A new five-year pilot project has been launched to help Pacific communities better understand and respond to the growing impacts of climate change.

The Building Our Loss and Damage Response (BOLD) project was announced during one of the final sessions of the three-day Pacific Innovation Climate and Environment Conference in Port Vila. The initiative aims to develop practical methods for measuring both the economic and non-economic losses communities experience as climate impacts become more severe.

Managing Director of the project under SPREP, Moirah Matou, said adaptation alone is no longer enough in many communities, making it essential to understand what is being permanently lost.

“We have found that adaptation has its limits. In some places communities recover, but the following year they have to recover again. There are also things that, once lost, cannot be replaced. Some losses cannot be given a monetary value because they are deeply connected to people’s culture, livelihoods and way of life. A good example is global warming. As coastal areas become warmer, some crops will no longer grow well in those environments, and their quality will decline significantly.”

Ms Matou said the project supports the conference’s broader focus on climate resilience, environmental management and renewable energy by ensuring community voices guide future climate responses.

She said the pilot phase will focus on developing practical assessment methods that can later be expanded across the Pacific.

“Our goal over the next year is to develop concrete methods for assessing loss and damage. Once these approaches have been tested through the pilot, we will be able to replicate them in other communities across the region.”

The BOLD project is expected to strengthen regional efforts to better understand the full impact of climate change while supporting evidence-based planning and community-led climate action across the Pacific.