New Zealand has announced it will support Fiji to relocate communities displaced by climate change through a $2 million contribution to the Climate Relocation and Displaced Peoples Trust Fund.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the contribution today which comes from the $150 million package of Pacific-focused climate change assistance.
Speaking to an audience of students and staff at the University of the South Pacific’s Laucala Campus, Ardern acknowledged that the relocation of communities has already started in Fiji.
She says Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama asked New Zealand to make a contribution to the Fiji Trust last year and they are pleased to meet his request and become the first country to do so.
She says the contribution will help to ensure that the fund operates robustly, effectively, and meets the needs of these at-risk communities.
Ardern says they expect to share and use what they learn from this programme throughout the region.
Five communities have been moved to date and a further 42 have applied for Government support to move.
