With these questions, adelphi convened a high-ranking panel "Climate Diplomacy - foreign policy challenges in the context of climate change in the Pacific Islands region" at the UN SIDS Conference in Samoa on September 3rd 2014.

The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) further confirms findings of current and future climate-related drivers of risk for small islands. The Pacific Islands States have identified climate change as a severe threat and have decided to work together with international partners to fight against and adapt to climate change. Pacific leaders and governments are working on effective strategies on mitigation and adaptation to climate change and on making their voices heard in the global loss and damage debate.

The side event embedded climate change related risks in the broader context of regional and global governance, institutional development and significant geopolitical changes. Climate change triggers water, energy and food security in the Pacific Islands region and thus has major implications for regional stability. By bringing together foreign policy makers and climate policy experts from the region, this side event explored foreign policy perspectives on climate change in the Pacific Islands region.

The side event was jointly organised by adelphi, the University of the South Pacific (USP), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the IPCC. This event was supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.

See the side event programme as well as the accompanying flyer for more information.