This report is primarily directed to analysing the legal aspects of ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change. It sketches the impacts of climate change in the Pacific Island countries, recognizing that climate change directly impacts ecosystems, which provide for the needs of people as well as for the maintenance of the natural environment. It takes as a given that ecosystem-based adaptation can provide cost-effective strategies for reducing vulnerability to climate change impacts and enhancing ecosystem resilience, thereby maintaining ecosystem services and sustainable livelihoods. The report includes six brief legal case studies of more or less representative Pacific Island countries. The case studies provide a snapshot of the relevant legal frameworks in the selected jurisdictions in order to assess the suitability of those frameworks for providing a legally robust basis for ecosystem based adaptation. The report shows that appropriate legal mechanisms developed at the national level can play a key role in promoting adaptation, especially through restoring and maintaining ecosystem resilience, to address the effects of climate change.
