THE Government will ensure that climate change issues are featured prominently in consultations and discussions as well as in the finalisation of the 2017 National Budget.
Finance Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said it was particularly important for these issues to be discussed considering the natural disasters that Fiji went through this year.
“It’s also the continuation of some of the policies such as the relocation of villages that are in coastal areas,” he said.
“But what we’re also looking at is not just the question of relocation, we also have to ensure that they have sustained livelihoods.
“So we have to see what other types of linked-in projects that we can have, whether it be fish farms or crab farms, to be able to help them have a sustained livelihood which is very important. We have to think beyond simply relocation.”
Climate finance is another aspect, according to Mr Sayed-Khaiyum, that the Government will be looking at while preparing next year’s budget.
“As you may be aware that the Prime Minister highlighted in Thailand that there is a lack of capacity among officials in many countries to be able to navigate through the climate finance regime, so it’s quite bureaucratic to be able to build that capacity and Fiji has offered to host such a centre to be able to develop that know-how and that knowledge.”
The minister added any rebuilding must be done to ensure that it withstands future natural disasters to avoid similar situations as was faced after Severe TC Winston.
“Sometimes these type of building back can be a lot more expensive than conventional rebuilding and a classic example is our overhead powerlines. The reason for that is because it’s much cheaper than to have it underground.
“But the reality is that if we were to have more cyclones for two or three years in a row and if we had to keep replacing powerlines, there’s obviously no point in doing that and we have to go underground.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said different ministries had also been advised during consultations to adopt long-term plans to avoid them requesting more and more money each year.