Climate change funding woes persist

A New Zealand development consultant says finance for climate change adaptation in the Pacific is not flowing to those who need it most.

Independent consultant Sarah Meads said funding from various sources was getting stuck and there needs to be better coordination between donors, governments and their communities.

She said there were an array of funding channels including government to government assistance, and multilateral assistance through organisations such as the Asian Development Bank and the European Union.

"They've been called a spaghetti bowl in the past, and each channel will have its own array of criterion that applicants have to meet, and different timelines, and it makes it really really complex if you're a small island developing state with limited resources to be able to access some of those funds easily."

Sarah Meads said there was a real push from Pacific leaders for direct access to funding, but that relied on countries having the capacity to be able to manage the funds.