Opinion: Why small island states' new 10-year agenda prioritizes climate

It’s no secret that small island developing states, or SIDS, are facing serious challenges: rising seas, drought, and unsustainable levels of debt. This week, heads of state and government and high-level representatives met in Saint John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, at the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States to review our progress toward sustainable development and agree on an agenda for the next decade. The gap to achieve key sustainable development goals is widening, which is inextricably linked to increasingly severe climate change impacts. According to the United Nations, the total public debt for small island developing states stands at approximately $82 billion. From 1970 to 2020, small islands lost $153 billion due to weather, climate, and water-related hazards. To recover from climate change impacts, governments are forced to take loans at exorbitant rates, perpetuating a crippling debt cycle that pushes them further down the ladder of development. At the heart of the conference’s outcome document, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS, and of our approach to sustainable development, is the global response to the climate crisis. Climate change is the biggest threat to our secure future Small island developing states’ unique circumstances mean we have limited capacities to respond to larger global crises like climate change or food insecurity, but that hasn’t meant that we have been spared their impacts. Hurricanes have been wiping out entire years’ worth of economic growth in Caribbean and African islands, while “king tides” in the Pacific are eating away at the land itself. Reading between the lines of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda is a clear sense of alarm at where things stand on climate action and compounding global crises, and a call on the global community to make good on their promises of support, so that we can safeguard the future of our children and our cultures. The agenda acknowledges the science on climate change: that even at 1.5 degrees Celsius we will face severe loss and damage from climate impacts, highlighting again how vital this global limit is to our very survival. We can’t do it alone Historically, the 39 countries that make up small island developing states have only emitted 0.5% of total carbon dioxide emissions. In contrast, in 2023, the 20 richest nations emitted 76% of global emissions. It’s clear that our future relies on the actions of others. But this should not mean that we get left behind when it comes to transitioning our energy systems. All too often, our energy systems rely on expensive imported fuels, like diesel and gas, instead of the abundant solar, wind, and geothermal resources that we have at our disposal. Our people should be reaping the benefits of cheap electricity prices, instead of being exposed to volatile import prices or becoming dumping grounds for outdated fossil fuel-reliant transport options. What we need, and what this document asks for, is accessible and affordable finance for us to pursue a just transition in line with our climate ambition. More technical expertise on loss and damage Largely thanks to championing by small island developing states, there is now a fund being set up at the World Bank to address the impacts of climate change that people cannot adapt to: loss and damage. Many small islands are already facing tough decisions when it comes to relocating people, species dying off, and the cultural and economic repercussions that brings. We urgently need resources and expertise. The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda makes a specific call for these resources so that this finance finds its way to communities in need as fast as possible. A promise from the international community Also included in the document are commitments from the international community to small islands. For those following the international climate discussions there is not much new, but highlights include the following: • Reforming the international finance architecture to address gaps and shortfalls and facilitate easier access to affordable and concessional finance. • Expanding multilateral lending. • Considering the multilateral development index — too often small island developing states are precluded from access to finance due to economic criteria that do not consider our unique circumstances. • Scaling up climate action and support. • Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. • Tackling methane emissions by 2030. This conference is our once-in-a-decade chance to create a set of small island developing states-specific priorities for our future. Not just between our islands, but between us and the international community, endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. The global promise to "leave no one behind" can only be achieved if the international community heeds the calls of roughly 20% of the world's governments that constitute small island states. For the sake of the global good, the appeals from the voices of the vulnerable must not fall on deaf ears.