Community Adaptation Strategy

A participant from Boroko City highlighted that PNG is a Melanesian Country. Helping each other during a disaster is in everyone’s DNA. For instance, when a cyclone destroys someone’s home or property, not only the family or relatives but random people from the community will step forward and offer in-kind support to rebuild the family home.

Most communities in the highlands of PNG have community councillors who are responsible for channelling issues within the community through the council chamber and the government. The process will also involve media, appealing to the public to support the victims regarding their immediate needs. Through such channels, assistance among individuals, private sectors, government ministries and civil societies flows in to address the issue.

Community Mitigation Strategy

Among the responses obtained from participants interviewed, no actions were mentioned as specific to climate change mitigation measures. Although people in PNG action mitigations measured in priority sectors, the significance of such action to enhance reliance and sustainable environment was not understood. For example, people use renewable technologies such as rooftop solar panels in the Energy Sector. They implement sustainable forest management and reduced-impact logging in the Forestry Sector. They use the public transportation system. Hence, people are implementing sustainable development that in turn mitigate the impacts of climate change without realizing it.

At the national level, the Papua New Guinea Government developed and trialed a national forest protection initiative known as REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation ― the “+” refers to the other benefits of forests). REDD+ not only slow the release of carbon dioxide but has the potential to provide sustainable forest management.