Climate change remains the number one threat to the Pacific region. Statements from the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting held in Palau in early September, and the planned pre-COP31 meeting to be held in Fiji and Tuvalu in October, are clear reminders that the threat is ever-present, and the solutions require ongoing effort and attention.
The Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), is one of the many aspects of the region’s response. In the PIF leader’s joint communiqué, leaders reaffirmed the PRF as the ‘region’s pre-eminent climate finance investment priority and called for regional advocacy to support the capitalisation.’
New pledges from Pacific island countries and PIF dialogue partners have brought the total pledged support to over USD$180 million, with an initial target of USD$500 million. Although there is a long way to go in financing and planning, the PRF has made great strides this year in entering the treaty into force, holding its first council meeting, and beginning its community-impact programming. Additional funding for the PRF is expected to be central to Pacific leaders’ engagement at UNGA81 this week.
The PRF will help vulnerable Pacific people exposed to climate change and disaster risks, with a core focus on allowing the region to invest in small grant based but high-impact projects to make communities disaster ready. In essence, Pacific owned and led solutions are at the forefront of building community resilience and preparedness before disaster strikes.
As the PRF hits the ground running we have asked three experts: ‘How can the Pacific Resilience Facility have the most impact?’
Climate adaptation is fundamentally context-dependent, requiring country-led solutions tailored to local hazards and community priorities. The PRF is well positioned to facilitate effective adaptation. Many practical climate adaptation measures can be implemented at local- to regional-scales to minimise disaster impacts across the Pacific. Adaptation efforts should focus first on reducing the highest-risk vulnerabilities. Key measures include establishing early warning systems, particularly for cyclones; strengthening coastal defences through seawalls and restoration of coral and mangrove ecosystems; improving water security through desalination and rainwater harvesting; building or retrofitting housing, schools and health facilities to better withstand flooding and coastal erosion; and cultivating climate-resilient crops that are drought and salt tolerant.
While these measures deliver tangible benefits, adaptation strategies must also look beyond immediate risks. Resilience is not just infrastructure. Building resilient communities requires social resilience, climate-ready infrastructure and financial resources. Strong social networks and community wellbeing are well-established contributors to climate resilience. During extreme climate events, social cohesion and community support networks, including neighbour check-ins and wellness checks, can reduce mortality rates and lessen the need for formal assistance. Resilience also emerges from preventative public health measures. Healthier communities are more resilient to climate shocks.
A discussion of adaptation measures for the Pacific requires acknowledging the region's extreme climate vulnerability and exposure to escalating hazards. Incremental adaptation measures can be highly effective, but the scale of climate risk in some locations requires transformative responses. Relocation and managed retreat should also be acknowledged as adaptation options in the Pacific where no other measures are viable.
Sophie is a sustainability and environment specialist and someone we are lucky to call our Strategic Advisor here at the Lab. Formerly the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, she has published over 50 research articles on climate change and variability through her work at the University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne, and Australian National University. Her contributions have been recognised with honours such as ACT Scientist of the Year (2019). At the Lab, we love Sophie’s commitment to the future of young people in a changing climate and her unwavering leadership in climate research, policy and advocacy.
Climate risk is rightly recognised as the greatest threat to security across the Pacific, a threat which UNEP has recently acknowledged will overshoot the ‘safe’ 1.5C limit articulated under the Paris Agreement. In a Pacific context, the link between climate and security extends beyond a traditional narrow lens, and encompasses the effects it has on societies and communities as the climate and land around them is disrupted. This is particularly true for displaced communities, women and girls, and those experiencing or recovering from conflict.
The Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) is more than just a climate finance mechanism. It will become a core pillar of security across Pacific communities. While there is already a huge gap in the availability of adaptation finance, the costs and effort of accessing climate finance limit the efficacy of what is available. In comparison to global funds the PRF is well-placed to resolve this through its integration in regional institutions and member governments.
In this sense, the greatest impact of the PRF will be providing climate finance to communities whose security is most disrupted by climate and yet have the least means and capability to access the resilience-building finance they need. This will require sustained engagement and consultation both with Member governments, as well as hearing from communities directly, on priorities for resilience and access. Those consultations can in turn inform and align with greater situational awareness on climate risk needs as articulated under the Pacific Island Forum’s newly endorsed Regional Peace and Security Action Plan 2026-2030, in which climate, peace, and security is a strategic focus area for action.
Michael Copage is the Director and founder of CoTerran. He has led research at the intersection of climate change and security in the think tank community, and advanced development and implementation of major climate policies.
Previously, he was Head of the Climate and Security Policy Centre within the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and was a senior analyst with the Government of Canada's climate change and energy departments for over a decade. At the Lab, we love Michael’s incisive analysis at the intersection of climate change and security, grounded in policy nous and implementation practice.
The Pacific Resilience Facility’s greatest impact may come from what it can provide beyond the funding for small resilience projects. The PRF can become a mechanism for discovering what works at community level to build climate resilience and can share that knowledge to shape much larger investments across the region.
The PRF will operate closer to communities than most development banks and international climate funds. Its projects will generate a wealth of unique insights about local priorities, implementation barriers and which relatively small interventions deliver the greatest gains.
The challenge will be making sure that knowledge is captured and used to guide the region and other supporting partners.
Building a deliberate learning function into the PRF’s model should be a priority, and Pacific governments, foreign partners and development banks should seek to support and engage. A successful village water-security project may only directly benefit one community, but the lessons could influence how much larger national water infrastructure or adaptation programs are designed across the region.
The PRF can significantly amplify its impact by becoming both a fund and a regional evidence platform, helping others to identify what works, where, and why, while still getting important funds direct to communities.
If it can combine Pacific ownership, community-level delivery and systematic knowledge transfer, the PRF’s influence could extend well beyond its own funding envelope and help reshape how resilience investment is delivered across the Pacific.
Blake is a national security and intelligence expert, with a passion for building capacity and resilience in the Pacific. He is a strategic thinker with a background in analytical techniques, product development, and workshop design. Blake was a senior analyst and lead of the Pacific Program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and is currently also the Intelligence and Data Methods lead at ANS Analytics. At the Lab, we love Blake's ability to break problems down into core questions and his work to amplify the voices of other experts across the region.
