About Us

The Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+) is a European Union flagship initiative which is helping the world’s most vulnerable countries to address climate change. Having started with just four pilot projects in 2008, it has become one of the largest climate initiatives worldwide that has funded over 80 projects of national, regional and worldwide scope in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

History

The EU GCCA was established by the EU in 2007, with an initial envelope of more than EUR 300 million to support the most vulnerable developing countries. From the outset, it was unique in its focus on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as well as Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The EU was one of the first development agencies to recognise the particular vulnerability of SIDS and the need to prioritise partnerships both with and between them.

By building on lessons learned and in line with the European Commission’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020, the GCCA has reached a new phase: it is the flagship initiative Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (EU GCCA+) with a total commitment of EUR 737 million over the whole period 2007-2020.

This ‘Plus’ phase of the EU GCCA programme is characterised by new features and a strategic orientation towards supporting the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular goal 13 related to climate change, in line with the vision of the European Consensus on Development.

Scope and objectives

The GCCA+ supports those developing countries that are most vulnerable to climate change in implementing their national commitments. It operates via the EU Delegations worldwide.

The GCCA+ works to build climate resilience in three main areas of intervention:

Mainstreaming climate change into poverty reduction and development efforts;

Increasing resilience to climate-related stresses and shocks (promoting disaster-risk reduction);

Supporting the creation and implementation of concrete adaptation and mitigation strategies, plans and actions.

The GCCA+ is taking a holistic approach to climate change adaptation, simultaneously covering different sectors: Climate Smart Agriculture, livestock and fishery production, food security, water and sanitation, natural resource management, tree planting, enhancement of livelihoods; small infrastructures; coastal management.

GCCA+ in the Pacific

The €11.4 million GCCA: PSIS (Pacific Small islands states) project supported the governments of the nine small Island states and regional bodies’ efforts in tackling the adverse effects of climate change.

The purpose of the project was to promote long-term strategies and approaches to adaptation planning and pave the way for more effective and coordinated aid delivery to address climate change at the national and regional level. The project implementation period was from 2011-2016 and was implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC) in partnership with governments and peoples of nine participating countries.

For more information visit, http://ccprojects.gsd.spc.int/eu-gcca-psis/

The GCCA Intra-ACP Programme dedicated 8 million euros to a four-year programme with the University of the South Pacific (USP) to address climate change in the Pacific ACP States. The programme began in 2011 and ended in mid 2015. It was implemented through the USP Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PACE-SD) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

For more information visit, https://pace.usp.ac.fj/projects/eugcca-project/

The Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+) Scaling up Pacific Adaptation (SUPA) is about scaling up climate change adaptation measures in specific sectors supported by knowledge management and capacity building. The 4.5 year project (2019-2023) is funded with € 14.89 million from the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC) in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and The University of the South Pacific (USP), in collaboration with the governments and peoples of 10 participating countries.

The Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Intra ACP – Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilience (GCCA+ Intra ACP PACRES) aims to ensure better regional and national adaptation and mitigation responses to climate change challenges faced by Pacific ACP countries. The project is implemented jointly by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Pacific Community (SPC) and The University of the South Pacific (USP).

GCCA+ SUPA

The Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+) Scaling up Pacific Adaptation (SUPA) project places people at the centre of climate change adaptation efforts as the project seeks to enhance climate change adaptation and resilience and strengthen the implementation of sector-based, but integrated, climate change and disaster risk management strategies and plans.

The action falls under the GCCA+ flagship initiative and supports the three priorities of the GCCA+.

The EUR 14.89 million project is implemented in ten countries, namely, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu, using a sector-based approach, and wherever possible focused on outer island communities.

Objective

The Overall Objective of the GCCA+ SUPA project is to enhance climate change adaptation and resilience within ten Pacific island countries.

The Specific Objective is to strengthen the implementation of sector-based, but integrated, climate change and disaster risk management strategies and plans.

APPROACH

The project is delivered in a coordinated and integrated manner, supported by the three implementing organisations, utilising a people-centred approach and involving men, women, elders, youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

  1. Strengthen strategic planning at national levels: An impact methodology will be designed to assess past adaptation interventions. After testing in three countries, this will be integrated into a user-friendly database module, which can be added to existing national climate change portals so as to inform national decision-making (delivered by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP))
  2. Enhance the capacity of sub-national government stakeholders to build resilient communities: Following a desktop review, a needs analysis will be conducted for local area stakeholders and especially sub-national governments. This will inform the planning and delivery of accredited resilience training within the project (delivered by The University of the South Pacific (USP))
  3. Scale up resilient development measures in specific sectors (food security, water security, human health, coastal protection and mariner resources):

Countries adopted the following criteria for scaling-up climate change adaptation:

Evidence of building on a previous measure that had elements of sustainability

Demonstration of clear linkages to national policies and priorities

Provision of socio-economic benefits for the participating communities

Feasibility within the scope of the GCCA+ SUPA project budget and time frame

Measures in place for maintenance of infrastructure beyond the project time frame

Putting people at the center of development, countries then selected specific sectors and the measures to scale up. Some snapshots:

Fiji and Tonga are scaling up coastal protection measures for vulnerable coastal communities. In Tonga, measures will concentrate on the north coast of Tongatapu while in Fiji, the Soasoa drainage basin in Labasa is the focus. Besides tangible on-the-ground coastal protection measures, planning for climate change impacts to the coastal areas through to 2050 is a key component

Five countries (FSM, Nauru, Niue, Kiribati and Tuvalu) are scaling up community water security. Rainwater harvesting and desalination units are among the measures to be scaled up, with special attention on outer island communities in FSM and Kiribati. Capacity building and training to support the newly installed systems are key areas for concentration

Marshall Islands and Palau are scaling up climate change adaptation in the health sector. In the Marshall Islands, enhancing community health and wellness in combination with atoll agriculture is the goal, while Palau is concentrating on reducing the community’s vulnerability to vector-borne diseases.

Cook Islands is scaling up the marine resources sector, with a particular focus on aquaculture development for the communities in Aitutaki and other outer islands.

The action will contribute to the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP), the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Internal logic of the Action:

  • Understanding the benefits of past adaptation measures and how these can inform future prioritization and decision-making;
  • recognition of the importance of sub-national (state/province/island group) government levels and their role in addressing climate and disaster resilience in local area development plans; and
  • testing an approach whereby national governments and other stakeholders can scale-up successful climate change adaptation measures so as to provide a focused way forward towards building the resilience of particular sectors.
GCCA + SUPA

Key Partners

The GCCA+ SUPA project collaborates closely and seeks partnerships with other programmes and projects in the region.  The project is delivered jointly by the Pacific Community (SPC), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and The University of the South Pacific (USP).

The project collaborates with the sister GCCA+ action funded under the EU ACP programme, the Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Intra ACP – Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilience (GCCA+ Intra ACP PACRES).

SUPA works across with the other CROP agencies, as well as other regional and national partners.

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Disclaimer: The Global Climate Change Alliance Plus - Scaling Up Pacific Adaptation (GCCA+ SUPA) website was created and maintained with financial Support of the European Union. It’s contents are the sole responsibility of the GCCA+ SUPA project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.