Nuku’alofa, Tonga – July 24, 2024 – As a small island developing state in the Pacific, the Kingdom of Tonga is particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, extreme weather events, and disruptions to agriculture and fisheries. To address this vulnerability and enhance the Kingdom’s resilience to climate change, improving its access to climate finance is critically important. Enhanced access to climate finance will enable Tonga to implement essential adaptation and mitigation projects that will build resilience, protect its beautiful environment, bolster its economy and improve the quality of life for the people of Tonga.
The Government of Tonga, through the Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC), and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) last week jointly launched a new project to increase access to climate finance in Tonga through support in three key areas: 1) strengthening institutional capacity; 2) supporting the Tonga Climate Change Fund and 3) increasing investments into priority energy projects.
The CEO of the Tonga MEIDECC, Mr. Sione Akau’ola stated that “One of the aims for the Government is to better deliver the implementation of the policies that have been approved. We need to increase our effectiveness at preparing and presenting projects that can not only attract investment but also achieve our national goals.” He added “This project supports Government’s efforts to better coordinate, prioritize and access climate finance investment, both broadly at the national level but also with specific support to communities and the energy sector, which are key focus areas for the Government.”
Lano Fonua, GGGI’s Tonga based Senior Program Officer and Climate Finance Access Network (CFAN) Advisor noted that “the first area of support will seek to integrate and mainstream climate finance into key policy documents and develop a Climate Finance Strategy for Tonga” and that “the second area of support will seek to strengthen the Tonga Climate Change Fund (TCCF) by developing communication and operational tools and templates for the Fund that will improve accessibility to and awareness of the Fund.” He continued that third area of support “will seek to increase investments into priority energy projects in the Kingdom by identifying priority investment opportunities and marketing these opportunities to potential investors.”
By supporting Tonga to increase access to climate finance, the project ultimately aims to support Tonga transition to a low-emission, climate resilient development path with an explicit aim to ensure that this benefits everyone including women and marginalized groups.
The project is funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) under their Low Emission Climate Resilient Development (LECRD) Program and will be implemented through to the end of 2026.
About Low Emissions Climate Resilient Development (LECRD) Program
The Low Emissions Climate Resilient Development (LECRD) in the Pacific Program supports Pacific Islands Countries (PICs) to transition to low-emissions climate resilient development through assistance with long-term inclusive planning and decision-making. The program entered Phase II in October 2023 and will continue to focus on policy-level support while expanding into more Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and implementing with delivery partners. Funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the program is being implemented in Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
For more information, visit: https://gggi.org
(GGGI Pacific)
Kirstin Morrision, Senior Low Emissions Climate Resilient Development Program Management Officer
(GGGI Seoul HQ)
Mona Laczo, Communications & Knowledge Sharing Unit Head
mona.laczo@gggi.org
© Photo Credit GGGI
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