German Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visits Fiji

On 5-7 May, the German Federal Foreign Minister Ms. Annalena Baerbock visited Fiji. She was accompanied by Ms. Agnieszka Brugger, Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Group Alliance 90; Mr. Jurgen Cosse, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee; and Mr. Ulrich Lechte, Foreign Policy Spokesman and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. They were welcomed by His Excellency, President of Fiji Ratu Wiliame Katonivere.

During her trip, Ms. Baerbock visited Vuniniudrovu Village where residents are waiting to be relocated due to flooding and riverbed erosion caused by heavy rains and winds. Those who could afford already moved further up but many are still at the old village site where the remaining houses are just a few meters away from the riverbed. Climate change effects have an increasingly negative impact, especially on communities across the Pacific. Rising sea levels, a drop in groundwater levels, frequent storms and floods rob inhabitants of their livelihoods and force them to permanently relocate their homes.

Commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ supports partner governments in Fiji, the Philippines and in West Africa to improve the implementation of climate resilient and gender responsive approaches for climate-induced migration.

In Fiji, the project “Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change” assists the Government in the development and implementation of national policies and guidelines on planned relocation of communities. Fiji is the first and only country to have a step-by-step guide for planned relocation.

Developed through a participative process, the Standard Operating Procedures ensure that actors involved in planned relocation are guided by a human-centered and human-rights based approach when dealing with climate induced mobility and that communities have all the necessary information to make an informed decision.

A comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessment methodology is currently being finalized to assess risks as well as ability and capacity to cope with existing and future climate change and disaster threats. It includes assessment of non-economic loss and damage.

GIZ Senior Technical Advisor Ms. Christine Fung oriented Ms. Baerbock about the village situation. The delegation engaged with the residents on the pressing issue of climate change, particularly its effects on land erosion and flooding. Expressing gratitude to the community for their warm welcome, Minister Baerbock reaffirmed Germany's support for sustainable solutions. Curbing the climate crisis was the focus of her political talks.

Though Fiji is perceived as a sunny holiday destination, there are well over 200 days of rain a year in the Pacific state - in Hamburg, by comparison, there are only around 130. Fiji and its neighboring states are not only surrounded by ocean, the level of which is rising due to the climate crisis. The sea is also warming, leading to more rain. The result is flooding and land erosion. Entire villages have already had to be relocated.

The Federal Government of Germany, through GIZ, works in the Pacific Island Countries by providing advisory services in adapting to climate change and sustainable energy, forest conservation, marine and coastal biodiversity management, and transition to low-carbon sea transport. Besides the threat of over-exploitation of natural resources, limited domestic markets and vast distances to export markets, climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the region.

The GIZ projects in the Pacific include: Low Carbon Sea Transport (LCST), Sustainable Management of Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change (HMCCC), Blue Carbon - Protection and Rehabilitation Incentives for Coastal Carbon Sinks (MACBLUE), Regional Pacific NDC Hub, Solutions for Marine and Coastal Resilience in the Coral Triangle (SOMACORE), Technical Assistance for the Vanuatu Value Chain Program (VAVAC), Protecting Freshwater Resources for Increased Climate Resilience in the Pacific Islands (PacFresH20). 

These programmes were commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the International Services. Co-funding for the projects is provided by the European Union (EU), the  New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia (DFAT). GIZ has been working in the Pacific Region since 1977. Programmes implemented by GIZ in this Region fall under the Country Portfolio of the GIZ Office Manila, Philippines. Photos @GIZ