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The workshop was planned and implemented collaboratively by SPREP, UNDP-GEF, UNDP Country offices located in Suva, Apia and Port Moresby, and the UNCCD Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. Matt McIntyre was sub-contracted by SPREP and engaged as consultant/resource person to the workshop. SPREP was engaged to organize and facilitate the workshop under two separate but closely related contracts with UNDP and UNDP-GEF. The Government of Fiji approved the hosting of the workshop in Suva, assisted with organizing the venue and presented the welcoming and closing address through Mr Inoke Ratukalou, the Director of Lands and Planning of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of Fiji. Opening statements were also presented by Amena on behalf of the SPREP Director, Mr Richard Dictus (UNDP Resident Representative in Fiji), Hans Eschweiler (UNDP-GEF) and Yoko Hagiwara (UNCCD)

Small island developing States (SIDS) are highly vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise owing partly to their small land masses surrounded by ocean, and their location in regions prone to natural disasters. SIDS are often characterized by having relatively large populations for the area they occupy with high growth rates and densities; poorly developed infrastructure and limited natural, human and economic resources, and their high dependence on marine resources for their livelihood needs. Most of their economies are reliant on a limited resource base and are vulnerable to external forces, such as changing terms of trade, trade liberalization, and migration flows. Adaptive capacity to climate change is generally low.