Fiji will pilot electric buses and multiple passenger routes with local technical capacity to operate and maintain electric bus transportation.
This is among key projects and programs being developed from identified policies, interventions and targets in Fiji’s National Climate Finance Strategy.
Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum noted the implementation phase for those projects had started, and in terms of promoting electric bus transport in the country, said the first one would start off at Valelevu “where we are actually building a suburban bus transit route and a station with the electric charging stations will be there”.
He said another key project was that of climate resilient homes, which would have innovative constructing processes and materials that reduced home construction costs and provided solar for low cost housing and flats in Fiji.
Another program area is smart agriculture.
“Smart agriculture will provide a guarantee for Fiji Development Bank to de-risk farmers while also improving the financial access to smart agriculture technologies that support low emissions and climate resilient and cultural practices as we are seeing in Bureta in Ovalau where we had that first Agro-photovoltaic’ Project, which is blended finance project funded through FDB, the Green Climate Fund and the Korean assistance,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
He added: “Bonds which would seek to raise up to US$50million for investments to deliver sustainable blue economy and create jobs and protect Fiji’s ocean helping those people in the maritime areas, on coastal areas to get into sustainable fishing practices and various other practices in mariculture and agriculture.”
The Fijian Government launched the Fiji Climate Finance Strategy at the Fiji National University on May 3.
According to the A-G, the Fiji National Climate Finance Strategy serves two vital roles:
- First, it fulfils the requirements of the recently-enacted Climate Change Act, to develop and implement a National Climate Finance Strategy; and
- Second, it is a comprehensive blueprint that details the priority policies, interventions, targets and projects across 12 sectors that require climate finance and keep us on track to meeting our ambition and making our islands a case study in carbon neutrality and sustainable and resilient development.
The NCFS integrates the policies, targets and projects for Fiji’s development and climate strategies and prioritises them based on the numerous consultations.
He said those strategies included the National Development Plan (NDP), National Adaptation Plan, climate vulnerability, low emission development strategy and NDC Investment Plan, NDC Implementation Roadmap and from line Ministries strategic plans.
