The Asian Development Bank and the Green Climate Fund have launched a programme to mobilise more than $1 billion to help Pacific island communities protect their homes, livelihoods and infrastructure from rising seas and increasingly destructive storms. The initiative was launched on 11 November 2026 during COP31 in Antalya, Turkiye, and will support 14 Pacific island economies.

ADB President Masato Kanda said the challenge facing island communities was a matter of survival, and that the investment would help them prepare for the dangers ahead and build a more secure future. Palau President Surangel Whips Jr said the programme was Pacific-led and that success would be measured by how effectively commitments were implemented and turned into outcomes that improved people's lives.

What the $1bn programme will fund

The initiative, formally known as the Regional Programmatic Approach for Climate Action, follows the Green Climate Fund's approval of $250 million for the programme. That grant will be combined with ADB grants, low-interest loans and other financing to strengthen roads, water supplies, power systems, coastal defences and urban infrastructure against extreme weather and rising seas.

The programme is expected to reach 3.7 million Pacific Islanders, nearly one in four people across the 14 countries involved. It will also help governments attract public and private investment, improve financial management and plan long-term measures to protect vulnerable communities. The Green Climate Fund's executive director, Mafalda Duarte, said many islands sit only a few metres above sea level and a single storm can cut off the only road, port or water supply a community depends on.

Fourteen island economies eligible

The Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Naoero, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu will all be eligible for support. The launch brought together Pacific leaders and development partners, including representatives of the governments of Palau and the Cook Islands, the Green Climate Fund, the Pacific Community and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.

The initiative will coordinate investment across the region while allowing each participating government to set priorities based on its own needs. The programme takes the Green Climate Fund's commitment across the Pacific to $1.2 billion, with a further $2 billion in cofinancing. ADB said the programme forms part of a broader regional effort being developed with the Pacific Community and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, covering infrastructure, food and water security, public health, natural ecosystems and pollution.