The Cook Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia are separated by around 6,000 kilometres of Pacific Ocean.

Despite the vast stretch of water between them, the two small island nations share a common challenge: how to protect their people from rising seas and extreme weather. 

Climate change is an ever-present reality for these two countries – and all other island states – in the region. The land that juts out of the Pacific Ocean makes up less than 1% of the total area. The sea that surrounds these islands is both an essential economic resource and a looming threat.

“Climate change isn’t just science – it’s personal,” one participant told the Cook Islands National Loss and Damage Dialogue held in Rarotonga in mid-April. “With warmer temperatures and fewer pandanus trees, the women’s weaving traditions are under threat.”

Recent research from NASA found that Pacific islands are expected to experience at least 6 inches (15.24 cm) of sea level rise over the next 30 years, whether the world reduces greenhouse gas emissions or not. In recent years, the climate crisis has exacerbated many existing problems for island nations: more severe droughts and cyclones, together with the encroaching sea, have destroyed livelihoods and increased people’s economic vulnerabilities. 

“Communities on remote Pacific islands are in danger of having their culture and way of life erased if we don’t act now and help them survive,” said Mikko Ollikainen, head of the Adaptation Fund. “It’s desperately important that we work to support people most vulnerable to climate shocks,” he added.

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As extreme weather persists, small but crucial interventions are being explored to support people to adapt to their new reality. In small island developing states, such as the Cook Islands and Federated States of Micronesia, these ideas have been put to the test, with both nations implementing projects to build climate resilience and enable communities to thrive in spite of the growing stresses they face.

Remoteness makes resilience key

Many of the climate-related issues for small island – or large ocean – states are connected to their remoteness. There are over 1,000 islands comprising the sovereign nations in the Pacific – the Federated States of Micronesia alone has more than 600 islands.

These inhabited islands are often hard to reach and lack basic infrastructure such as electricity access, healthcare provision and water security. This makes them even more vulnerable to disasters and increases the need to build resilience to climate shocks.

In recent years, governments in the Cook Islands and Micronesia have sought financing from the Adaptation Fund to address these chronic issues. The resulting projects provide important lessons in adaptation in places on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Finance flowing for locally led climate adaptation

Both countries have locally based organisations, known as national implementing entities (NIEs), accredited through the Adaptation Fund’s “direct access” scheme which helps countries manage their adaptation efforts. Entities can propose and develop projects and receive financial support from the Fund without going through international agencies.  

Projects in both island states are tailored to local adaptation needs, but bear many similarities in their approach to climate problems. They are focused on outer islands, water and food security, data monitoring, gender concerns and restoring ecosystem health, as a path to climate resilience.

“We need to work harder to understand what life is like for people in remote places, especially on low-lying Pacific islands. From the beginning, these projects built in these concerns, ensuring decisions and solutions were community-led, inclusive, and informed by local knowledge,” added Ollikainen.

Adaptation for farmers and fishers

On the Cook Islands this meant increasing water storage across the outer Pa Enua islands, alongside 25 new farms and 11 agro-nurseries with a strong focus on establishing climate-resilient crops. A new early warning system was created, with local training provided on disaster risk preparedness and centralised data management.

In addition, 35 community grants were awarded to farmers and households to help pay for adaptive tools such as fencing, tanks and agricultural equipment. “The climate has changed, full-stop. But now we’ve got drip irrigation [to sustainably water crops]. We’re still growing,” commented one farmer on Mitiaro, a tiny volcanic island.

Mani Mate, a director at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, the NIE carrying out the resilient livelihoods “PEARL” project, said it shows “how small island nations can deliver tangible, locally led resilience when adaptation is community-driven and well-resourced”. 

“While challenges remain, the Cook Islands now have tools, systems and experience to build on, along with growing interest in a second phase of support,” Mate added.

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In a similar way, the Micronesian project implemented by the Micronesia Conservation Trust, also an Adaptation Fund NIE based on the island, has put in place effective state protections for marine habitats, increasing awareness and enforcement capabilities, as well as access to sustainable finance. The project issued locally led small grants across the islands to allow communities to directly implement marine-based measures, such as the restoration of upland forests and mangroves and stronger fisheries management.

The focus on protected areas is in keeping with the wider Micronesia Challenge, an initiative of five governments across the wider region, to conserve 50% of marine resources by 2030, equivalent to 2.5 million square miles (6.5 million square kilometres).

Adaptation Futures conference in the Pacific

Climate scientists have long understood how precarious islands are when confronted with extreme weather, such as powerful cyclones or long dry spells. The experiences of ocean states, and the recent interventions in the Cook Islands and Micronesia, could provide policymakers with sufficient evidence to inform future adaptation responses.

“The project gave us the tools, but more importantly it gave us the confidence to lead our own resilience,” commented a local representative on Mauke in the Cook Islands.

Practitioners will be given ample opportunity to discuss these issues in New Zealand later this year. The biannual Adaptation Futures conference in October will put Indigenous and Pacific island concerns at the heart of the event, providing a unique moment to have these stories told and acted on.

“Pacific island concerns have not always received the right amount of attention and awareness,” said Ollikainen. “But what happens in these places – drought, flooding, sea level rise – is being repeated around the world. Low-lying islands are the canary in the coal mine – we ignore the warning at our peril.”

Adam Wentworth is a freelance writer based in Brighton, UK.