Fiji’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution

1.0    National Circumstances

Physical characteristics

Fiji lies between 177° E and 178° W Longitude and 12° to 22° S Latitude with a land area of 18,333 km2 and an exclusive economic zone of 1.3 million square kilometers. This includes 332 islands of which about a third are inhabited. The majority of the land is on continental-like volcanic islands that rise to well over 1,000 meters in elevation. Over 87% of the land is concentrated in the islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Fiji’s climate is tropical, averaging 26°C with annual rainfall ranging from 1800 to 2600 mm. It is considerably richer in natural resources than its Polynesian and Micronesian neighbors with extensive timber, rich soils, mineral deposits and fish. The country is subject to earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, flooding, and storm surges.

Population

The latest census was undertaken in 2007 and shows a population of 837,217 (2007) and an annual population growth of 0.8%. During the last two decades, the national population growth rate has remained relatively low by Pacific Island standards. Given the continuation of the present growth rates for the different ethnic groups, it is estimated that the population for Fiji will reach the one million mark in 2030 and that by 2030, 61% of the population will be urban.

The Economy

The World Bank classifies Fiji as a lower middle-income economy2 with a per capita GDP in 2011 reported to be US$ 4,397. Fiji’s growth has been extremely volatile as a result of a series of external and internal shocks. These include a series of natural disasters (cyclones in 1985, 1992, 1993, 2009, and 2010); two global oil shocks (in 1979 and in 1981–1982); the Asian financial crisis (1997); spikes in food and fuel prices (2008); the global economic crisis (2009 and 2010); and, more recently, severe flooding in the Western and Northern Divisions of the country (January 2012 and late March 2012) followed by Tropical Cyclone Evan in December 2012.3 Fiji, as a small island developing state and because of its location is more vulnerable and is at the forefront of being impacted by climate change. Despite contributing a mere 0.04% of greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere compared to the global average, Fijian communities are experiencing climate change impacts such as eroding shorelines and riverbanks, shortage of water, depleted fisheries stock, reduced food production, large-scale flooding, increase in outbreaks of vector borne diseases and sea level rise. The Fijian government therefore recognizes the importance of adapting to climate change and coordinating climate change related adaptation policies, strategies, plans, and activities to reduce the vulnerability and enhance the resilience of Fiji’s communities to the impacts of climate change and disasters.

1 Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All): Rapid Assessment and Gap Analysis

2 http://data.worldbank.org/country/fiji

3 Fiji 2012: Revitalizing the Fiji economy, Mandaluyong City, Philippines

The climate of Fiji is generally categorized as an oceanic tropical marine climate and varies over different timescales. The major features that  drive Fiji’s climate are:  the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon that occurs every four years on average, the South Pacific Convergence Zone and the Trade Winds.

Fiji signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 and ratified it in 1993. Fiji’s commitments to this Convention are outlined in the National Climate Change Policy of 2012. The Mauritius Strategy 2005-2015 and the Barbados Plan of Action 1994, which attempt to address the problems of small island developing states (SIDS) have climate change as a significant issue. Fiji will continue to contribute to the implementation of the Post 2015 SAMOA Pathway ( through the implementation of the National Climate change Policy.

Also at the regional level, the Pacific Island Framework for Action on Climate Change 2006-2015 is focused on building the resilience of communities to combat the impact of climate change. A successor regional framework that incorporates elements of Disaster Risk Management is being negotiated.

Fiji is currently undergoing essential sectoral policy and institutional reform that involves the review and update of existing legislation and policies. The focus of the reform is to ensure sustainable economic and social development and thereby improve the livelihoods of all communities in Fiji.

Policies have been developed in the areas of agriculture, land use, forestry, fisheries and water. They focus on the sustainable management of Fiji’s natural resources and the establishment of appropriate institutional arrangements for effective implementation and monitoring.  A major component is the incorporation of environmental management in order to address issues that emanate from natural hazards and unsustainable resource management and utilization. These policies play an important role in supporting efforts to reduce adverse impacts of climate change on Fiji’s economic and social development.

Climate change constitutes one of the greatest barriers to sustainable development. It puts Fiji’s biodiversity and ecosystems, particularly marine and coastal, at risk. This has severe implications for Fiji’s economic growth, as the country relies heavily on its natural resources for economic development; fisheries, forestry and agriculture are its primary industries. The effects of climate change are widespread and cross-sectoral. Effective co-ordination of a multi-disciplinary approach and a well-established government  position on issues and policies will need to be strengthened to effectively address the impacts of climate change.

