Honiara, Solomon Islands, June 20, 2024– In the fight to tackle climate change in the Solomons Islands, highlighting the ongoing development of the country’s first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Investment Plan, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Ministry of Environment Climate Change Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM), and key stakeholders gathered for a validation workshop. The validation workshop focused on advancing the work and ensuring that valuable insights and perspectives are integrated into the NDC Investment plan.

The half-day session focused on validating the NDC Investment Plan and ensuring its national relevance. It included a review of drafted outcomes and concept notes for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects across sectors including renewable energy, land transport, forestry, and waste. Stakeholders exchanged information and provided feedback, highlighting Solomon Islands’ commitment to addressing climate change challenges and promoting sustainability.

Mr. Chanel Iroi, Deputy Secretary Technical (DST) representing the Permanent Secretary for MECDM, emphasized the significance of the NDC Investment Plan (IP) for the Solomon Islands in his opening remarks. He outlined three key benefits: enhancing transparency by clarifying the government’s climate change strategies domestically and internationally, facilitating access to crucial support from international partners for capacity building, technical assistance, technology transfer, and financing, and promoting efficiency and effectiveness in implementing sustainable mitigation and adaptation actions through detailed planning and cost estimation.

GGGI’s Pacific Regional Director, Ms. Katerina Syngellakis reiterated GGGI’s commitment in supporting the development of the NDC Investment Plan while mentioning, “The preparation of the NDC Investment Plan will help prioritize projects and activities to spend government resources when seeking additional climate finance from development partners and donor institution funding climate actions”. She encourages all those involved to combine efforts through the integration and validation for as comprehensive coverage as possible of all the issues and opportunities present in the NDC Investment Plans.

The NDC Investment Plan and concept notes, scheduled for completion by August, represents a collaborative effort involving the Government of Solomon Islands, GGGI, and the Regional Pacific NDC Hub.

The Regional Pacific NDC Hub is request driven by the Pacific for the Pacific and serves as a one-stop platform for the Pacific region, facilitating the exchange of best practices, providing technical assistance, and building capacities to tackle challenges posed by climate change. It offers a comprehensive and collaborative approach to support the implementation of climate commitments outlined in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of 14 Pacific Island Countries. Guided by the principles of the Paris Agreement, the hub receives funding from the Governments of Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union.