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Summary:

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) includes the most geographically and culturally diverse part of the greater Micronesian region, and has a total population of about 106,000. The nation is comprised of four states – Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae – all of which are located approximately 2,900  kilometers north of eastern Australia.  The mainstays of the Micronesian economy are subsistence farming and fishing; the country also possesses high-grade deposits of phosphate (CIA, 2011). There is little tourism in the area due to lack of access and facilities.  Each state has considerable autonomy within the federation and has devised its own strategy for development.  However, FSM's geographical isolation and poorly developed infrastructure in general are major impediments to its long-term growth.    As a small islands developing nation, the FSM is one of the countries most directly threatened by long-term global warming resulting from an increased level of greenhouse gases accumulating in the earth’s atmosphere. Regarding the effects of global warming, the FSM is particularly vulnerable to accelerated sea-level rise. And, because of the country’s geographic location, future global warming holds the possibility of creating more frequent, intense, or longer-lasting El Nino droughts.

A. Adaptation Needs and Priorities
The FSM completed its First National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1999. Within this document, FSM noted that its main, short-term concern related to climate change as being the possibility of an increase in the frequency, duration and intensity of El Niño droughts, and the need to enhance capacity to address El Niño and La Niña events. Accelerated sea level rise was identified as a concern over the longer-term. Sectors of concern were noted as being coral reef ecosystems, coastal zones, waste management, upland forests, agriculture and water supply The  adaptation needs of the FSM  as identified in its First National Communication (FSM, 1999) were:

 

  • Reforestation of mangroves, upland forests and other forests in need of restoration.
  • Development of a community based coral-reef protection program. 
  • Public awareness programs related to fire danger (related to drought events) and climate change, supported through the training of government employees and development of sustainable development educational materials.
  • Research  programs that will document  Micronesian traditional environmental knowledge, complete vulnerability and needs assessment, and design of an evaluation tool for new programs. 
  • Technology  development and transfer, including: implementation of  Micronesian traditional environmental management knowledge programs; and networking with various NGO’s to develop a program  for  identifying, transferring and modifying appropriate technologies for use in the implementation of sectoral climate change adaptation measures.
  • Interagency  strengthening, including  restructuring of the sustainable development council into four working groups: 1) management and protection of natural resources; 2) improvement of waste management and pollution control; 3) improvement of environmental awareness and education; and 4) integration of environmental consideration in economic development. 

The implementation of these and other adaptation actions in FSM are likely to be challenging due to: the remoteness of the country and its population; the absence of abundant resources; data gaps; traditional land use, decision-making and tenure systems; and the absence of sufficient planning and funding (Fletcher and Richmond, 2010).

 

B. National Level Policies and Strategic Documents

There are several documents released by the FSM government related to climate change adaptation. These include: 

  • The First Climate Change National Communication to the UNFCCC, which outlined the priority sectors that would feel the impacts of climate change and projections of how they would be affected. The most significant impacts were expected to be from sea level rise and droughts (FSM, 1999). 
  • The Nationwide Climate Change Policy (2009)  includes a commitment to addressing climate change adaptation through a framework in which: “all development activities in FSM to take into account projected climatic changes in the design and implementation as stipulated in the FSM Strategic Development Plan/Infrastructure Development Plan.” It also calls for: the use of an ecosystem-based approach where applicable; strengthening the application of traditional knowledge on conservation practices; and the development and implementation of appropriate strategies to improve food production and other relevant sectors. The Policy also calls for the integration of climate change into other policies and strategies, including those related to disaster preparedness (FSM, 2009: 2).
  • The U.S. Forest Service and the FSM collaborated on a forest management plan, Federated States of Micronesia State-Wide Assessment and Resource Strategy  2010–2015+ (2010), that is a strategic plan to harvest timber and manage forest resources in a way that preserves the soils and resource. The plan integrates climate adaptation considerations (FSM and U.S. Forest Service, 2010).

 

C. Current Adaptation Action

The Federated States of Micronesia appear to be participating in a low number of regional climate change adaptation projects relative to other Pacific countries; no nationally focused projects were identified. The focus areas of these projects are coastal zone management, agriculture, water and conservation. The funders identified as being active in Micronesia are: the Asia Development Bank (ADB); the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), and the governments of Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and the United States.
 
D. Proposed Adaptation Action
No proposed adaptation actions have been identified for Micronesia.  
 
Publication
Dohan, Rosemary; Hove, Hilary; Echeverría, Daniella, Hammill, Anne; Parr, Jo-Ellen. (2011) "Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action: The Pacific." Adaptation Partnership/International Institute for Sustainable Development, pp.52-58.  
 
Additional References
Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] (2011). The World Factbook: Micronesia, Federated States of. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fm.html 
 
Federated States of Micronesia [FSM] (1999). Micronesia (Federated States, of) Climate Change National Communication. Retrieved from 
 
Federated States of Micronesia [FSM] (2009). Nationwide Climate Change Policy 2009. Retrieved from http://www.fsmpio.fm/Nationwide_Climate_Change_policy.pdf
 
Federated States of Micronesia National Government [FSM] and U.S. Forest Service. (2010). Federated States of Micronesia State-Wide 
Assessment and Resource Strategy 2010 - 2015+. Retrieved from http://www.islandforestry.org/pdf/2010/federated-states-ofmicronesia.pdf
 
Federated States of Micronesia [FSM] et al. (2006). Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Kosrae State report 
 
Fletcher, C. and Richmond, B. (2010). Climate Change in the Federated States of Micronesia: Food and water security, climate risk management, and 
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