Micronesia

The FSM is a non-annex-1 party to the Kyoto Protocol, having submitted its first communication to the UNFCCC in 1997. It is also a member of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to address global climate change. In February 2014 the FSM accepted the Doha amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, which formalises commitments for the period 2013-2020.

In 2004 the government formulated the Strategic Development Plan 2004-2024, which calls for a 50% cut in imported petroleum fuels by 2020 through improved energy efficiency, energy conservation, elimination of energy subsidies and public education. It sets a renewable energy target of 10% of electricity in urban centres and 50% in rural areas by 2020, through incentives and public education, whilst upgrading local capacity to operate and maintain all renewable energy hardware. It also sets a target of meeting US standards for energy efficiency in 100% of new public buildings and 50% of private buildings by 2006.

In 2013 Congress passed the Nationwide Integrated Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Policy (‘the Climate Change Policy’). The policy sets out in its guiding principles a ‘multi-hazard’ risk management approach that integrates disaster risk management, climate change adaptation and GHG emissions reduction.

In order to implement The Nationwide Integrated Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Policy, The Climate Change Act was passed in Congress in late 2013, and signed by the President in January 2014. The Act instructs government offices and departments to prepare plans and policies consistent with the Climate Change Policy by October 2015; it also includes an obligation on the President to report to Congress on the progress of implementation of the Act, and for the budget request to include one or more lines on the implementation of the Climate Change Policy. The Asian Development Bank’s Country Operations Business Plan (COBP) 2011-2013 and the COPBP 2012-2014 are focused on infrastructure and the energy sector, namely implementing renewable energy projects in Yap and Pohnpei in the form of hydropower, solar energy and wind energy. Emphasis has been placed on the need for institutional and tariff reforms supported by full cost recovery at utility and state levels.

The FSM has also been supported under the REP-5 Programme, which is the 9th European Development Fund (9th EDF, 2000-2007) multi-country initiative to reduce dependency on fossil fuel in five Pacific countries, both to reach fiscal balance and to increase the availability of electricity to outer island communities. Most funds have been allocated to solar PV installations across four states – focusing on electrification of outer islands in Yap, Chuuk and Pohnpei, and on connection to the main grid on the single-island state of Kosrae. Renewable energy and reducing dependency on fossil fuels remained the focus for the 10^th EDF (2008-2013).

Energy demand

The Nationwide Energy Policy calls for a 50% increase in energy efficiency by 2020, via a government facility conservation plan; regulation on building and construction; an awareness campaign on energy efficiency and conservation; and training and capacity building programme.

Energy supply

The main fuel used in the FSM is locally produced biomass – especially wood, charcoal and coconut husk products. Fuels for electricity generation and transportation are mainly a mix coconut oil and diesel. Solar energy is approximately 1% of the energy mix. A small hydro-electric plant operates in Pohnpei, and is being restored, with the aid of European Union EDF grants of nearly USD15 million over a 10-year period. Other projects include a 180kw solar energy pilot project funded by Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), a USD800,000 grant for a PV grid connection system in Chuuk.

Under the FSM federal system, the utilities are owned and regulated by the constituent states. There is no national-level legislation and standards. The governance of the utilities at the state level varies. Although some states like Pohnpei State have regulatory legislation, in practice the utilities are self- regulating. The FSM Petroleum Corporation was established in 2008 as a wholly government-owned enterprise, which aims to achieve greater economies of scale in the import of fuel to all four states.

REDD+ and LULUCF

The 1997 national communication to the UNFCCC lists, among its adaptation goals, reforestation of mangroves, upland forests and other forests in need of restoration.

The US Forest Service and the FSM collaborated on a forest management plan, Federated States of Micronesia State-Wide Assessment and Resource Strategy 2010–2015+ (2010), 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.

In March 2014, a land protection deal (‘conservation easement’) was declared in Kosrae, protecting 78 acres of forested wetland. The conservation easement, allowing the land owners to retain title to the land but not to exercise development and other rights, is the first of its kind outside the Americas, and is hoped to be the first of many similar deals in the area. It is co-funded by the US Forest Service and a private charity, and held by the Kosrae Island Resource Management Authority (KIRMA).

Adaptation

The FSM, a coastal nation comprised of 607 islands, is highly vulnerable to climate change. As outlined in its first National Communication to the UNFCCC in 1997, the FSM’s major concerns as a coastal nation are vulnerability to sea level rise and to more frequent, intense, or long lasting El-Niño droughts and La Niña floods and storms. It identifies six sectors and four cross-sectoral areas in which effect-oriented adaptation and source-oriented mitigation measures need to be adopted to address the known and potential impacts of climate change. The six sectors are: coral reef ecosystems; coastal zone ecosystems; waste management; upland forest ecosystems; agriculture/agroforestry; water supply. The cross- sectoral areas are: public awareness programmes; research programmes; technology development and transfer; interagency strengthening.

The Climate Change Policy is the most recent and most significant development with regards to adaptation efforts. The policy, adopted by Congress in 2013, aims to achieve economic growth and self-reliance within a framework of sustainable development that seeks to maximise opportunities presented by climate change, while minimising the risks associated with all slow and rapid-onset natural and human-induced hazards, including those associated with climate change.