Elizabeth Morgan |The 4th International Conference on SIDS - More action, not just promises

The SIDS Conference on sustainable development opened in Antigua and Barbuda on Monday, chaired by Prime Minister Gaston Browne under the theme ‘Charting the course towards resilient prosperity’. Jamaica’s delegation is being led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.

This is an important conference for SIDS, including the CARICOM countries, which are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters, especially in this time of climate change crisis. Here in Jamaica, this must be the hottest month of May ever. The forecasts are for a very active hurricane season in the Caribbean. I think we are all dreading the period June to November.

Background

The focus on issues of concern to small island and coastal states began in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the 1970s. UNCTAD was one of the first organisations in the UN system to consider the vulnerabilities to external economic shocks of small island developing states. The Commonwealth can also be credited with spearheading work on the situation of small and vulnerable states, commencing in the 1980s. Thirty-three of the 42 small states are members of the Commonwealth.

At the 44th session of the UN General Assembly in 1989, the vulnerability of islands and coastal areas was recognised with the adoption of Resolution 44/206 on the possible adverse effects of sea-level rise on islands and low-lying coastal areas.

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) was established within the UN system in 1990 at the time of the Second World Climate Conference. It is based in New York. The special designation, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), came at the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the outcome document, the Agenda 21 programme of action for sustainable development, Chapter 17 called for convening a global conference on the sustainable development of SIDS. In 1994, the first UN Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS was held in Barbados. This conference adopted the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS.

The second SIDS conference to review the 10-year implementation of the Barbados SIDS Programme of Action was held in Mauritius in January 2005. The conference adopted the Mauritius strategy for the further implementation of the programme of action for the sustainable development of SIDS.

The third SIDS Conference was held in Apia, Somoa, in 2014. The outcome document was the SAMOA Pathway, which recognised the impacts of the global economic crisis on SIDS, and called for the UN system to strengthen its coordination and support for SIDS wanting to pursue green economy policies.

The current conference

The 4th SIDS Conference is being held at the end of a decade marked by multiple crises, including climate change, with global warming increasing; the COVID-19 pandemic; and continuing economic crises. With these developments, the focus has been on building resilience and on securing financing to address these issues.

This conference is to review implementation of the SAMOA Pathway and to agree on a new 10-year plan for the sustainable development of SIDS. It will be recalled that UNCTAD is implementing a new SIDS strategy resulting from UNCTAD XV, which was held in Barbados in October 2021.

Prime Minister Browne’s address to the SIDS Conference opening session on Monday included the following points:

• The urgent need for global accountability and immediate action to combat the multifaceted crises facing SIDS;

• The disproportionate impact of climate change on SIDS and the need for equitable solutions and substantial support from the international community;

• The inherent vulnerabilities which disadvantage SIDS, such as limited financial resources and human capital constraints;

• Criticism of the large-scale polluters, especially those in the North, for their role in the climate crisis and calling for them to fulfil their obligations to provide compensation and aid for building resilience in affected regions;

• The need for urgent multilateral support to secure the future of SIDS;

• Holding oil-producing companies accountable for their role in the environmental challenges, calling for the end of fossil fuel subsidies and the imposition of a global carbon tax to provide climate financing, and stressed the need for a transition to renewable energy resources;

• The significant milestone achieved by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law, which he co-founded, in obtaining a historic and unanimous Advisory Opinion from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; and

• The establishment of a Centre of Excellence to serve as a global data hub for innovative technologies and investment for SIDS.

The heat, which we are now experiencing, is evidence that urgent action is needed to address climate change. There is experience in the Caribbean of the damage that very powerful hurricanes can do. Antigua and Barbuda experienced this in 2017, when they were hit by Hurricane Irma.

The outcome from this conference, indeed, should see action to build resilience. Especially in this CARICOM region, we now need to see action to implement and less of aspirations, and promises not honoured.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.