By: Bernadette Carreon
Palau and other Pacific countries will receive a $107.4 million grant from the Green Climate Fund and an additional $49.4 million in co-financing.
This funding aims to manage the risks associated with the redistribution of tuna stocks due to climate change and enhance food security.
According to the Green Climate Fund website, this funding “will build resilience in tuna-dependent economies and communities by addressing food insecurity and economic risks caused by climate change.”
The funding will be distributed among 14 Pacific Island countries, which include the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Research conducted by the Pacific Community (SPC) and Conservation International states that there is a growing risk that ocean warming will push tuna stocks away from these countries’ maritime zones and into international waters.
The 14 countries’ economic benefits from the tuna could be limited due to the tuna migration.
The research suggests that climate-driven redistribution of tuna could decrease the average catch from Pacific Island waters by 10-30% by 2050, leading to a collective annual loss of $40-140 million.
This economic loss could account for 8-17% of government revenue each year for individual tuna-dependent economies.
The funding was approved in February and has been under implementation since May 9.