By Mike Scott, Program Director, PASAI
“Out of adversity comes opportunity” – Benjamin Franklin
Pacific Island nations are on the frontline of climate change. People in these nations experience the realities of climate change every day. Rising sea levels and temperatures, coastal erosion, saline intrusion, more intense and frequent cyclones, droughts, flooding and degradation of vital ecosystems, such as coral reefs.
These effects of climate change have tangible impacts on the communities, economies and development of Pacific Island nations. They result in displacement of people, loss of ancestral homes, health risks, food and water insecurity, and endanger children’s futures.
Over 2024–25, government audit offices of the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu took part in a global cooperative performance audit initiative known as the Climate Change Adaptation Actions (CCAA) audit.
The CCAA audit was coordinated by 2 organisations within the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI): the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) and the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA).
Individually, the 9 government audit offices examined the effectiveness of different aspects of their governments’ planning and actions to adapt to climate change. Four examined the effectiveness of actions to adapt to sea level rise and coastal erosion, 4 examined the effectiveness of climate change adaptation planning and actions and one examined the effectiveness of water resource management.
These audits are highly pertinent given the real impacts of climate change in the Pacific. As the audits have been done concurrently, together they provide a rich understanding of the challenges of adaptation action planning and implementation of measures across the Pacific, and what is commonly needed for more effective adaptation action.
These audits also provide transparency for citizens and hold the relevant government agencies to account for the effectiveness of their actions to adapt to climate change in the Pacific.
On 2 October 2025, we will publish a report, Adapting to climate change: Building the Pacific’s future, which brings together the Pacific Island nations’ challenges in effectively adapting to the realities of climate change that were identified in the 9 audits. These challenges bring with them the opportunity for more concerted and urgent action to safeguard and build the livelihoods of future generations.
The Pacific is not alone in facing the challenges of adapting to climate change. Nearly 50 government audit offices from diverse regions across the world took part in the CCAA cooperative audit initiative to assess how governments are planning, implementing and monitoring climate adaptation efforts. These government audit offices included those in other small island developing states (SIDS) who are facing the same race against time as in the Pacific to take more effective action.
Insights from the WGEA–IDI CCAA cooperative audit initiative, including the audits in the Pacific and other SIDS, will be published in a global report later this year.
Visit our Regional reports page to read the Pacific report when it is published on 2 October 2025. In the meantime, register for a same-day webinar featuring insights from the heads of participating audit offices. Find more details and the registration link on the Collective Pacific voices on climate change action event page.
