PIDF Background

Unit: Blue Economy Unit

The Parties agree to establish Pacific Marine Spatial Planning and Blue Economy Cooperation Center according to this implementation agreement, to provide a platform for Marine Spatial Planning research, Blue Economy development planning formulation and capacity building, enhancing sustainable ocean management capabilities and efficiency, promoting Blue Economy development of Pacific Islands Countries (PICs). The parties have signed a cooperation agreement along the margins of the 4th SIDS Conference in Antigua and Barbuda in May 2024 during the PIDFs side event. In progressing the agreement, the parties have agreed to start off with MSP research and field surveys in two islands in Fiji in 2024.

Unit: Blue Economy Unit

One of the ways to address and enable better socio-economic development for the Pacific region is through training and capacity building of entrepreneurs in the green and blue economy. Entrepreneurs need the required tools, technology and the intellectual know-hows to reform their business processes to become more resilient and sustainable. Through PIPSO, the targeted entrepreneurs as well as medium small micro enterprises (MSMEs) and businesses in the informal sector across the Pacific can be identified for future training and capacity building through this Centre.

Unit: Blue Economy Unit

The center is dedicated to delivering tailored solutions, promoting maritime safety protocols, and mitigating the impacts of marine disasters, thereby significantly contributing to the enrichment of maritime cooperation between the Peoples Republic of China and the Pacific Island nations.

The Marine Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Center was officially launched in 2023 and the next step is to compile and release the Island Countries Cooperation Action on Marine Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation this year. This Center will promote capacity building for Pacific island countries in the field of Marine Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation, especially in the areas of coastal erosion and protection, risk management, climate change impact, vulnerability and adaptation, sustainable management and other related fields of oceanography.

Unit: Blue Economy Unit

The PIDF is working towards developing a blue economy in the Pacific region and considers aquaculture as a major focus area. As part of progressing the blue economy initiative, the PIDF Secretariat visited the aquaculture farms in Sigatoka and Nadi, Fiji to facilitate discussions on the challenges and opportunities for a sustainable aquaculture industry in the country. The PIDF has assisted the farmers in forming the Fiji National Aquaculture Association to advance the aquaculture industry in Fiji and have also initiated talanoa sessions to engage relevant aquaculture stakeholders.

1.1.  As such, the PIDF is in collaboration with the University of Fiji for a USAID project on the Development of Entrepreneurial Skills Post COVID-19 through Rural Aquaculture in Vitawa and Mallau communities in Rakiraki. This project serves to empower aquaculture farmers and build their knowledge on aquaculture farming that will enable them to support their livelihoods.

1.2.  The PIDF is leading on a project on developing marine spatial plan for Viti Levu, Fiji as a pilot project. This PIDF, through this project, is working together with the Fijian government initiatives to progress the marine spatial planning processes. The MSP for Viti Levu is the first pilot project which will be extended to other parts of Fiji after the successful completion of this first stage.

1.2.1. As a result of the successful progress of this project, The PIDF acquired further funding on ‘Marine Spatial Planning Training in the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) Member Countries’. This initiative is a result of the issues identified during the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) project in Viti Levu, Fiji which is a collaboration between the PIDF, the China Communications Construction Water Transportation Consultants Co.,Ltd (CCCC) and the CODF. One of the issues is the lack of technical expertise in marine spatial planning in the Pacific.
Enhancing the knowledge of the Pacific islanders would ensure that there is balance between the demands of the human activities and the protection of the health of the ocean ecosystems.

The outcomes of this project will include:

• Strengthened administrative, financial, technical, and human resources to address various multifaceted issues of the MSP process; and
• Broadened skill sets and knowledge beyond traditional disciplines.

Building blue economy in the Pacific: Set up of a Fish Farm in Bau Island, Fiji. This is a collaboration between the Archipelagic Island States Forum (AIS) Secretariat and the PIDF. During the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the small island states in Suva, Fiji in June 2023, an MOU was signed between the AIS Secretariat and the PIDF to form a long-term cooperation in developing blue economy in the Pacific region. As a start of this partnership, the AIS Secretariat and the PIDF worked on setting up a fish net cage farm in the island of Bau.

Innovative Electric Engine Technology for Boats. The Azura Indonesia, a winning startup of AIS Innovation Challenge program with its technology called MantaOne partnered with the PIDF to carry out this project in Fiji. The technology was developed to replace the conventional four-stroke petrol engines that is known to produce higher emissions. MantaOne is seen to bring an advanced way in providing equipment for fishing, as it required no fossil fuel and needed minimal maintenance. This engine is fit for smaller boats, which is also suffice for the local community and the small-scale fishing activity.

Ocean climate finance. Director Blue Economy was picked as a Pacific representative as part of the global team to develop a Commonwealth Guide to Ocean Climate Finance as the first step of the initiative. After the guide was published, PIDF, together with partners developed proposals to further this work in this field, including organizing events at the global platforms to showcase the work and gain support and attract funding. The PIDF through the Blue Economy Unit did this in-kind contribution in the hopes of receiving future funding and projects.

