PICRC teams up with Pacific RISA for climate change adaptation in Palau

Participants of the February 2024 Sector-based Climate Services and Coordination Workshop, hosted by Pacific RISA, NOAA, and the University of Hawaiʻi in partnership with the Palau Ministry of Finance, Office of Climate Change, and Weather Service Office, in Koror, engaged in an activity mapping locations and types of climate impacts. Climate adaptation-focused engagements will be hosted in several states under the new award.

By Pacific Island Times News Staff

Koror-- The Palau International Coral Reef Center has signed a project award of $269,535 funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the project titled, “Supporting WMO Region V and the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment, or PIRCA, through Climate Indicators Monitoring, Early Warning Systems Development, and Capacity Building.” 

The two-year project will implement Phase 2 of the PIRCA with Pacific Research on Island Solutions for Adaptation, or RISA, the NOAA Climate Adaptation Partnership team for the U.S. Pacific island region that supports communities in adapting to the impacts of climate variability and change.

PICRC’s work will be guided by close partnership with the Palau National Office of Climate Change and regional and U.S.-based partners Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation and Pacific RISA.

The project focuses on research and engagement that enhances the capacity of state-level stakeholders for climate change adaptation in Palau.

The funding will also support a senior specialist position, which will be based at PICRC and will be a member of the Pacific RISA program.

The project primarily focuses on preparing informational decision-support products for Palau state governments and translating technical climate information into formats understandable by non-technical audiences.

Additionally, the project will coordinate and host engagements in several states in Palau to deliver evidence-based information about climate change and engage with the National Office of Climate Change to align activities with the National Climate Change Policy Update and other initiatives, such as CLEWS—Climate Early Warning Systems.

Outputs and tools should help state-level stakeholders incorporate climate change stressors and hazards such as flooding, coral bleaching, wildfire, drought, or other related events into planning processes. 

“Even though climate adaptation measures need to take place at the local community level, the National and State levels play key roles in developing policies to guide adaptation,” said Geraldine Rengiil, director of the Research Department at PICRC.

“Working together with both Palau National Office of Climate Change and State governments can help reduce the current or expected impacts of climate change,” she added.