The Fijian Government’s assessment indicates it will need to spend an estimated $9.3 billion over 10 years, to ensure the country’s resiliency and adaptability to climate change.

This is equivalent to 78.3% of Fiji’s pre-pandemic Gross Domestic Product.

The Asian Development Bank, in its latest Pacific Economic Monitor, says this will be done to reduce the country’s vulnerability to climate change.

The Fijian government has identified five priority areas for intervention.

These include better approaches to urban planning, upgrading infrastructure services, strengthening the agriculture and fisheries sectors, conserving ecosystems, and building socioeconomic resilience.

The report states that between 2016 and 2019, Fiji’s actual investment in climate-related activities averaged $782 million annually.

Transport, disaster risk management, and water and sanitation accounted for 85.3% of this expenditure.

The heavy focus on these sectors is reflective of the reconstruction and recovery efforts that the government undertook to address the damage that Tropical Cyclone Winston inflicted in 2016.

The report states the government allocated a yearly average of $201.5 million for climate projects from 2019 to 2021, 89.8% of which went to transport, disaster risk management, and water and sanitation.

It states the Green Climate Fund has short-listed at least two adaptation projects in the housing and blue economy sectors and three mitigation projects in forestry, transport, and energy.

Fiji’s Ministry of Economy has also identified several other adaptation and mitigation priority projects in the pipeline, with some projects still to secure funding.