Connections Transport & ICT Enhancing Road Resilience in 102711 Pacific Island Countries World Bank Assisting Adaptation to Climate Change Sean David Michaels1 1km Pacific island countries are experiencing higher temperatures, rising sea levels, and extreme weather that is increasingly frequent and intense.2 The resulting damage has likewise been extreme. Between 2012 and 2015, for example, losses from three cyclones ranged from 11% to 64% of GDP in Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu.3 In many of these countries, primary roads and critical infrastructure are adjacent to the coast, Maximum distance and the majority of the population lives within from the sea for 1 kilometer of the sea. Expected climate change effects will place coastal assets and communities at a higher most residents in level of risk. Governments are well aware of these many Pacific island challenges. Today, more than one-fourth of the World Bank’s transport commitments support mitigation and countries adaptation to climate change (a share that is growing), and its work with Pacific island countries is one of the ways it is responding to the rising demand for climate action. The demand from Pacific island countries in recent years has focused on road resilience, and early lessons will provide a strong basis for further progress. The World Bank’s support for enhancing the resil- to enhance the capabilities of the relevant ience of vulnerable road networks and neighboring stakeholders at the policy and regulatory communities in Pacific island countries encompass- level es four pillars: 4. Post disaster risk and recovery support to en- 1. Sectoral and strategic spatial planning that is sure that risk and resilience regarding short- informed by risk-based assessments of vul- and long-term climate change is integrated nerability and hazards into rebuilding efforts 2. Resilient infrastructure solutions that are fit- for-purpose, such as raising road elevations, Spatial, Risk-Based Planning installing drainage, relatively new technolo- gies such as geocells for low-volume roads, Risk-informed planning is fundamental to mitigat- and strengthening coastal infrastructure ing the impact of climate change and extreme 3. Enabling environment: institutional and ca- weather events, and it is feasible for all govern- pacity support, awareness raising, and finance ments given the advent of new tools that work 1 The author is grateful for helpful comments from Christopher Bennett and Michel Kerf. 2 See The Pacific Climate Change Science Program, Climate Change in the Pacific: Scientific Assessment and New Research—Volume 2: Coun- try Reports, 2011, www.pacificclimatechangescience.org/publications/reports. 3 The World Bank has active engagements in 10 Pacific island countries: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. DECEMBER 2015 NOTE 28 well even in low-capacity environments. Samoa protective infrastructure (e.g., seawalls) are neces- and Tonga are already using Light Detection and sary given the threat of concurrent severe weather Ranging (LiDAR) technology, which provides high- events. More broadly, advance government pro- resolution aerial photographs to generate elevation curement and retroactive financing are impera- data that will strengthen spatial hazard mapping tive for effective emergency operations. Tonga is analysis. considering framework agreements to speed the mobilization of contractors for cleanup and recov- Samoa will use the data to update plans devel- ery. Wherever feasible, relocation of affected roads, oped through Coastal Infrastructure Management communities, and infrastructure further from the (CIM)—a tool focused on citizen engagement that coast should be a priority in recovery operations. assesses the resilience of coastal infrastructure, identifies solutions, and assigns responsibilities for Initial Lessons Learned implementation. Experience gained from projects in Kiribati, Samoa, Fit-for-Purpose Infrastructure and Tonga are helping make ongoing interventions there and in other Pacific island countries more Complex design solutions are often not fit-for-pur- effective and would be relevant for consideration pose in Pacific island countries, given their limited among nations in the V-20.4 resources. Near- to medium-term design efforts center on installing drainage and raising low-lying Anticipatory action is vital to protect roads, which coastal roads. A key paving innovation to reduce provide connectivity essential to growth. Identify- maintenance needs for low-volume roads are ing the type and locale of road damage can focus geocells, a labor-based approach to constructing planning and improvements to infrastructure, durable pavement at low cost that is already in use reduce damage, and limit the need for recovery in Kiribati. Finally, coastal infrastructure is also be- efforts. ing improved to help protect adjacent roads. Green Financial sustainability requires long-term donor options to replace or complement basic hard infra- engagement. Domestic resources have been insuf- structure such as seawalls and breakwaters include ficient for the long-term needs of fiscally con- living shorelines and recovery of coastal habitats strained Pacific island countries. for mangrove replanting. These basic hard and soft options are suitable for low-capacity environments Road authorities often prioritize quick repairs over and generally less expensive than solutions used in resiliency measures. In response, task teams have wealthier countries. helped persuade agencies that ancillary infrastruc- ture, such as drainage, and risk-based planning Stronger Enabling Environment tools ensure the long-term sustainability of their road networks. Project management support, a core component of all resilience projects, includes resilience-related Project design and implementation must be simple training for ministry staff members and civil society and engage local communities from start to finish. organizations. New and amended legal frameworks Samoa’s Second Infrastructure Asset Management will enable governments to mobilize funding and Project made effective use of multilevel stakehold- create programs. On the regulatory side, reform er planning through its best-practice CIM plans. includes incentives to support resilience-focused maintenance and stakeholder engagement in the design of regulations. 4 The Vulnerable Twenty Group of Ministers of Finance (www.v-20. com). Supporting Postdisaster Recovery Practical measures are critical to recovery, includ- For more information on this topic: ing the rapid assessment of road network dam- Kiribati; Samoa(A); Samoa(B); Tonga(A); Tonga(B) age to identify key areas needing attention. Rapid Spatial, Risk-Based Planning: www.worldbank.org/transport/ clearing of drains and culverts and repairs to resilience Connections is a weekly series of knowledge notes from the World Bank Group’s Transport & Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Global Practice. Covering projects, experiences, and front-line developments, the series is produced by Nancy Vandycke and Shokraneh Minovi. The notes are available at http://www.worldbank.org/transport/connections. DECEMBER 2015 NOTE 28