Suva, 14 June 2016
GCCAA climate change project implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC) is being featured among the displays during the European Development Days taking place in Brussels, Belgium, this week.

The “Helping communities adapt to climate change” display at the European Development Days village on 15-16 June will showcase the work of the Global Climate Change Alliance: Pacific Small Islands States (GCCA:PSIS) project in nine countries: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia , Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu.

“SPC has developed an informative display that will feature examples of simple, practical and replicable climate change adaptation measures developed through the project that are relevant to small Pacific islands and in particular remote, outer island communities,” SPC Geoscience Division Director, Professor Michael Petterson, said.

“Effective partnerships are a critical component to sustainable development in the Pacific and this project is an excellent example of how SPC, as the principal technical and scientific organisation for the region, is working alongside development partners like the European Union and Pacific Island governments to help design and implement tangible, on-the-ground climate change adaption interventions for the region,” Prof Petterson added.
EDD is Europe’s leading forum on development and international cooperation which brings together around 5000 participants from 140 countries and 1200 organisations involved in development cooperation, human rights and humanitarian aid.

Organised by the European Commission’s Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development, the forum fosters the sharing of ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

Among the five themes of EDD: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships, the GCCA: PSIS stand will focus on the Planet theme, and in particular climate change.

These include a display on solar disinfection (SODIS) which involves placing contaminated water in plastic bottles on a reflective surface in direct sunlight for six hours, after which the water is drinkable. This method is reducing the rates of childhood diarrhoea in the demonstration community of Bairiki in Kiribati, and results in considerable cost savings for residents as they no longer have to boil water.

Another display will feature first flush devices, which ensure the dirt that accumulates on household roofs does not contaminate household rainwater storage tanks, which in many outer islands are the only means of water storage.

Other climate change adaptation interventions in the Pacific will be shared with visitors to the European Development Days through a series of lessons learned videos produced by SPC which originally aired on SPC’s TV show, The Pacific Way, which is screened throughout the Pacific.

The videos highlight a variety of different climate change adaptation interventions in the nine different countries. These can be viewed on the SPC YouTube site: https://goo.gl/Prastx

Background
The Global Climate Change Alliance: Pacific Small Island States (GCCA:PSIS) project is a €11.4  million  European Union supported project, implemented regionally in partnership with SPC and nationally by each of the nine participating governments in Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu.

Media contact:
Zhiyad Khan, SPC GCCA: PSIS Communications Assistant, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or+679 337 9349
Nazeem Mohammed Kasim, Press and Information Officer, Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it