Fiji Enacts Groundbreaking Climate Change Law with ADB’s Assistance

Enacted on 23 September 2021, the new Climate Change Act establishes a comprehensive legal framework for Fiji’s climate change response, creates requirements and governance arrangements, and helps to implement the Paris Agreement. Fiji is the first Small Island Developing State to pass climate legislation inclusive of a net-zero emissions goal, and the first globally to set out a legally recognized state-supported process for relocation of at-risk communities. The Government of Fiji describes the Act as "the world’s most comprehensive pieces of climate legislation, covering issues such as long-term net-zero commitments, carbon budgets, carbon market establishment, climate-induced human mobility, nature-based solutions, the legal recognition of maritime boundaries relative to sea level rise, climate finance and intergovernmental resilience building." The new law was supported under OGC’s Law and Policy Reform Program.