The Higher Ground Initiative: Purpose

The Higher Ground Initiative offers a transformational mandate for the nation. In the face of its challenges, the question is not whether Nauru will change, but instead:

Will Nauru continue the unsustainable practices of the past and suffer the unwanted change that escalating local and global crises bring, or will Nauru boldly respond to these challenges with a commanding approach to change and a sense of urgency to secure a sustainable future.

HGI answers this call with an island-wide vision for secure and resilient adaptation; to be a success, it requires cooperation and must ensure the wellbeing of all Nauruans. Its underlying Purpose is to direct the bold national response Nauru needs, sitting squarely within the intersectional imperatives the island is currently burdened by: Overcrowding, Economic Stagnation, and Climate Change.

There is a severe housing shortage in Nauru leading to many residences being seriously overcrowded, and likewise much of the existing housing stock in Nauru is of poor overall quality. As context, the current development pattern and living conditions in the country make it the most densely populated Pacific Island nation,15 and population density trend lines indicate that these conditions are likely to continue to become worse without intervention.

The situation is especially dire when considering that overcrowding has been shown to contribute to social burdens including domestic violence,16 public physical and mental health constraints on adults17 as well as children,18 and reductions in well-being and future success metrics for children raised in over-crowded homes,19 all concerns in Nauru. In addition, many of these overcrowded homes have substandard construction and/or are unsafe for their inhabitants in any number of ways, and are located without nearby access to open spaces and public amenities. As a result, Nauru is in immediate need of a significant quantity of new housing development and existing housing retrofit, in order to address its overcrowding.

15 Population density (people per sq. km of land area) - Nauru. (2022). The World Bank. Retrieved August 1, 2022, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.POP. DNST?end=2020&locations=NR&most_recent_value_ desc=true&start=1961&view=chart

16 Cant, R. L. et al. (2019). Overcrowded housing: One of a constellation of vulnerabilities for child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect , 93, 239–248.

17 Jones-Rounds, M. K. L. et al. (2013). The interactive effects of housing and neighbourhood quality on psychological well-being. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 68(2), 171–175. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2013-202431

18 Clair, A. (2018). Housing: An under-explored influence on children’s well-being and becoming. Child Indicators Research, 12(2), 609–626.

19 Henaku, Eugene. (2022). Experiences of children living in overcrowded homes: A case of Ghana. 15th International SAAFECS Conference, South Africa.

The United Nations addresses housing access and neighbourhood quality as a key aspect of sustainable development, specifically in Sustainable Development Goal 11:

Target 11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

Target 11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.

Target 11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

The Higher Ground Initiative provides the opportunity for the Government to quickly and demonstrably contribute to the construction of new, high-quality, affordable housing that is available to everyone, as well as the provision of nearby parks and public spaces that give all members in every age group and gender in the community access to recreational and cultural activity. Through the development of Topside and redevelopment of vulnerable/inneed areas of existing settlement, Nauru can provide safe and secure living conditions for all Nauruans with sweeping investment of the wide-scale development of a thoughtful and durable housing model that incorporates resilient technologies while reflecting the Nauruan way of life. In doing so, the Government can likewise provide meaningful action toward alleviating the social hardships that overcrowding can deepen, particularly those for women and children.

Utilizing materials available and/or manufactured on-island, and engaging a workforce drawn from the community to construct and maintain these new neighbourhoods, Nauru will be demonstrating a holistic approach to sustainable development, one that supports both its immediate and long-term needs. By leveraging the vision of HGI to attract international partnerships, and with investment of its own resources into planning and policy revision, Nauru can provide high-quality affordable housing that will ensure its availability and accessibility to all Nauruans, addressing overcrowding while remaining accountable to its sustainability objectives.

