Fiji will continue to need climate change adaptation financing in the years ahead, says Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad.
In its Public Expenditure Review for Fiji 2023 report, World Bank highlighted that Fiji would need $9.3 billion over the next 10 years to reduce the country’s vulnerability to the impact of climate change.
Prof Prasad, who recently attended the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, said one of the key discussions he held with a number of agencies and countries was climate financing.
“Obviously, the commitment by the developed countries to allocate $100 million has not been met,” he said.
“We still haven’t got a loss and damage fund. What we are saying to the developed countries, we need funding for adaptation. All our infrastructure, whether we talk about roads, water supply, or electricity or hospital, education, these have to be climate resilient.
“And so, as a country, as a small island state, we will have to leverage climate change funding in a big way. We need to build capacity within our government.
“We need to be able to say to the international funding agencies, like Climate Adaptation Fund, Global Environmental Facility, but right now, it’s very difficult to access this funding.”
He said Fiji would be able to access such financing in the coming years by growing the country’s economy.
