8 May 2026, Yaren, Nauru - The Republic of Nauru held its first ever Loss and Damage Dialogue, bringing together relevant sectoral climate change stakeholders to collectively develop a strategic way forward for addressing Loss and Damage in Nauru.
The Nauru Loss and Damage Dialogue is funded with UK International Development from the UK Government and implemented by SPREP in partnership with the Government of Nauru.
Climate change-induced loss and damage refers to the negative impacts of climate change that goes beyond what can be mitigated or adapted to, resulting in both economic and non-economic losses.
“This Dialogue marks an important step toward shaping a new strategy for the Department of Climate Change and National Resilience, with a particular focus on the critical issue of Loss and Damage,” said Mr Reagan Moses, Secretary for the Department of Climate Change and National Resilience of Nauru.
“It will directly inform Nauru’s Loss and Damage Needs Assessment, through this assessment, the Department aims to begin identifying and addressing the challenges associated with Loss and Damage.”
The dialogue aims to strengthen understanding of climate-induced loss and damage among government departments, state-owned enterprises, Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations as well as the communities, and youth of Nauru.
Work will be done across the two-day event to identify the impacts already being experienced, as well as existing gaps and needs when it comes to Loss and Damage. This will also be the platform for stakeholders to collaboratively develop a definition of Loss and Damage that reflects the context of Nauru.
“The Nauru Loss and Damage dialogue builds upon the Youth and Private sector dialogue held prior where participants highlighted key challenges such as access to funding, the recognition gap between science and traditional knowledge, as well as the overlapping governance policies and loss of important cultural knowledge,” said Mr Moses.
“It was also during these two-days of loss and damage discussions that stakeholders delved into actions that they could take such as supporting data collection and analysis whilst closely collaborating with government in the implementation of its Loss and Damage priority actions.”
The Nauru Loss and Damage Dialogue was held on 5-7 May, 2026 funded with UK International Development from the UK Government and implemented by SPREP in partnership with the Government of Nauru.
It was designed to foster reflection, discussion of a shared loss and damage approach and reinforce existing national frameworks rather than introduce parallel priorities, advancing the Nauru National Climate Change Policy, Republic of Nauru Framework for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction II and Nauru’s Nationally Determined Contribution.
For more information on the Nauru Loss and Damage Dialogue, please contact SPREP Climate Change Adaptation Officer, Mr Timoci Nakalevu, timocin@sprep.org