The vulnerability of the Nauruan economy is a concern that will only increase, without government-wide consideration for the ways in which the current stagnation might be addressed. Indeed, the factors influencing this stagnation are vast; however, as various traditional revenue sources including the national airline, the phosphate industry, and the fishing industry remain highly vulnerable, and as the cost and availability of imports continue to lack predictability, Nauru must take deliberate steps toward expanding economic opportunities, for individuals and for the country as a whole. 20

Contributing to the pressure that economic stagnation is placing on the nation, the current utilities and infrastructure systems in Nauru are heavily reliant on carbon-based resources, and

20 Nauru Country/Economy Profile. (2022). Asia Regional Integration Centre, Asian Development Bank. Retrieved August 1, 2022, from https://aric.adb.org/nauru existing businesses and industries are more likely to impede progress toward the Nauruan goal of decarbonization21 rather than contribute to its achievement, costing Nauru and Nauruans alike as energy prices fluctuate. By contrast, new sustainable infrastructure developed in conjunction with the Higher Ground Initiative will not only add to economic growth, but can encourage a just energy transition for the country through its intentional design utilizing renewable resources.

The United Nations addresses economic opportunity as a key aspect of sustainable development, specifically in Sustainable Development Goals 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 11:

Target 1.4 By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance.

Target 4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

Target 7.b By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and landlocked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support.

Target 8.2 Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and laborintensive sectors.

Target 9.4 By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities.

Target 11.a Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.

The Higher Ground Initiative provides the opportunity for the Government to strategically and comprehensively expand opportunities for economic growth, shifting the nation from an extractive economic model to one that is regenerative. Through the implementation of an integrative approach to the development of Topside and redevelopment of vulnerable/in-need areas of existing settlement, Nauru can provide a broad platform for skills training, jobs creation, technological advancement, and economic expansion. The manufacturing of materials, the construction of buildings and infrastructure, and the establishment of new resiliencybased industries will contribute to expanded and improved economic growth for Nauru. Furthermore, renewable resources deployed for new homes and businesses, transportation and utility systems, public works service provision, water management, food production, and the wide range of related sectors that can develop in response to the HGI vision, offer an arena to accelerate progress towards renewable energy goals while delivering their related economic benefits. Finally as HGI progresses, these same skills, products, resources, and businesses will become valuable outside the borders of Nauru, to other islands within the Pacific group and beyond, providing Nauru with a growing outlook for economic expansion.

Full responsiveness to the changing global climate, and the countless ways in which it will impact life on Nauru for generations to come, will require the willing and active participation of all Nauruans, wholesale investment from all businesses and institutions on the island, a whole-of-government approach to policy reform and resiliency strategy development, and the buy-in of all international partners and support systems. Chief among the concerns for Nauru will be the threat of inundation to existing urban development and key infrastructure in low-lying coastal areas, as global sea level rise begins to impact Nauru. 22

Exacerbating the burden on critical infrastructure and already-constrained housing that sea level rise will bring, alteration to global weather patterns will have a significant impact on the quality and security of daily life in Nauru. Not only will unstable rainfall patterns impact freshwater resources locally, but the consequences of altered weather patterns globally will impart unreliability in the imports of food, fuel, and other goods and materials that Nauru currently relies on for much of its daily needs. The threat that the global climate crisis poses to Nauru is extensive and has the potential to be devastating for the small island developing nation.

The United Nations addresses climate adaptation as a key aspect of sustainable development, specifically in Sustainable Development Goals 2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15:

Target 2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.

Target 6.1 By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

Target 7.1 By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services.

Target 9.a Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.

Target 11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries,” with the Indicator.

Target 13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climaterelated hazards and natural disasters in all countries.

Target 13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.

Target 13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

Target 15.1 By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.

The Higher Ground Initiative provides the opportunity for the Government to urgently and decisively adapt to the impending detrimental impacts of a changing global climate with its limited amount of land. Utilizing the initiative as an opportunity for innovation, the transition to climate-adaptive strategies across many sectors in Nauru through the implementation of HGI will offer a pivotal contribution toward a successful island-wide climate adaptation response. In particular, domestic renewable island-based energy generation and the implementation of greatly improved energy efficiencies across Nauru will reduce, and ideally ultimately eliminate, the need for reliance on imported fossil fuels.

Additionally, the establishment of a reliable and technologically modernized local food production system along with the remediation of topsoil necessary to support a robust local agricultural industry, as well as the incorporation of strategies and technologies that can support harvesting of clean drinking water resources, will address the current reliance on foreign resources and can protect Nauruans with some amount of food and water security. With an island-wide approach to embedded climate resiliency established through the implementation of the vision of HGI, Nauru will be a leader in the global effort to adapt to climate change through the establishment of more safe, liveable, and sustainable communities.