‘ADAPT OR DIE’
Small islands climate change experts hold workshop here
By Charles Pitt

Adapt or die. That is the over-arching, environmental concern binding the members of some 51 nations world-wide in a group known as the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Some 50 experts representing countries in the SIDS group will meet at the Edgewater Resort in Rarotonga from 26 -28 February 2007.
They will attend a workshop on the topic of “Adaptation for Small Island Developing States” in relation to preparing for the impact of climate change in the Pacific Region.
It is one of three regional workshops organised by the SIDS Secretariat.
This is so that small nations could discuss issues of priority in their region, facilitate information exchange and integrated assessments to assist in identifying specific adaptation needs and concerns.
Experts last met in Jamaica on 5-7 February 2007 and discussed adaptation issues for the Caribbean Region.
Local expert Tom Wichman told the Cook Islands Times he is one of five Cook Islands experts who have been invited to officially participate in the workshop.
However, he says only two are likely to make presentations. He said a small number of observers may also attend.
With Wichman are likely to be:
n Arona Ngari of the Met Service, who chairs the Country Team on Climate Change,
n and representatives from Environment, Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and Office of the Minister for Island Administration (OMIA).
The impact of industrialisation on our environment has become all too noticeable in recent years in the form of climate change. Warmer temperatures, drought, rising sea levels, more intense storms and flooding. The damage caused by these events on people, the infrastructure, agriculture and the economy appears to be increasing in scale and intensity.
What hope for small nations like the Cook Islands, seemingly powerless to influence the decision makers in the more powerful industrialized nations? In the face of the arrogance, belligerence and greed of those poisoning our planet, it’s come down to one simple statement: “Adapt or die.”
However, as the SIDS group has discovered, the process of adaptation is fraught with difficulties. These have been highlighted in a background paper entitled “Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in Small Island Developing States.”
It was commissioned by the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
There are some adaptation options available such as engineering solutions for example sea defences, hurricane resistant buildings and provision of water storage. Legislative solutions include revised building codes, land zoning near coasts and rivers and updating water policy. Technological solutions include growing more resilient crops.
Difficulties that can affect small nations are constraints which limit the choices of options and their implementation for example; inadequate data and technical capacity, weak human and institutional capacity and limited financial resources.
Because governments can underestimate, overestimate or mis-estimate climate impact, this can also hinder the adaptation process.
Among the issues experts are likely to discuss at the upcoming meeting at the Edgewater Resort are:
- vulnerability and adaptation assessments,
- adaptation planning and implementation,
- adaptation in relation to priority sectors such as tourism and fishing,
- coastal areas,
- risk management and reduction,
- catastrophe risk insurance,
- and community-based adaptation.
Community-based adaptation may include traditional coping strategies. For example in Timor, farmers developed their own varieties of major staple crops to adapt to erratic rainfall and cyclones to ensure food security.
In Cuba, one community re-located 5k inland and planted trees and sand dunes on the coast. (On Rarotonga large areas of the coast have had long standing trees removed so lease holders can enjoy sea views.)
The Cook Islands delegation could do well to include in their presentations traditional, indigenous cultural practices in relation to climate change.

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