Based in Noumea, AFD's Pacific Ocean Regional Office covers a vast geographical area: the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Federated Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, East Timor, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.
It includes two offices that have been based in Noumea and Papeete for over seventy-five years.
With their geographical, economic, and cultural diversity, the Pacific Islands are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Due to their uniqueness, these small island states, which are truly large oceanic nations, are the guardians of a large part of the world's biodiversity. The annual cost of the effects of climate change in these countries is estimated to be about 10% of their GDP, which amounts to $1 billion per year.
AFD Group supports the Pacific region in tackling common regional challenges: climate change, biodiversity, and regional cooperation.
Although the Pacific Island countries account for only 0.03% of global greenhouse gas emissions, they are among the first victims of global warming: rising sea levels, recurring natural disasters, rising temperatures, drought, floods...
In order to bolster the region's resilience in response to these increasing challenges, AFD supports island states and territories through climate change adaptation and mitigation projects. These projects involve the development of renewable energies, making infrastructures greener, producing climate forecasts, making the most of local knowledge, and monitoring the health impacts of climate change.
The Pacific Ocean and its islands are home to five global biodiversity hotspots and 30% of the world's coral reefs. Protecting this biodiversity is a key issue in combating climate change and in preserving Oceanic customs and ways of life. To meet these challenges, AFD is supporting the rehabilitation of watersheds in Melanesia, the development of agro-ecological practices, and capacity building in waste management and treatment in island environments.
Alongside the European Union, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, AFD supports the Kiwa Initiative. This regional initiative aims to strengthen the resilience of Oceania's ecosystems, economies and communities against the impacts of climate change by supporting projects focused on Nature-based Solutions (NBS).
Regional cooperation is crucial to identifying joint solutions to global challenges. In one of the world's most landlocked regions, the Pacific Island States and Territories must work together to build and defend their common interests.
The Pacific Ocean Regional Office supports the strengthening of regional cooperation between the French territories in the Pacific and neighboring countries facing the same challenges, but also within regional organizations such as the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
AFD's Pacific Regional Office serves 18 island states and territories: the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, the Federated Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, East Timor, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.
