KAP Phase II - Improving risk assessment and adaptation planning capabilities
The challenges
There are five challenges that this part of KAP Phase II has sought to address:
- Kiribati is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the effects of climate change and sea level rise. Most of the land in urban Tarawa is less than 3 metres above sea level, and the island has an average width of only 450 metres, rendering retreat adaptation options untenable. This situation is typical of most islands in the country.
- Kiribati is increasingly vulnerable to climate change due to high population concentration, accelerated coastal development, shoreline erosion, and environmental degradation.
- To address these rising risks, the Government of Kiribati received funding from a number of donors including the World Bank, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), AusAID and NZAID, to undertake work to reduce Kiribati’s vulnerability to climate change, climate variability and sea level rise.
- Existing legislation and institutional arrangements regarding coastal zone management were not addressing Kiribati’s vulnerability to climate change. In addition the country lacked the capacity, expertise and practical tools to perform risk assessments to inform policy and site specific coastal management decisions.
- A key challenge was to translate international best practice into practical and sustainable solutions that were specific to Kiribati. Building in-country knowledge and capacity was also a priority.
Approach
Coastal Zone Management Pty Ltd (CZM) worked closely with all stakeholders to develop a climate change risk diagnosis and planning process for Kiribati that would address coastal hazards within the context of climate change.
A comprehensive review of existing legislation and institutional arrangements regarding coastal zone management was undertaken to develop key recommendations for legislation and institutional arrangements. The objective was to develop a coordinated approach to coastal management, whilst mainstreaming climate change into operations. A three-staged approach, based on the concept of capability spectrums, was developed. The approach allows government – regardless of its current capabilities – to consider what it needs to improve in its capacity to move forward on the capability spectrum. The model provides a staged approach to institutional reform.
CZM also developed and trialled an approach to climate change risk assessment that was appropriate and specific to Kiribati. The risk-based approach was trialled in two sites in South Tarawa (Bikenibeu and Temaiku).
CZM worked alongside Government officials and involved all stakeholders to trial this methodology, which built on previous work by KAP and took into account international best practice. The trial resulted in the production of site-specific sea-level rise and storm-surge inundation maps, the identification of high priority risks, and the development of strategic adaptation strategies to address the identified risks.
Benefits
The Coastal Working Group (pictured below) recognised the trial proved to be highly relevant and appropriate to the needs of the Government in advancing the in-country understanding of the practical impacts of climate change and sea-level rise. In addition the trial generated usable data to inform future policy and make site-specific decisions.
The success of the pilot has led to a decision by the project team to engage CZM to roll out the climate change risk assessment approach across all government agencies. CZM has now been engaged to work with representatives from Government agencies to enhance capacity in climate change risk assessment and adaptation planning.
2009 follow-up project
Due to the positive outcomes delivered and the benefits for the Working Group derived, the project was extended to include further training and capacity building activities. This follow up adopted a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach. CZM trained a core group of participants (covering Ministerial departments with a role in coastal management). These staff will become key representatives responsible for up-skilling staff within their ministry in the risk assessment process and adaptation approach.
To achieve this objective, a risk assessment process and adaptation approach, was enhanced, incorporating lessons learned during earlier project stages.
Outcomes from the Project included:
- Development of new risk assessment and adaptation handbooks.
- Expansion of the risk assessment and adaptation planning from two discrete sites to all villages within South Tarawa (risk map below).
- New ways of visualizing mapping data, which was simplified to improve accessibility. Google Earth mapping files mapped sea level rise hazards against existing infrastructure, such as housing, electricity and water.
- Development of Excel templates to help processing of Multi Criteria Analysis of adaptation Planning
Maps produced in the original project stages were updated to incorporate new sea level rise predictions, taken from the updated NIWA Coastal Calculator. Changes in data values meant site-specific sea level rise and storm-inundation maps were re-created.
This information about Phase II of the KAP project was produced by our partners at Coastal Zone Management Pty Ltd. Download their information sheet here. 
