Climate change and disaster impacts

Australia is committed to working in partnership with the Government of Samoa to meet the needs and aspirations of its people to build resilience to climate change and disaster events. 

Samoa is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change including tropical cyclones and storm surge, flooding, more severe and longer-lasting droughts and heat waves, coastal erosion, increased acidity of ocean waters, sea-level rise, wind-driven waves and king tides. These climate-related hazards are projected to intensify over time.  

• As climate change impacts intensify, Samoa will experience more severe cyclones like 2012’s Cyclone Evan, which damaged 2,000 homes and resulted in over USD200 million in economic losses. Australia’s support is improving the resilience of Samoa’s communications infrastructure, ensuring it continues to operate in times of disaster. 
• Very hot days and high humidity are increasing the spread of dengue-carrying mosquitoes. On 19 April Samoa declared a dengue fever outbreak (472 cases from 1 November 2023 – 14 July 2024) and launched a National Cleaning Campaign to destroy mosquito breeding sites. In June, the Australian funded PacMOSSI program supported a 3 day training on mosquito control. On 16 August, Samoa declared an end to the outbreak. 
• Samoa is already experiencing more days with extremely heavy rainfall. Intense rainfall in early 2018 caused serious flooding in Apia. Australia is working with the Samoan Government to ensure the country’s infrastructure is more resilient to the impacts of climate change and disasters. 
• As climate change impacts escalate, communities in Samoa will require significant support to adapt. Supporting local civil society organisations to develop local-level adaptation projects is helping to build community resilience. 
• Climate change disproportionately impacts those already experiencing exclusion and marginalisation, including women, people with disabilities and people living in poverty. Australia is committed to supporting Gender-responsive and inclusive approaches to climate and disaster risk resilience result in better program outcomes. 

Bilateral programs

Australia integrates climate and disaster resilience through its bilateral development assistance to Samoa across all areas of programming, including in the governance, infrastructure, education and health sectors. 

• Australia’s general budget support ($50 million, 2023-31) supports Samoa’s fiscal resilience and economic recovery. The budget support also incentivises and supports policy reform and dialogue on Samoa’s Climate Change Bill, its National Disaster Management Policy and asset management policies regarding the resilience and maintenance of critical infrastructure facilities (hospitals, schools, etc). 
• The Australian Government is working with Samoa to ensure that infrastructure, such as the Parliament complex, critical roads and bridges are designed and built to be climate and disaster resilient. 
• The Education Sector Support Program is supporting the implementation of Samoa’s Climate Change and Disaster Risk Resilience Strategy for the Education Sector. Australian technical assistance and budget support is helping Samoa integrate climate change and disaster resilience in infrastructure, curriculum and teacher training.  
• The Australian Government is assisting Samoa with climate and disaster resilient health planning through the update of the Samoan Climate Adaptation Strategy for Health. 

Regional and global programs

A range of regional and globally funded climate change investments are working directly to build climate change and disaster resilience in Samoa and across the region, including: 

• The Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific Phase 3 (COSPPac3) (Australian contribution, $30 million, 2023-2029) supports the Samoa National Meteorological Service to provide climate and ocean monitoring and prediction services. Climate predictions help farmers plan for planting and harvesting, and Pacific countries to prepare for disasters like droughts and tropical cyclones. Ocean predictions (tide, currents, wind, and waves) support fishing, tourism, and shipping. 
• Through Pacific Women Lead, Australia supports the Women’s Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO) to advance women’s leadership in climate change decision-making and negotiations ($699,900, 2022-2024) and the Shifting the Power Coalition (1.9 million 2021- 2026) to strengthen diverse women’s leadership in humanitarian action.
• In partnership with the Pacific Horticultural & Agricultural Market Access program (PHAMA Plus) ($53.3 million, 2018-2026), Australia is supporting the development of climate resilient farming practices for root crops farmers with research and training. 
• The Australia Assists program ($94.7 million globally, 2017-2024) deploys technical specialists to work with governments, multilateral agencies and communities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and conflict. Specialists are supporting the Samoa National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to develop a harmonised disaster response in Samoa. 
• The SciTech4Climate program ($5.5 million, 2021-2023) brings leading Australian scientists (CSIRO and ANU) to work with development partners in the Indo-Pacific to make sure our region’s response to climate change is supported by the best available science and technological advances. In Samoa, CSIRO are supporting increased farm productivity by developing diverse taro-based farming systems that includes inter-cropping.
• The Climate Resilient by Nature (CRxN) program ($14.5 million, 2021-2025) supports Australian international development NGOs and their partners in the Pacific to pilot and expand promising and emerging nature-based solutions to climate change. Australian NGO, Kyeema, works with young Indigenous scientists, community leaders, and frontline ministry staff in Samoa and other Pacific Island countries, to help save and restore compromised reef ecosystems.
• The Australian Water Partnership (AWP), in collaboration with the South Pacific Community, are working with Samoa as part of a climate resilience project to improve flash flood early warning systems across the Pacific. The partnership focuses on supporting the growth of surface water hydrology capacity and is guided by the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.