Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is an island country in the South Pacific Region and occupies the eastern half of the West Pacific island of New Guinea, together with the main islands of New Britain, New Ireland, and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, as well as another 600 smaller islands and atolls. It shares the international land border with Indonesia to the west, and the maritime borders with Australia to the south, the Solomon Islands to the east, and the Federal State of Micronesia to the north. It has a total land area of 46.13 million hectares, of which 97% of land is owned by local Indigenous people, while 3% is owned by the State. The country is located in one of the most tectonically active areas in the world, also known as the ring of fire. Papua New Guinea’s population of 8 million people (2020) is young and growing. 87% of the population live in rural areas. Papua New Guinea is ranked as the tenth most vulnerable country in the world to the risk of climate change. The country’s highlands region is susceptible to extreme weather such as heavy rainfall. The coastal regions, the islands and the low-lying atoll areas are mostly vulnerable to extreme weather events, storm surge, seal-level rise, and coastal inundation. With such a highly dispersed and remote population, the risk of exposure to natural hazards is very high. Most of rural populations are subsistence farmers that rely on subsistence farming for their livelihoods, with limited capacity to protect themselves from climate-induced natural disasters.