone (TC) Winston, 181 schools and 25 public buildings that had been completed to date under the “Build Back Better” programme, none were damaged,” he said.

“TC Harold was the first significant storm to test the more resilient standards used in the reconstruction after the 2016 TC Winston.

“This delivered a twofold gain for Fiji – protecting the Fijian people during a crisis and the government’s budget from the catastrophic costs of rebuilding.”

He stated that while many adaption projects were underway, there were still barriers that required to be addressed.

“Many countries do not have enough resources to combat climate change impacts on their own, and further degradation of natural resources and ecosystems will increase poverty, hunger and economic and social inequalities.

Mr Maharaj said that the opportunities for regional collaboration and the sharing of traditional knowledge, project outcomes, and technical data are extensive and should be taken advantage of to aid in the identification and removal of adaption barriers.

“We’re building seawalls, evacuation centres and early warning systems; relocating communities, planting mangroves and boosting our agro-resilience to improve our resilience to climate impacts of all scales.”

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