Winner of a pre-Rio Equator 2012 prize .... the Tetepare Descendants' Association, legal owners of Tetepare Island, largest uninhabited island in the tropical Pacific and one of the last remaining unlogged tropical islands in world. Photo: Anthony Plummer

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Shobna Decloitre

A week before world leaders meet in Rio de Janeiro to take stock of development progress, UNDP launched has its flagship 2012 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report “One Planet to Share: Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate” as part of its contributions to the Rio+20 process.

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Lupesoliai Malielegaoi, speaking at the Pacific regional launch in Apia, said: “We are required to do what has not been done before: sustain growth that is inclusive and lift people out of poverty in a time of profound climate change. It is in the region’s own interest to address climate change and do development differently.”

Tuilaepa added that “action to address climate change also means better health, cleaner air, less pollution, a healthier natural environment, pleasanter surroundings – which improve the quality of life and save costs”.

United Nations Resident Coordinator and UN Development Programme Resident Representative Nileema Noble underscored the importance of Pacific youth in responding to climate change.

“Youth in the Pacific are catalysts for transformational change,” she said.

“They can take advantage of the considerable opportunities for youth-led responses to climate change, such as ‘green’ employment opportunities arising in the agriculture, manufacturing, industry and transportation sectors.”

The regional launch was made possible through support from the University of the South Pacific’s (USP) Alafua Campus which connected 11 other Pacific countries live via satellite – Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Acting Campus Director Leatuolevao Ruby Vaa said: “We are delighted that USP has facilitated the participation of many Pacific Island countries with us today through its satellite system, USPNet; this is truly a regional launch for the Pacific.”

The Pacific regional launch was followed by a panel discussion on the report featuring Feiloakitau Kaho Tevi (former general secretary of the Pacific Council of Churches and special contributor to the report); Professor Robin South (Marine Sciences at USP); Taulealeausumai Laavasa Malua (CEO, Samoan Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment); and Netatua Pelesikoti, Director of Climate Change, SPREP.

Pelesikoti discussed the findings of the report.

Some of the report’s key messages for the region include:

• Developing countries face different conditions from those faced by the industrialised world in their process of growth; as we may be approaching limits to the unrestricted use of natural resources, growing first and cleaning-up later is not an option any more. Managing emissions better needs to become an inherent part of adapting and building resilience to climate change.

• Uncompleted development agendas imply that Asia-Pacific is much less “locked-in” to the old ways. There are opportunities to do development differently, to embed development responses to climate change in poverty and inequality reduction.

• Triggers for transformation need not explicitly be about climate change; lower emissions also mean better health, cleaner air, less pollution, a healthier natural environment, more pleasant surroundings — which improve quality of life and save costs anyway.

• Increasing use of renewable energy and low-carbon technologies, while reducing the use of fossil fuels, can sustain the environment and offer opportunities to the poor, including jobs and better services.

• Rural areas require far more attention. Home to most of Asia-Pacific’s poor and vulnerable people, they have poverty rates often twice as high as those in urban areas.

Rural households are highly sensitive to climate shocks. Rural resilience strategies should be grounded in human development.

Communities that are educated, have reliable sources of income, and are more equal, will be better equipped to meet new climate demands.

Source: UNDP media release

One Planet to Share 2012 report

Equator 2012 prize for Tetepare