OPENING REMARKS 
Ms. Tuya Altangerel, Resident Representative
UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji
National Symposium for Community Led Initiatives on Environment Sustainability 2023
Holiday Inn, Suva
19 September 2023

Yadra Vinaka and Good Morning to you all,

I am honoured to be here this morning, on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme, and the Pacific Office in Fiji, for the opening session of this significant event.  

As we all know, the Pacific is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to the impacts of climate change. Sea level rise, extreme weather events, and changes in rainfall patterns are already having a devastating impact on communities across the region.

Indigenous people and local communities have a deep understanding of their environment, and the traditional knowledge and practices to manage this environment sustainably. They are often the first to respond to climate change and other environmental challenges, and they have developed innovative solutions that can be used to protect their communities and the environment.

There remain significant gaps in capturing and reporting data from community-led initiatives, which in turn makes it difficult to track their progress and ensure that they are getting the support they need.

We need to find ways to address this disconnect and ensure that the voices and experiences of indigenous people and local communities are heard at all levels of decision-making across the region.

The Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme – implemented by UNDP - is partnering with several organizations to host this inaugural national symposium. The symposium presents itself as an important opportunity to share stories, to learn from each other, and to build a stronger movement for sustainable development across the Pacific.

This event recognises that communities and locally led solutions are at the core of sustainability efforts right across the globe, and with this input and expertise we are better placed to realise the UN’s wider sustainable development agenda.  

The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme in Fiji alone currently supports community projects to the value of US$574,000, with another US$550,000 in support to projects to be provided over the coming years. These initiatives have lessons to be learned, they have solutions, and they have stories to share, and that is why we are here today.

To those who are here today, those who will be sharing their own stories, this is your platform to connect your community initiatives to national policies and the broader global agenda for when it comes to climate resilience and adaptation.

You will have the opportunity to share your stories and experiences of how your communities are adapting to climate change and building resilience, building further momentum for the inclusion of indigenous people and local communities in COP28 – or to use its full title the United Nations Climate Change Conference negotiations, that will take place in Dubai this November and December.

I urge you to support the national symposium and to help us ensure that the voices and experiences of Pacific peoples and local communities are heard at COP28. Together, we can build a more just and equitable transition to a cleaner, greener, low-carbon future that champions community-based and community-led initiatives.

I am encouraged to see this event, and I trust that this is the start of something bigger.

On behalf of UNDP Pacific I wish all of the organizers, partners and delegates a great symposium and I look forward to seeing its results in the coming days.  

Vinaka vakalevu, and thank you very much.