ABU DHABI, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda’s Deputy United Nations Ambassador, Tumasie Blair, Wednesday said the upcoming fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) to be held in the Caribbean country next month is “the last chance to save SIDS.
“We framed this conference by saying not only is this the last chance to assist SIDS but also after the end of this 10-year framework, we don’t want to see another SIDS conference trying to save SIDS,” Blair told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on the sidelines of the 14th Session of the two-day International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Assembly which wraps up here on Thursday.
“We want to see a SIDS conference that would allow for a sustained development of SIDS. And so we don’t want to address past issues,” Blair said, one day after a pre-assembly SIDS Ministerial themed “Charting a Resilient and Sustainable Energy Future for SIDS.”
Based on the content of the outcome document and its implementation, we are confident that we’ll achieve some sustainability in the future. We need you to continue to assist us in our sustainability efforts,” Blair said.
He said Antigua and Barbuda has taken seriously the hosting of SIDS4 and has spent the last few years doing predatory work.
The May 27-30 conf John’ ss will address and tackle issues of climate change, access to finance, debt sustainability, and the overall social development of SIDS.
“Those are the big-ticket items on the agenda. And they’re more detailed in the outcome document recently concluded at the preparatory meeting for SIDS4.”
While St. John John is hosting the meeting, it is an opportunity to highlight the larger Caribbean region, which is severely affected by many of the issues that will be the focus of deliberations.
“I think more than anything, the Caribbean has been feeling the effects of climate change and the fallout from the economic crisis. But also because of our close connection with the (global) north, whenever there are spillovers from global unrest, then the Caribbean feels that even more aggressively than perhaps some other region,” Blair said, adding that the Caribbean is also a champion for other SIDS regions.
“”And so we’resowe’ree taking this opportunity to not only put the voice of the Caribbean on the map but also to ensure that the other SIDS regions can amplify their voice during SIDS4″”
The diplomat said that Antigua and Barbuda’s firm commitment will end with” “a firm commitment” from the international community to address the needs of SIDS.
“We have long said, during our two—to the three-year preparatory process for this conference, that this is perhaps the last chance to save SIDS,” Blair told CMC, adding, “We recognize that climate change is spiraling out of control, and we recognize that the effects of climate change are even more intense.
“We also recognize that the economic fallout and the high debt burden of SIDS are now unsustainable. SIDS are on a cliff,” Blair said, adding that SIDS is still reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is clear that SIDS needs specialized attention. We hope this conference will result in a firm commitment from the international community to address SIDS’s needs fully. These commitments are detailed in the outcome document.”
However, the SIDS conference is coming to the Caribbean even as developing countries, including many SIDS, have complained about the international community’sinternationalcommunity’ss failure to live up to the commitments made at many international conferences, including the global climate change talks.
Blair said that in an effort to get countries to honor commitments they made at the meeting, his government had spent the last two to three years being strategic” “in knocking on the door” and” “forming alliances and ensuring that once international partners have decided on commitment, that we’re able to hold them accountable.
“And so we have big players on board now, fully on board, in ensuring that they will not only allow us to continue championing for SIDS, but they will also hold our counterparts accountable for the implementation and the commitments within this 10-year framework,” he told CMC. “Again, there is global recognition that SIDS are the most vulnerable countries. That recognition concludes that if you save SIDS, you save the world. So, a firm commitment from partners is coming forward to ensure that they live up to their obligations to SIDS.
The conference comes as the World Bank, a major developmental financer, has proposed increasing the interest rates and reducing the payment period for loans to some developing countries, including many in the Caribbean, which enjoy a higher standard of living than many other developing countries.
However, Blair noted that the World Bank is looking to introduce” “vulnerability into their concept of lending and borrowing, ensuring that those vulnerable countries can access concessional financing at a lower rate.
“And those countries, countries like Antigua and Barbuda, which even have access to concessional finances, can gain access to concessional financing.”
Blair said the process being used by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) started within the UN system and that the Treasury of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne has been championing the multi-dimensional vulnerable index (MVI).
“MVI put forward the case that international financial institutions need to change how they look at vulnerable countries, tiny island developing states.”
On Tuesday, IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera told the SIDS ministerial that the outcome of their deliberations would serve as input into SIDS4 and would play an important role in charting SIDS” energy transition and sustainable development for the next decade.
La Camera announced that IRENA will support Antigua and Barbuda in hosting SIDS4.
He said the green energy agency would co-host a side event focusing on “Transforming SIDS Economies through Energy Transition and Climate Action towards Prosperity, Resilience and Sustainable Development” to agree on concrete actions facilitated by action-oriented partnerships that will guide the future course of SIDS.
The SIDS 4 outcome document is expected to be a 10-year sustainability map, and Blair said the IRENA assembly is essential for SIDS 4, whose outcome document articulates “very clearly the renewable energy needs of SIDS, how we transition to renewable, the type of financing we need for renewable, that type of transfer of technology that we need for renewable, but also the fact that the SIDS Lighthouseisn’ttLighthouse isn’t fit for purpose right now.
“And so it has to be remodeled and reshaped to be fit for purpose, in tandem with the 10-year framework,” he said of the framework for action to support SIDS in their energy transition efforts from fossil fuel dependence to renewables.
“So this assembly is quite important. We have articulated this to the highest levels within IRENA and will continue to do so during this assembly,” Blair told CMC, expressing confidence that SIDS4 will make a difference.
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