Tonga- Second National Communication
Project Overview
The creation of a National Communication offers countries the opportunity to contribute with technically sound studies and information that can be used for designing mitigation and adaptation measures, and project proposals that can and will help increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change. Activities generally include: V&A assessments, Greenhouse Gas Inventory preparation, Mitigation Analysis or Education, and awareness raising activities.The ultimate goal is the integration of climate change considerations into relevant social, economic and environmental policies and actions
Key Vulnerabilities identified in Tonga's Second National Communication (2012):
- Water Resources
- Agriculture/Food Security
- Coastal Areas
- Fisheries
- Public Health
- Geological Hazards
Project Details
Water Resources
Adaptation options aimed at better utilization of existing freshwater resources, which can be classified under the broad heading of demand management measures, are:
- Leakage control,
- Consumer education and awareness,
- Pricing policy which discourages high usage, and
- Water conservation plumbing measures.
Adaptation options aimed at developing additional or supplementary freshwater resources, or maximizing the use of currently available resources, are:
- Expansion of rainwater collection schemes,
- Groundwater protection measures (water reserves, non-polluting sanitation systems),
- Desalination,
- Reclamation of land for increased groundwater pumping, and
- Importation.
Agriculture/Food Security
- Promote conservative cultivation such as minimum tillage, green tillage, vegetative mulching, etc.
- Promote the use of bush fallow, planted legume fallow, etc.
- Promote conservative input of the correct mineral fertilizer at the right amount in combination with appropriate organic fertilizer
- Promote conservation cultivations of contour boundary hedgerows, terracing, mulching, green tillages, planted fallow, etc.
- Promote alternative local species/ varieties or breeds
- Promote introduction of exotic varieties or breeds suitable for the more humid warmer climates
- Promote integrated pest management strategies with resistant varieties, biological
Coastal Areas
- Formulate integrated coastal management plan
- Install tide gauge & GPS in Ha’apai
- climate proof planning, design, decision making on every development on the coast
- integrate climate change issues and disaster risks into Environment Impact Assessment Process
- Conduct LIDAR survey on coastal erosion of Tongatapu & Ha’apai
- Conduct coastal feasibility studies and design of most appropriate measures to vulnerable communities on the coast
- Promote coastal reforestation and afforestation
Fisheries
- Use appropriate tools for assessing climate change impacts on fisheries and coral reefs
- integrate climate change issues into Fisheries Management Plan
- Monitor changes by climate change to Fisheries Sector
- Public awareness programmes
Public Health
- Effective epidemiological surveillance of dengue is crucial to disease control.
- Better knowledge of the natural history of the disease, epidemiological surveillance should activate vector control activities and guide their implementation and evaluation
- Awareness programmes on climate change, its impacts on human health and adaptation options to these impacts.
- Great care with water storage
- Eradicate mosquitoes breeding grounds
- Increase health education and public awareness on how to adequately adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Key Results and Outputs
- Sustainable development and the integration of climate change concerns into medium- and long-term planning
- Inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases
- Measures contributing to addressing climate change
- Research and systematic observation
- Climate change impacts, adaptation measures and response strategies
- Education, training and public awareness
Reports and Publications
Assessments and Background Documents
Monitoring and Evaluation
In 1992, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable.
Parties to the Convention must submit national reports on implementation of the Convention to the Conference of the Parties (COP). The required contents of national communications and the timetable for their submission are different for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties. This is in accordance with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" enshrined in the Convention.
The core elements of the national communications for both Annex I and non-Annex I Parties are information on emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and details of the activities a Party has undertaken to implement the Convention. National communications usually contain information on national circumstances, vulnerability assessment, financial resources and transfer of technology, and education, training and public awareness.
Since 1994, governments have invested significant time and resources in the preparation, collection and validation of data on GHG emissions, and the COP has made determined efforts to improve the quality and consistency of the data, which are ensured by established guidelines for reporting. Non-Annex I Parties receive financial and technical assistance in preparing their national communications, facilitated by the UNFCCC secretariat