Two landmark approvals totaling more than US$95 million, each more than seven years in the making, show both what Fiji can deliver and why the system must change
The Government of Fiji, through the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, has welcomed the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) approval of US$35.2 million for the Fiji Coral Reef Resilience Project, a 10-year, US$42.6 million investment to protect and restore the Great Sea Reef and strengthen the resilience of more than 120,000 people in coastal communities.
The approval follows the GCF’s earlier approval this year of the US$52.5 million Forest Landscape Restoration for Climate Benefits and Resilience project, developed with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Together, the two projects bring more than US$95 million in new investment to Fiji’s forests, rivers, mangroves and reefs, connecting the country’s landscapes and seascapes from ridge to reef.
Two investments, from ridge to reef
The Fiji Coral Reef Resilience Project, implemented by WWF-Pacific with the Ministry, will restore 835 hectares of mangroves and 2,524 hectares of riparian forest across Ba, Ra, Bua and Macuata. It will establish a management plan for the Great Sea Reef across 20 qoliqoli, provide direct grants for community-designed adaptation, and support 50 reef-positive enterprises, including women-led businesses. More about the project – https://www.greenclimate.fund/portfolio/projects/fp316
The Forest Landscape Restoration project, implemented by FAO with the Government of Fiji, Fiji Hardwood Corporation Limited, Fiji Pine Limited and the Fiji Development Bank, will restore or improve management of more than 80,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land over seven years. It is expected to directly benefit nearly 197,000 people, half of them women, and remove an estimated 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. More about the project – https://www.greenclimate.fund/portfolio/projects/fp306
Because sediment and runoff from degraded land are among the main pressures on the Great Sea Reef, the two projects reinforce each other: healthier forests and rivers mean healthier reefs and fisheries for the communities that depend on them.
Seven years to approval
While welcoming both decisions, the Government has brought attention to the fact each project took more than seven years to move from concept to GCF approval.
“These approvals are a proud moment for Fiji and for the communities, partners and officials who persevered in the effort to unlock finance for vulnerable communities and ecosystems,” said Dr Sivendra Michael, Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change. “But we should be honest that it took more than seven years to get each of these projects over the line. A small island state should not need the better part of a decade to access finance needed to enable urgent adaptation in the face of escalating climate impacts. That is why Fiji continues to champion the push for substantive reforms within the global climate finance architecture to ensure that climate finance modalities themselves adapt to better respond and evolve in response to changing contexts and needs. Climate finance must be simpler to access, flow faster, and align with local contextual needs and circumstances to be effective and ensure that interventions like these can be financed at scale.”
Leading reform on access to finance
The approvals come as Fiji steps up its work to improve how climate finance reaches small island developing states (SIDS):
- At the Green Climate Fund Board, Fiji continues to work with SIDS Board members to advocate for simpler and faster processes, stronger country ownership and direct access for SIDS, and a greater share of adaptation finance flowing to the most vulnerable.
- At the Pacific Pre-COP, hosted in Fiji from 5 to 8 October 2026 ahead of COP31 in Antalya, access to finance was a central focus. Of more than US$16 billion committed to Pacific countries since the Paris Agreement, over US$5 billion remains undisbursed. Efforts to produce an Access to Finance Statement and Action Plan were launched at the Pre-COP and this initiative aims to set out practical steps and reform priorities to cut delays and provide a basis for further action on finance at COP31.
- Through the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), Fiji is backing the Pacific’s first regional, Pacific-owned solution to climate finance. The Agreement establishing the PRF entered into force on 6 May 2026 after ratification by Fiji and Australia. Forum Leaders have named the PRF the region’s pre-eminent climate finance investment priority, and a direct means to crowd in finance for urgent community level interventions. The PRF targets an initial capitalisation of US$500 million/
“The Pacific Resilience Facility is a home-grown answer to a problem we know well: finance that is too slow, too complex and too far from our communities,” said Dr Michael. “It is designed by the Pacific, for the Pacific, to deliver small and medium-sized grants directly to the communities that need them. Global funds such as the GCF and regional mechanisms such as the PRF should work hand in hand, and Fiji will keep championing both.”
The Ministry thanked the Green Climate Fund, FAO, WWF-Pacific, the Government of Australia, implementing partners, provincial and iTaukei institutions, and the communities of Ba, Ra, Bua and Macuata whose knowledge and commitment shaped both projects.
ENDS
Media contact
Samuel Rohit
Communications Coordinator, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
Email: rohit.samuel@environment.gov.fj
Mobile: +679 7690074
Additional Notes for Media
| Project | GCF funding | Co-financing | Total | Duration | Lead partner |
| Fiji Coral Reef Resilience Project | US$35.2m | US$7.4m (Govt of Fiji, Govt of Australia, WWF) | US$42.6m | 10 years | WWF-Pacific |
| Forest Landscape Restoration for Climate Benefits and Resilience | US$29.3m | US$23.2m | US$52.5m | 7 years | FAO |
| Combined | US$64.5m | US$30.6m | US$95.1m |
- The Great Sea Reef is the world’s third-largest continuous barrier reef system and a climate-resilient “super-reef”.
- The Pacific Resilience Facility is a Pacific-owned, Pacific-led financing mechanism endorsed by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders to provide community-scale resilience finance.