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Cities, seas, and storms : managing change in Pacific Island economies (Vol. 4) : Adapting to climate change (English)

As the 21st century begins, Pacific Island countries are being confronted with new challenges and opportunities arising from changes in their physical, social, and economic environment. Pacific Island countries can actively engage in foreseeing and managing the process of adaptation to these changes, or they can have unplanned adaptation imposed on them by forces outside their control. Managing change will be critical in three major areas: the growth of towns, the interaction between the Pacific Island people and the ocean, and the effects of global climate change. Each of these three themes has region-wide implications, and presents particularly complex challenges. More importantly, within each of these forces of change lie substantial opportunities to effect lasting improvements to the livelihoods of the Pacific Island people well into the new century. The ability of Pacific Island countries to respond to these changes will be strongly conditioned by their institutional structures at the local, national and regional level. Of particular importance will be the extent to which traditional and more formal structures of governance can cooperate by taking advantage of their comparative strengths, while minimizing conflict and inefficiencies in their interaction. Beginning with an introduction that provides the context of the discussion (chapter 1), this summary report is divided into five chapters. Chapter 2 discusses the management of Pacific towns. Chapter 3 examines the management of the use of the ocean. Chapter 4 discusses adaptation to climate change. Chapter 5 combines the main recommendations of the report into a general adaptation strategy. This summary report is the first of a four- volume series. Volume II presents a more detailed discussion on the management of Pacific towns. Volume III discusses the management of the ocean. Volume IV focuses on adaptation to climate change, and includes the assumptions under which the analysis was based. Background studies commissioned for this report are listed in References.

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Cities, seas, and storms : managing change in Pacific Island economies (Vol. 4) : Adapting to climate change (English). Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/532221468288338891/Adapting-to-climate-change