11 Feb 2015

Palau searches for climate change solutions in Tonga

5:22 pm on 11 February 2015

The associate climate change co-ordinator for Palau says his country is desperate for ways to fight climate change.

Xavier Matsutaro is leading a team visiting Tonga to study an EU-funded project constructing foreshores in eastern Tongatapu.

Mr Matsutaro says the use of structures called groynes to trap sand and address coastal eroision is a concept that could be used in Palau.

He says they have used other methods to combat sea level rise and erosion in the past with mixed sucess.

"It's a new issue that we are faced with and so we are trying to think outside the box in how we can best deal with the issue. Obviously this won't be a permanent solution but it will at least buy us some time in that we can figure out what to do in terms of relocating our communities more inland."

The associate climate change co-ordinator for Palau Xavier Matsutaro.