The Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) has produced a wide-ranging and ambitious outcome document: the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), which establishes a clear action path for the survival, resilience and sustainable development of small islands around the world.
ABAS is the fourth international agreement on road mapping a sustainable development path for small islands. It follows the Barbados Program of Action (1994), the Mauritius Strategy (2005) and the Samoa Pathway (2014). It is a long-negotiated document that seeks to address how the small islands of the world can survive while facing the multiple vulnerabilities of anthropogenic climate change, isolation, debt and financing sustainable development.
SIDS Have the Right to Insist on Help
At the opening ceremony in St. Johns in May, the Prime Minister of host country, Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne said: “This is a crucial gathering at a time of unprecedented global challenges in which SIDS find themselves on the frontline of a battle against a confluence of crises, none of which they have caused or created. Our inherent vulnerabilities characterized by small size, limited financial resources and constrained human capital place us at a marked disadvantage on the global stage, with the scales of equity and justice unevenly balanced against us.”
Secretary General António Guterres said: “Small Island Developing States have every right and reason to insist that developed economies fulfil their pledge to double adaptation financing by 2025. And we must hold them to this commitment as a bare minimum… In the longer term, we are working for deep reforms to the outdated, dysfunctional and unjust global financial architecture. We need a financial system that puts the interests of developing countries first and is able to work as a global safety net. And for SIDS, that means simplifying processes to access finance. It also means revisiting the rules for access to concessional financing, to include the swift endorsement of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index.”
The foundation of the ABAS is the recognition that the next ten years are critical for SIDS, and that “the economic, social and environmental as well as geopolitical threats to SIDS development are so great that they can only be ameliorated by a reinvigorated enabling environment that gives meaningful effect to their sustainable development. Without the full support of the international community, SIDS will endure potentially far-reaching consequences.”
The Path Forward – ABAS
The ABAS agrees that SIDS need assistance to build resilient economies through improved connectivity and better ecosystems. It notes that SIDS need to foster safe, healthy and prosperous societies through promoting safe communities, inclusive institutions and healthier societies. ABAS recognizes that small islands need urgent support to enhance sustainable energy transition and access to affordable and reliable energy; to develop integrated water resources management; enhanced food security; and improved resilient infrastructure. ABAS acknowledges that SIDS are gravely endangered by anthropogenic climate change and need the global community to accelerate implementation of the climate measures in the Paris Agreement. The ABAS also agrees that there must be increased and improved conservation of the ocean and biodiversity.
Importantly, the ABAS agrees to reform of the international financial architecture, addressing gaps and shortfalls to facilitate easier access to affordable concessional finance for SIDS, through the recognition of the multiple risks and vulnerabilities that islands face.
Imagine a World Without Islands
In the leadup to SIDS4, ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean and the United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean Area (UNIC Caribbean) produced the campaign “Imagine a World Without Islands”, which showcased island people and island stories making the case that their homelands and lifestyles are worth fighting for. Young people, ordinary folk and island celebrities recorded videos about their favourite aspects of island life and their unique cultures that are being eroded by unmitigated climate change and stifling debt. The campaign also gave encapsulated the key concepts of what makes SIDS vulnerable and highlighted the oversized impact that islands and island people have had on the world.
Small island developing States (SIDS) find themselves in the throes of multiple crises, from the devastating climate crisis, and escalating debt, to the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite contributing less than 1% of the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, the world’s 39 small island nation states are disproportionately affected by the consequences because of their unique vulnerabilities that include remoteness, small size and economies, dependence on ocean resources, reliance on imports, and limited access to finance.
For more on SIDS4 and the campaign, visit: “Imagine a World Without Islands” campaign Hands Megaphone to Island People Ahead of SIDS4 Conference.
