Brussels, 03/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - European Development Policy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs is in Vanuatu (Pacific) to launch projects worth €39 million and will announce new ones for €50.4 million for adaptation to climate change effects and poverty in the islands of the Pacific. The announcement will be made at a High-Level Regional Conference on Climate Change in the Pacific (2-4 March) which, it is hoped, will bring forward an action plan.
€8 million will go to the programme to support climate change capacity development (mangrove replanting, reforestation of watershed areas, rainwater harvesting and water conservation, introduction of drought/salt resistant cultivars, soil retention measures, reduced-impact harvesting, raising infrastructures, etc). €20 million will go to the Pacific Regional Programme on the reduction of risks from natural disasters. €12 million have been earmarked for the Programme for the Overseas Countries and Territories, which aims to reinforce the integrated management of coastal, terrestrial and marine environments. €4.3 million in humanitarian assistance will be allocated to region's Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction. (A.N./transl.rt)