Indo-Pacific Partnerships on Marine Ecology. This project involved:

Seminar: Creating awareness to prevent marine litter and plastic pollution in ecosystem

Masterclass 1: Source reduction

Masterclass 2: Infrastructure and networks

Masterclass 3: Standardizing approaches for measuring success

Unit: Renewable Energy/Island Resilience Unit (after the closure of the Island Resilience Unit, the project is mostly handled by the Climate Action Unit and UNDP)

The Solarization of Head of State Residences is a project funded by the Government of India and is implemented by PIDF in collaboration with UNDP. The Project is managed by the United Nations South to South Cooperation. The objective of the project is to promote renewable energy by facilitating the installation of solar panels in buildings of national importance in 10 PIDF member countries.
This initiative brings together a regional organization (PIDF, SHOS), a Global-South Development partner (the Government of India through the India-UN Development Partnership Fund managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation [UNOSSC]), and an executing agency United Nations Development Program [UNDP]. It also brings in Solaria, a private sector partner based in the United States of America, which is donating the solar panels.

The initiative is being implemented in 11 PICs: Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. In relation to this project, solar panels were successfully installed on the island of Bau, at the chiefly residence of the Gone Turaga na Vunivalu na Tui Kaba at Mataiwelagi and at the Ulunivuaka on the eve of the Great Council of Chiefs meeting in May 2023, in addition to the President’s Residence on the 23rd of December 2023. Installation completed in Tonga, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, RMI, Palau, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Culminating with the completion of the installation at Fiji Prime Minister’s Residence.

Unit: Climate Action Unit

In consortium with IRD (Research Institute for Sustainable Development), Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organization (PIANGO – Fiji), Pacific Island Development Forum (PIDF – Fiji), Vanuatu Meteorology & Geo-Hazard Department (VMGD – Vanuatu), will facilitate the implementation of the RERIPA project (“Enhancing Research and Innovation ecosystem to tackle climate change in the Pacific”), funded for 4 years (March 2021 to 2025) by the ACP Innovation Fund’s Research and Innovation Program, implemented by the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), with funding from the European Union.
RERIPA is focused on strengthening research and innovation (R&I) ecosystems of small Pacific countries, by, strengthening R&I capacity, encouraging and promoting the co-design of projects linking science and society, facilitating the development of innovative solutions applicable within territories promoting and strategies for innovative and sustainable solutions to the impacts of climate change. Aligned to the SIDS leaders well informed and priority placing of Climate Change Impacts, the project is focused on: –
a. Sea Levels Rise
b. Coastal Vulnerability ; and
c. Lagoon and OCEAN Heath

The overall objective of RERIPA is to strengthen research and innovation (R&I) ecosystems of small Pacific countries, as well as networks of actors and strategies for innovative and sustainable solutions to the impacts of climate change. Participatory and multi-actor approaches will be favored, with the support of; scientific and traditional knowledge, project engineering and partnership structuring.
RERIPA provides financial support to projects from Pacific countries, selected through calls for proposals. The funding is for projects on:
I. Map R&I stakeholders and diagnose the status of R&I in the region.
II. Build a multi-stakeholder community that is aware of the importance of science-society collaboration in developing useful innovations.
III. Design and implement R&I projects in ‘living labs’ that develop innovative solutions to address the most urgent climate change issues.
IV. Transfer innovative and sustainable solutions to users in the private sector for positive social and economic benefits, and to public authorities.

Unit: Blue Economy Unit

Strengthening Human Resilience in the Post-COVID19 World through Healthy Food and Nutrition project initiative followed the WHO advisory that in the absence of an effective vaccine to protect us against the deadly effect of COVID19, the best way to safeguard oneself is to strengthen one’s immune system through a healthy and nutritious diet. Given that the health of many Fijians (and Pacific Islanders) have already been compromised by the onset of non-communicable diseases, a healthy and nutritious diet using local food and prepared in a healthy way can reverse the effect of NCDs in our communities.

The purpose of the project is to improve food security and socio-economic resilience in the context of better nutrition, in particular for the most vulnerable communities, through improved agricultural practices, more effective engagement of stakeholders (including farmers, government, and chefs and nutritionists), better supply chain and cold chain management of products, and greater use of local produce in member countries.

The PIDF did an assessment of the food and nutrition security needs of the PIDF member countries, with the funding from the UN Office of the South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) which were the initial steps towards contributing to the improvement of food and nutrition security of poor and vulnerable populations, especially for women, in the PIDF member countries. This report also serves a purpose to bring substantial data on food security under one document for 12 countries which forms the first part of the food and nutrition security project that the PIDF is developing. It is a valuable source of information for the Pacific Island Countries and partners interested in supporting them towards addressing this urgent issue cutting across many aspects of social and economic development in the Pacific.

The PIDF also did a pilot project in Rakiraki, Fiji which was rolled out in 4 communities in Rakiraki taking the farm to plate approach with the generous financial support from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Suva, Fiji rendered towards the Food and Nutrition Security project for Fiji.

A partnership between the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) who are providing the funding, is being implemented in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. The objective of the initiative is to strengthen inclusive informed decision-making by resource owners and local government officials for integration of Green Economy and Renewable Energy into local-level planning and to strengthen implementation of Renewable Energy for rural electrification.