Figure 1: Participants listening to the experiences of Solomon Islands in implementing its PCDF throughout the Provinces
Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS) Permanent Secretary, Dr. Derek Futaiasi showcased the work of the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) and work planned through the UNCDF Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) during the Inclusive Climate Finance Dialogue held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 26–28 August 2025.
As Solomon Islands’ flagship performance-based grants system for provincial governments, the PCDF has disbursed over SBD 325 million in grants; funded more than 1,600 projects nationwide; and created over 11,000 jobs across nine provinces. Building on this success, with support from the Governments of New Zealand and the European Union and working in partnership with the World Bank IEDCR project, through the UNCDF LoCAL programme Solomon Islands is leveraging the PCDF to deliver climate finance through Performance-Based Climate Resilience Grants (PBCRGs). This aims to ensure that provincial investments are designed with climate resilience in mind.
Dr Futaiasi spoke alongside representatives from the Governments of Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Cambodia in the panel. Dr. Futaiasi emphasised that Solomon Islands’ approach demonstrates how embedding climate finance in national systems builds both legitimacy and sustainability “The PCDF has shown that when performance-based financing is paired with strong local leadership, the results are transformative — better infrastructure, stronger governance, and communities more resilient to climate change.”
The permanent secretary also highlighted the challenges in accessing climate financing stating that “as a small island developing state, there are barriers to accessing and scaling climate finance, among other factors, global climate funds involve long, technical processes that stretch the limited capacity of small administrations like Solomon Islands.”
He further reinforced that “even with funding, projects are costly to deliver in remote islands, and limited local capacity makes implementation and reporting difficult. It is critical to use existing institutions, rather than create parallel ones.”
Hence, the permanent secretary articulated “the need for finance that fits our reality – one that is much simpler, more predictable, and direct funding, and stronger support to national systems — will make climate finance more effective for Solomon Islands.”
UNCDF’s Technical Specialist in the Solomon Islands, Zoe Victoria Tate, also spoke on a panel about the opportunities for innovations and digital technologies to improve efficiencies and increase the accessibility of climate finance at the local level. She covered examples from the Solomon Islands including DPI initiatives by the Solomon Islands Government that can enhance data sharing between ministries, as well as innovations that have been piloted in the country by the private sector in recent years that can expand access to financial services to all Solomon Islanders.
Supporting improved access and effectiveness of climate finance in the Asia-Pacific, participants in the Inclusive Climate Finance Dialogue identified opportunities to leverage a range of sources of climate finance, solutions for how to convert climate finance into resilience on the ground, and partnerships for collaboration.
The Inclusive Climate Finance Dialogue was convened by UNDP and UNCDF, bringing together government leaders, development partners, and climate finance experts from across Asia and the Pacific. Solomon Island’s participation was supported by the Government of Sweden, as a contribution to regional knowledge exchange on climate finance.
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