10. Question No. 10—Foreign AffairsIBRAHIM OMER (Labour) to the Minister of Foreign AffairsQuestion No. 10—Foreign Affairs10. IBRAHIM OMER (Labour) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: What recent announcements has she made about delivery of the $1.3 billion Government climate finance investments?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Foreign Affairs): While visiting Tonga and Niue this month I launched Aotearoa New Zealand's New Zealand International Climate Finance Strategy - Tuia te Waka a Kiwa. Fifty percent of this fund will support the Pacific and 50 percent will go towards adaptation. The strategy sets out key principles and goals that will shape our climate finance investment over the next four years. This approach further strengthens New Zealand's partnership with the Pacific and supports locally led solutions.Ibrahim Omer: Why does the strategy emphasise a partnership approach to climate finance?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: We know that many communities have been living with changes in their environment for decades and are best placed to develop their own solutions and adaptation plans. This is certainly true for the Pacific. For example Tonga has put in place a climate change fund Act to manage and prioritise its projects. So our partnership approach might involve funding countries' own adaptation plans or supporting locally led projects to promote community resilience to climate change and disasters.Ibrahim Omer: How will this partnership approach to climate finance work in practice?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I can give an example: while in Tonga I announced Aotearoa New Zealand's new contribution of $8 million to Tonga's climate change fund. In line with our partnership approach this will be directed to Tonga's own priorities such as projects to strengthen the resilience of public infrastructure enhance coastal protections and develop sustainable agriculture. I'd like to also acknowledge the significant contribution of women and young people who I met in Tonga tackling their communities' climate challenges.Ibrahim Omer: How will the climate finance strategy support the Pacific in responding to the impacts of climate change?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: We've seen time and time again the serious threat climate change poses to the Pacific Islands. We've sought feedback from Pacific partners in shaping the principles and goals of this strategy such as enhanced resilience and adaptation to the impacts of climate change promote accelerated climate change mitigation improved institutional capability and evidence-based decision-making leveraging our investment by working with other donors to ensure greater climate impact. Our strategy will support their decision making by providing greater access to and use of education science indigenous knowledge and local techniques to combat climate change.Ibrahim Omer: How will New Zealand's climate finance build Pacific resilience?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: Building resilience is woven throughout the climate finance strategy and will be a key focus of our investment in the Pacific. An example is the $10 million allocated in July to the Fiji-based Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees which is conserving the region's collections of 17 crops including yam coconut and 70 percent of the world's taro varieties. This investment will increase the Pacific's resilience by ensuring our region's seeds and plant materials are preserved and protected for future generations. This investment will help to restore heritage crops as was the case after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcanic eruption that occurred earlier this year.