World Bank grants Samoa US$14.6 Million for climate change adaptation [1]
Friday, January 3, 2014 - 20:04
Samoa has been granted $14.6 Million (USD) by the World Bank to improve the resistance of coastal communities against natural disasters.
The World Bank announced last week that the grant will fund a project called “Enhancing the Climate Resilience of Coastal Resources and Communities Project” aimed at “helping 45,000 Samoans who live in coastal communities adapt to climate change and climate variability.”
The grant comes after a recent spate of recent disasters that have devastated the Samoan islands in the last few years. A Tsunami that hit the island of Upolu in 2009 killed 149 people and a destructive cyclone last year forced thousands into evacuation centers.
According to the World Bank approximately 80% of Samoa’s 403 km coastline is vulnerable to erosion.