What is the Vanuatu government doing about climate change?
People in Vanuatu live a simple life—80 per cent of residents do not have electricity and rely on subsistence farming; education is too expensive for many families; and outside the capital city of Port Villa roads are rough and made from dead coral. Like many developing countries, climate change adaptation is too costly for the Vanuatu government. The little money they have is prioritised for development and education. The 2007 environment budget is 7 million vatu (approximately AUS $66,000), slightly more than the cost of a minister’s new car. Environmental projects rely heavily on foreign aid. The Vanuatu government’s National Advisory Committee for Climate Change Coordinator, Brian Phillips, says the only way forward is for the industrialised world to cut down on their emissions and enable the climate to stabilise over time. ‘In the meantime small island states could do with a lot of financial assistance to help our communities adapt to the impacts of climate change,’ he says. The i
