PACC Case Study: Tuvalu Vital Water

Submitted by Peniamina Leavai 28th June 2013 17:14

With the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) acting as the Executing Agency and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the Implementing Agency, the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) project is working in 14 Pacific Island countries to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience to the adverse effects of climate change. With funding from GEF's Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), AusAID, and additional co-financing at the national level, PACC projects throughout the Pacific are integrating long-term climate change risks into coastal management, food production and water resource management.

As an atoll nation, Tuvalu is very much affected by changes in rainfall distribution patterns. With limited groundwater, people on Funafuti atoll depend heavily on rainfall to supply all their water needs. A period of two to three weeks of no rainfall can cause serious water shortages, reducing water levels in many of the water tanks by 50%. The current water infrastructure is not able to cope with changes in rainfall regime, which has an adverse impact on village livelihoods and agricultural production. The PACC project in Tuvalu focuses on improving the water infrastructure, to assist people to better cope with climate related droughts.

The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project in Tuvalu is a combined effort of: AusAID; Global Environment Facility - SCCF; Government of Vanuatu; Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP); and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with support from UNITAR C3D+ Programme.