Majuro – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have released an in-depth report on the limits and barriers to adaptation in the face of climate security threats to Pacific Island nations. 

The new report, entitled The Limits to Adaptation in the Context of Climate Security in the Pacific, explores limits and barriers to climate change adaptation that contribute to climate security risks caused by more frequent and intense disasters in the region.  

The report defines “barriers,” as restrictions or constraints that hinder adaptation but can nevertheless be overcome such as knowledge, awareness, and access to finance. “Limits,” in contrast, refers to thresholds beyond which adaptation is implausible and can include ecological, economic, technological, and social factors.  

The study offers several recommendations including identifying the context-specific barriers and limitations of Pacific Island Countries (PICS); shifting from small-scale, incremental adaptation efforts to large-scale, transformational adaptation strategies; and increasing access to financial schemes including to finance “urgent research on innovative economic opportunities for supporting the implementation of large-scale transformational adaptation strategies.” 

“As Pacific Island Countries such as the Marshall Islands grapple with enormous challenges to safeguard atoll communities from the evident impacts of climate change, strengthening adaptation mechanisms is critical to tackling the climate emergency. This report draws attention to the urgent need for concerted efforts to ensure large-scale, comprehensive policies and strategies are in place to avoid irreversible risks,” said Salvatore Sortino, IOM Chief of Mission in Micronesia. 

Kevin Petrini, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative for the North Pacific added, "Atoll nations of the Pacific are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Understanding the difference between limits and barriers and promoting a shift from incremental to transformational approaches to adaptation is very relevant in guiding high level decision making and informed planning for a truly sustainable development." 

According to a study by Adelphi (2022), in the three atoll nations of the Pacific, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Tuvalu, and Kiribati, extreme weather events such as typhoons, droughts and flooding exacerbate climate security risks as they affect livelihoods, land and food availability, pose pressures on mobility, and hinder habitability of the PICS.  

The study finds that although ecological limits, such as coral bleaching caused by rising ocean temperatures or acidification, threaten the climate security of low-lying atoll nations in the region, lack of robust and scaled-up institutional, governance, political, and economic mechanisms are likely to serve as barriers for adaptation amidst rapid changes brought about by climate. 

The 2018 Boe Declaration, within which climate security has been identified as the greatest existential threat to atoll states, highlights the multidimensional nature and intersection of environmental, political, developmental, social, security and humanitarian domains. This study contributes to the available knowledge and understanding regarding the ecological limits and how they may result in the need for a range of mobility strategies to address habitability options. This can include a focus on resilience, while planning for relocation and migration as adaptation pathways.  

The study was supported by the joint IOM-UNDP Climate Security in the Pacific project implemented in RMI, Tuvalu, and Kiribati and in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and funded through the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.  

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For more information, please contact:  

IOM Micronesia: Haimanot Abebe, haabebe@iom.int, +691 320 8735