An MDG Recap: What Can We Learn from Where We Stumbled?

This site aims to be a resource on risk management and community resilience issues in the framework of the SDGs. But in order to understand just what needs to happen to effectively manage risk and increase resilience in the Pacific, it is important to learn from our track record on the MDGs. There were some positives, there were plenty of disappointing outcomes, and more than enough analysis of MDG results in the Pacific from which to learn in order to take steps forward in the face of climate change and increasing insecurities on a large number of issues.

Where to begin? There were 8 MDGs (compared to the 17 SDGs) and we could go through the results for each one individually. However, that has already been done (and done well, in a report by Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Read the full report here). Instead, we look to themes emerging from the report to help us understand why there has been failure to increase community resilience in the Pacific, and to better understand the risks that need to be ‘managed’ in order for sustainable development to actually happen.

The GCF: Catalyst for Adaptation or Business as Usual?

Everyone has questions about the Green Climate Fund. For some, it has been presented as the financial cure-all for developing countries and those most vulnerable to climate change. For others, it is just one more bureaucratic trust fund that will put international and donor interests first and developing country interests a distant second. What is interesting about the GCF is that it has received far more attention than any other development trust fund ever has, and is quite polarizing. Politics as usual, but for Pacific island governments and citizens, it is important to have a good understanding of what to expect from the Fund.

What differentiates the GCF from other climate change trust funds such as the Global Environment Facility is that it specifically reserves 50% of its funding for least developed countries (LDCs), small island states (SIDS) and Africa. It also ensures equal funding for adaptation and mitigation. The GCF was launched in 2015 to much fanfare and great expectations that the most vulnerable would be prioritized.