Pacific Islands to build climate disaster warehouses

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SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia and New Zealand said they would provide A$42.6 million ($28.05 million) for Pacific Island countries, which span millions of kilometres of ocean, to store humanitarian aid in the region to prepare for increasing climate disasters.

The Pacific Islands region is experiencing worsening cyclones, while the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire” is seismically active, triggering earthquakes that can cause tsunamis, and the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai eruption.

Many Pacific Island countries are remote with poor transport links and have relied on assistance to arrive from the Australian, New Zealand, U.S. and Chinese defence forces after disasters.

Pre-positioning humanitarian supplies in warehouses in 14 countries would allow Pacific Islands to respond in the first 48 hours after an emergency to save lives, Australia and New Zealand said in a statement. Timor Leste is also covered by the programme.

Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, said it would “ensure there is easily accessible support and supplies on the ground for communities when disaster strikes”.

Foreign ministers from the Pacific Islands region are meeting in Suva, Fiji, on Friday ahead of the annual Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting this month in Tonga.

($1 = 1.5186 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry)