Title: A Critical Review of Papua New Guinea’s National Climate Compatible Development Management Policy (2014)

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 By Fritzhelyn Momen

Introduction

The National Climate Compatible Development Management Policy (NCCDMP) is a document that provides PNG with a framework for managing climate change while promoting sustainable development. Given PNG’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, this strategy is both the first of its kind and critically needed. This review will offer a negative response to the policy and provide two recommendations for improvement. 

Summary

The NCCDMP is well structured, beginning with introductory messages from former Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill and former Minister for Environment & Conservation Hon. John Pundari, followed by the core policy parts. These parts cover background information, policy themes, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Notably, a key aspect of the policy is “Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies.” The policy adopts a comprehensive approach by integrating mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (preparing for climate impacts like sea-level rise and extreme weather) across all sectors, particularly economic ones, as outlined in the policy rationale. For example, to address extreme weather, the policy advocates for climate-resilient crops and practices. The National Agriculture Policy, for instance, emphasizes the need for thermal-resistant crops to withstand droughts or floods. Implementing sustainable techniques mitigates climate change effects and aids farmer adaptation.

Critique

The NCCDMP demonstrates initial alignment with the 2013 National Security Policy (NSP), which recognizes climate change as a ‘growing global concern’ and an internal security threat. Subsequently, the Office of Climate Change and Development (OCCD) was established to address climate-related issues, leading to the 2014 publication of the NCCDMP. While the NCCDMP presents a comprehensive framework, two weaknesses have been identified and will be critically evaluated in this subsection.

The policy has integrated all sectors, particularly environmental sectors, for effective climate action. However, despite sectoral integration, implementation and enforcement have been significantly limited, primarily due to funding constraints. Funding is crucial for policy implementation, particularly for environmentally friendly sustainable projects, this underscores that policy creation alone is not enough. In order for the policy to fully achieve its intended outcomes it needs resources like money. Financial assistance is crucial for initiating, maintaining, and monitoring climate projects across sectors. Supporting this, Makinde (2005) argues that, the lack of funds will only result in the inability of the policy implementers to function, as they should. Even where there is an ongoing project, if money fails to come up, such a project may become abandoned. This makes the policy implementation ineffective because it will not achieve its intended outcome.

Another critical weakness is the policy’s misalignment with contemporary international and regional agreements. While PNG played a leading role in global climate action by advocating for REDD+ in 2005, and the NCCDMP aligns with agreements like the UNFCCC (1992) and the Kyoto Protocol (1997), it needs updating to reflect recent developments such as the Paris Agreement (2015), and the Boe Declaration (2018). The NCCDMP, intended for review every five years, has not been updated since released, rendering it outdated. The NCCDMP is not in alignment with these international agreements due to two reasons. The UNFCCC (2015) stated that the Paris Agreement greatly relies on countries setting their own targets for greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation. The NCCDMP misaligned with the Paris Agreement by not explicitly outlined clear, measurable and time-bound targets in its strategies. For example, the policy envisions reducing carbon emissions however, it did not mention the quantity of intended reduction. Furthermore, in 2018, the Pacific Islands Forum adopted the Boe Declaration on Regional Security, which broadened the concept of security to include non-traditional concerns related to the environment, society, economy and human security, alongside traditional military security concerns. As stated by the PIF (2018), in point (vii) of the Boe Declaration, the concept of security has expanded, recognizing both traditional and non-traditional threats in the region. The NCCDMP risks misalignment with the Boe Declaration by failing to adequately address the critical link between climate change and broader security concerns.

To address these weaknesses, particularly the practicality of implementation due to funding constraints and misalignment with global agreements, two recommendations are: PNG must undertake an immediate and comprehensive policy revision and strengthen international partnerships. This revision should prioritize developing clear, measurable, and time-bound targets aligned with international agreements, in that way PNG can strengthen partnerships to help with funding constraints. In addition, the updated policy should explicitly incorporate the principles of the Boe Declaration, especially its emphasis on addressing traditional and non-traditional security threats, particularly environmental and resource security as stated by PIF (2018), in section (2), part (vii) of the Boe Declaration.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this critical review is based on the NCCDMP (2014). It gave a negative response to the policy by outlining implementation gaps due to funding and misalignment with international agreement as potential weaknesses. The critique recommended policy review and strengthened partnerships to address the two weaknesses discussed.


References

Makinde, T. (2005). Problems of policy implementation in developing nations: The Nigerian experience. Journal of Social sciences, 11(1), 63-69.

Office of Climate Change and Development. (2014). NATIONAL CLIMATE COMPATIBLE DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT POLICY. https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/png176381.pdf

Pacific Islands Forum. (2018, September 5). Boe declaration on regional security | pacific islands forum secretariat. Forumsec.org. https://forumsec.org/publications/boe-declaration-regional-security

The Government of Papua New Guinea. (2021, April 29). PNG national security policy – pacific security college. Pacific Security College; PNG National Security Policy – Pacific Security College. https://pacificsecurity.net/resource/png-national-security-policy/

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2015). Key aspects of the Paris Agreement. United Nations Climate Change; United Nations. https://unfccc.int/most-requested/key-aspects-of-the-paris-agreement

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