2.0    Fiji’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution

In accordance with the relevant paragraphs of Decisions 1/CP.19 and 1/CP.20, Fiji hereby communicates its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) towards achieving the ultimate objective of the Convention, and provides up-front information in tabular format to facilitate the clarity, transparency and understanding of the INDC. Fiji is also pleased to provide additional accompanying information, including information relating to mitigation and adaptation planning.

The achievement of the emission reduction target specified above will be through both unconditional and conditional means based on available and additional external financing being made available to Fiji. From the 30% emission reduction target, 10% will be achieved through the implementation of the Green Growth Framework, utilizing resources available in country (unconditional) whereas the remaining target can only be met with the availability of external funding amounting to US$500 million (conditional).

Whilst Fiji’s iNDC is specific to the energy sector, further accounting will need to take place to incorporate the mitigation potential of Fiji’s Forestry sector via the REDD+ programme, and other critical sectors.

3.0 Key challenges and Proposed Way Forward, Action and Time bound Indicators to achieve Fiji’s Emission Reduction Target

4.0 Mitigation

Energy in Fiji is supplied in three main forms: i) biomass/wood for cooking in rural areas and to a lesser extent for power co-generation in the wood and sugar industries; ii) as imported fossil fuels and iii) as electricity, of which a significant share is generated from hydropower with much smaller contributions from wind and solar energy.

4.1  Electricity

Fiji has many opportunities that have been identified for transferring most, if not all, of its electricity generation to renewable options. In this regard the relatively high installed capacity of hydro of around 120MW presents itself as a large scale storage facility for intermittent renewable inputs to be fed to the main grid. Wind has been trialled at the Butoni site in Sigatoka with mixed results. Large-scale biomass production is also an important option that is part of the mix from the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) and timber producers. In addition small scale biomass is a distinct possibility. Geothermal has been identified as early as the 1960s but due to the relatively small nominal capacity of individual sites this technology has not progressed to large scale implementation maybe incompatible with the timescale presented by climate change. In addition, other sources such as wave and ocean energy and geothermal energy have also been investigated over the past decades but are not close to implementation.

It is clear that large-scale hydro in Fiji has been very successful and that the technology has been transferred relatively easily and implemented with considerable competence by the Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA). In recent years, the Monasavu system has been added to with another relatively large system at Nadarivatu. Unfortunately solar PV does not have as good capacity factor as hydro and so for a comparable kwh output around 5 times the installed capacity needs to be put in place. Nevertheless, solar PV is now becoming cheaper, almost by the month, and large-scale systems are now economically viable in most locations in the world with good solar regimes. In addition, such systems work best in conjunction with a fast switching stored generation option such as hydro schemes.

4.2  Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency has also been identified as a relatively low cost easily implemented option however, one that has not been seriously implemented in the country for various reasons including financial constraints. Energy efficiency will become more important as higher cost renewable resources are employed but, the law of physics always limits improvements, if they are unlikely to give the reductions needed for complete decarbonisation.

4.3  Transport

The addiction of modern society to individual transport options is common to Fiji and the country has been increasing its number of motor vehicles at around 5% pa from at least the 1970s. In addition, the engine size distribution is moving in the wrong direction for energy and emissions savings. Finally it is likely that the infrastructure that has been needed to accommodate such an increase in vehicle numbers has been a drain on national resources that is now locking in development to this transport mode. This path makes mitigation in this area difficult and more or less constrained to fuel switching (either biofuels or electricity) rather than mode changing for instance to improved public transport systems.

5.0 Adaptation

Fiji is in the front line of climate change. Increased droughts, floods and extreme events such as cyclones affect every sector of Fiji’s economy and impact employment levels, the availability of natural resources and resilience. The goal of the objective of Adaptation of Fiji’s National Climate Change Policy is to reduce the vulnerability and enhance the resilience of Fiji’s communities to the impacts of climate change and disasters and as such, Fiji is proactively creating and refining policies, institutions and budgetary systems that can mobilize resources toward climate change and disaster risk management activities.

Some progress has already been made towards building resilience Government has commenced with the conducting of Vulnerability and Adaptation assessments for the whole of Fiji, invested in improving early warning systems, dredging of river mouths, construction of inland retention dams and the construction of cyclone proof homes in the most affected areas. Rehabilitation plans are focused on the principle of “building back better” especially for rural housing and infrastructure such as roads, water and energy. In the agriculture and forestry sector, the planting of traditional tree and root crops is being undertaken to minimize soil erosion and land degradation and desertification. The planting of mangroves, construction of seawalls and the relocation of communities to higher grounds are part of ongoing adaptation initiatives.

5.1 Key challenges and Proposed Way Forward, Action and Time bound Indicators for Adaptation4

4 A Green Growth Framework for Fiji