World Bank Pacific

23/10/2026

AI is reshaping the skills employers value and creating new opportunities for growth.

Join our event “Harnessing AI for Better Jobs in East Asia and Pacific” to explore how countries can help firms adopt AI, equip workers with relevant skills, and raise productivity and incomes.

Sign up, mark your calendar, and submit your questions to our experts now:

Join us on November 5 as experts explore how countries can help firms adopt AI, equip workers with relevant skills, and raise productivity and incomes

22/10/2026

90% of Pacific urban residents live within 5km of the coast.

That puts many of the Pacific’s growing towns and cities on the frontlines of cyclones, floods, earthquakes and other disasters.

But understanding where people, homes and infrastructure are most exposed is an important step towards building safer, more resilient communities.

As part of our Livable Pacific Cities and Towns work, we assessed exposure to natural hazards across 38 urban areas in the Pacific. Our Mapping Risk, Building Resilience spotlight looks at what we found, and what it means for the region’s growing towns and cities.

📝 Read the blog: https://lnkd.in/g44BH_Mh
📖 Read the full report: http://wrld.bg/KRBL50ZXSvK

And this isn’t just about mapping risk. In Samoa, the Government is developing Sālelologa township in Savaii with support from PREPARE-Samoa, putting resilience into practice on the ground.

🔗 Read more about the work in Samoa: https://lnkd.in/g22Cxmpb

22/10/2026

What happens when culture, tourism and climate-smart livelihoods come together?

At Fiji's Girmit Kitchen Experience, local women are creating new opportunities through cultural tourism, organic gardening, and sustainable farming. Their approach shows how smart tourism can generate income, support jobs, and create more distinctive visitor experiences.

Their story highlights an important lesson: Resilience can open new income streams, strengthen local supply chains and deepen the connections between tourism businesses and their communities. It can also help businesses respond to changing visitor expectations.

Drawing on research and real examples from across Fiji, IFC’s Future Ready guide offers practical tools, checklists and planning guidance to help tourism businesses put these ideas into practice.

http://wrld.bg/5VV250ZS671

Future Ready: Climate-Resilient and Inclusive Tourism in Fiji was developed by IFC with support from the Australian Government.

The Girmit Kitchen Experience

15/10/2026

🏘️ Across the Pacific, more people are moving into towns and cities.

Since 1994, the urban population across ten Pacific Island countries has grown by 175%. By 2050, nearly one in two Pacific Islanders will live in a city or town.

That growth brings a once in a generation opportunity to plan places where people can live safely, access services and build a better future - but only if it is properly managed.

Our new report, Livable Pacific Cities and Towns, looks at what resilient, sustainable and inclusive urban growth can mean for the Pacific.

🔗 Read the report: http://wrld.bg/KRBL50ZXSvK

This , we’ll share findings, stories and country insights from the World Bank’s ongoing investments in urban resilience.

UN-HABITAT

12/10/2026

⚡Last week's Pre-COP in Fiji brought together Pacific leaders and partners to focus on one of the region's biggest opportunities: turning renewable energy ambitions into real projects.

📘Our new report on Energy Transition Roadmaps for the Pacific helped inform the conversation and outlines the scale of investment and policy action needed to power transition - estimating that Pacific Island countries will require around US$2 billion in energy investments by 2030 to strengthen energy security, reduce dependence on imported fuels, and expand access to affordable, reliable power.

Thank you to pre-COP hosts Fiji and Tuvalu for the opportunity to contribute to these dialogues to move beyond energy transition targets and towards implementation, financing and delivery for the Pacific’s energy future.

📖 Read the report: http://wrld.bg/XixL50ZOzjV

09/10/2026

🌏 At Pre-COP31 in Fiji this week, the World Bank Group hosted a discussion on how Pacific countries can build resilience while continuing to grow, create jobs and improve living standards in a changing climate.

Drawing on findings from the Fiji and Pacific Atolls Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs), the session highlighted that climate action and development are not competing priorities.

From strengthening infrastructure and protecting livelihoods to creating economic opportunities and supporting communities on the frontlines of climate change, Government representatives shared perspectives on how resilience can be integrated into development planning and investment.

The session featured a lively talanoa, with strong engagement from panelists and participants across the room, reflecting the Pacific's leadership in shaping solutions to some of the world's most pressing climate and development challenges.

🙏 Vinaka vakalevu to Fiji and Tuvalu for hosting Pre-COP31 and creating a space for dialogue, partnership and Pacific-led action ahead of COP31.

See our Pacific Atoll CCDR here: http://wrld.bg/SAYZ50ZVHLx
And our Fiji CCDR here: http://wrld.bg/kyH750ZUfcf

08/10/2026

The latest finds that AI is most effective at supporting jobs that require complex thinking and judgment—yet only 13% of jobs in East Asia and Pacific fall into this category, compared with 39% in advanced economies

Learn more: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/10/06/east-asia-and-pacific-holds-steady-amid-global-uncertainty-but-harnessing-ai-s-ful

08/10/2026

🇲🇭 As Pre-COP focuses on resilience, Ebeye Marks a major resilience milestone 🇲🇭

Last month, the 1.81 km Ebeye seawall was officially completed, helping protect homes, public infrastructure and livelihoods in one of the Pacific's most vulnerable atoll communities - marking the culmination of years of partnership between the World Bank Group, the Government of the Marshall Islands, and the people of Ebeye.

As leaders gathered in Fiji this week for Pre-COP discussions, including on the World Bank Pacific Atolls Country Climate and Development Report, the Ebeye seawall stands as a tangible example of translating resilience planning into action.

Beyond reducing climate risks, investments like the Ebeye seawall can also create the conditions for future development. By making communities safer, strengthening critical infrastructure, and improving confidence for future investment, resilience investments can help atoll nations not only adapt to climate change, but continue to grow and thrive despite it.

📸 Hall Contracting - the contractor of the works.

Read the Atoll CCDR: http://wrld.bg/SAYZ50ZVHLx

RMI Ministry of Finance, Banking & Postal Services Office of the President, Republic of the Marshall Islands

07/10/2026

In East Asia and Pacific, several economies are benefiting from supplying the goods that underpin the global surge of AI investment, but the technology’s reach across the wider economy remains uneven.

Find out more in the latest : https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/10/06/east-asia-and-pacific-holds-steady-amid-global-uncertainty-but-harnessing-ai-s-ful

07/10/2026

🌴 What does it mean to be future ready in a changing climate?

For Fiji's tourism sector, it means planning ahead, strengthening operations and building resilience to withstand disruptions while creating opportunities for future growth.

As discussions continue at Pre-COP in Fiji, practical examples like these show how climate action can support jobs, businesses and economic opportunity. Being climate resilient is not only about managing risk.

It is also about strengthening supply chains, supporting staff, improving preparedness and identifying new opportunities for growth.

Developed by the World Bank Group and supported by Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Future Ready: Climate-Resilient and Inclusive Tourism in Fiji guide provides practical tools, checklists and examples to help tourism operators build resilience while creating opportunities for more people to participate in and benefit from the sector.

📖 Download the guide:

Practical tools, checklists and tourism case studies to help Fijian businesses build climate resilience through inclusive action.