National Climate Change Policy (2012-2017).

The National Climate Change Policy is an instrument which covers the period from 2012 to 2017 and whose vision is a resilient, secure and sustainable Solomon Islands responding to climate change. The objective of this policy is to provide a guiding framework to: (i) integrate climate considerations and support the implementation and achievement of Solomon Islands National Development Strategy and other regional and international policies and frameworks; (ii) to guide the government and its partners efforts in ensuring that the people, natural environment and economy of the country are resilient and able to adapt to the predicted impacts of climate change; the country benefits from clean and renewable energy, energy efficiency and mitigation technologies that improves people’s livelihoods and the national economy, is environmentally sustainable and contributes to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases emissions and global warming. The policy is guided by the following principles: stakeholder participation and collaboration; precautionary principle and no regrets approach; respect for culture and rights of indigenous people; gender equity and involvement of youth.
As mentioned, one of the main objectives of this policy is to increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters. Integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction is one of the main principles: climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction are closely inter-related and shall be aligned. Climate change policy and adaptation, disaster risk reduction and mitigation measurers will be based upon, as far as practicable, both international climate change research and evidence based local scientific measurements and observations.
Regarding governance, the aim is to have in place an effective enabling environment and institutional arrangement to plan, implement and coordinate an integrated and multistakeholder participatory approach to addressing climate change. To ensure this is achieved, the Government shall: (a) strengthen capacity of the Climate Change Division; (b) establish a National Climate Change Council to oversee the implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of national climate change policies and strategies; (c) establish a Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) to provide inter-agency and inter-stakeholder coordination for the implementation of the policy; (d) develop national and provincial level climate change policies and strategies.