The Nauru National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) highlights, Nauru already struggles with the challenges of ensuring sustainable social and economic development. A scarcity of arable land and fresh water resources, geographic isolation, dependence on imports for meeting basic food and energy needs, environmental degradation and the emergence of chronic health problems all make achieving sustainable development a difficult task, and at the same time also create vulnerability to other stresses, such as those brought on by climate change and disasters.
Against this background, climate variability and climate change have the potential to make Nauru’s efforts to secure sustainable development even more challenging. Sea level rise threatens to increase saltwater intrusion into precious groundwater reserves as well as to exacerbate coastal erosion and flooding during storm events. Changes in rainfall patterns will likely affect water scarcity, while important fish resources may be affected by changes in ocean temperature and acidification.
Efforts have been made to support progress towards the country’s national development priorities and the goal of environmental sustainability, by ensuring that a focus on reducing vulnerabilities and risks is incorporated into planning and activities across all sectors of the economy and society. As experience, knowledge and better understanding of the impacts of climate change grows, further priority actions are been identified.
Click on links below for Climate Change project activities in Nauru