Development assistance rules are denying “vulnerable” small island developing states, or SIDS, of the help they need to combat the climate emergency and must be rewritten, a U.K. inquiry has been told.
Multiple organizations have attacked the primary eligibility criteria for official development assistance, or ODA, and concessional loans — which are a country’s income per capita — claiming it penalizes those island nations that are in dire need of finance as the climate threat grows.
In written evidence submitted to the U.K. Parliament’s International Development Committee last month, Directors of the Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative, or RESI, an advisory network, called it a “terrible measure” with “perverse outcomes,” while the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat demanded “wholesale changes in the International Financial architecture.”
About the author
Rob Merrick
Rob Merrick is the U.K. Correspondent for Devex, covering FCDO and British aid. He reported on all the key events in British politics of the past 25 years from Westminster, including the financial crash, the Brexit fallout, the "Partygate" scandal, and the departures of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Rob has worked for The Independent and the Press Association and is a regular commentator on TV and radio. He can be reached at rob.merrick@devex.com.
