The report focuses on developing insight and understanding Tonga’s mix of policies and plans developed to help guide its climate change work program and the institutions in place and their level of planning, coordination and collaboration; determining the strength of their public financial management systems and whether climate change expenditure was achieving policy objectives; identifying capacity constraints of Tonga’s human resources; linking climate change with the broader development effectiveness efforts; assessing existing communication as well as monitoring and reporting mechanisms; and providing a comprehensive picture of how much and what type of climate change financial support is available to Tonga.

The CFRGA reiterated the extreme vulnerability of Tonga to climate change and geo hazards, including earthquakes, volcanic activity, tsunami, landslides, cyclones and tropical storms. The assessment clearly demonstrated that these already significant future impacts on Tonga’s economy would only worsen with a range of additional climate change impacts, including sea level rise, increases in temperature, changes in rainfall and ocean acidification.