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Image: Palau/ Kurt Cotoaga/ Unsplash
As a group of acutely climate-vulnerable countries, experiencing an increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather-, climate-, and water-related events, SIDS are investing in resilience building. While their extensive coral reefs protect some SIDS against certain extreme events, for example, Palau is categorized in the low-risk class in the 2020 INFORM Global Risk Index, it has suffered three major typhoons since 2012 and a severe drought in 2016 and is experiencing sea level rise. This is why the country is taking a major step in strengthening its disaster risk management and climate adaptation plans to safeguard against the economic and social disruption and loss. Using state-of-the-art remote sensing technology “Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)", which employs light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth, Palau recently conducted its first-ever nationwide digital coastal survey. The initiative will generate detailed maps of topography and retrieve digital elevation data necessary for flood modelling and vulnerability, along with risks analysis, which will serve as a baseline for more accurate assessment and planning. This is supported by the Government of Japan through the Enhancing Disaster and Climate Resilience (EDCR) project which is implemented by the UNDP. Palau also foresees the importance of the data collected in the sustainable management of its natural resources. Besides the implementation of the technology in the country, the ECDR project also contributes to strengthening gender-sensitive disaster communication and climate monitoring systems and enhance community disaster resilience through improved water resource management and integrated gender and social inclusion awareness. UNDP also supports Niue and Tuvalu to employ LiDAR technology under the Pacific Ridge-to-Reef programme. The importance of remote-sensing and spatial planning is becoming more essential to provide accurate data for informed decision-making, thus helping SIDS arrive at a resilient, sustainable and equitable future.
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Cabo Verde, a small island developing state vulnerable to exogenous shocks like COVID-19, is seeking structural transformation of its economy as an important step to strengthen recovery, while ensuring long-term resilience and sustainability. Unfortunately, these efforts remain hampered in the face of a major challenge: constrained access to financing, especially foreign direct investment. With the signing of a new agreement between UNDP and the Cape Verde Stock Exchange, the country committed to establishing the world’s first sustainable financing platform dedicated to the blue economy, marking a strategic leap towards diversifying its sources of financing and achieving its ‘Ambition 2030’ strategic vision, developed in the midst of the global pandemic. As the first step in this process, the Cabo Verde Stock Exchange, in partnership with UNDP, organized a ‘sustainable finance’ training and workshop targeting the main players in the country's financial ecosystem, which took place within the scope of the Integrated National Financing Framework. The Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), known as the world's first and leading platform dedicated exclusively to sustainable finance, delivered training on innovative and sustainable financial instruments, such as blue bonds and impact investments. This training is the foundation in establishing a sustainable finance platform dedicated to the blue economy in Cabo Verde — potentially unlocking the capital investments necessary to catalyze a vibrant, entrepreneurial, innovative and sustainable blue economy sector in Cabo Verde, including maritime transport, fisheries, aquaculture, coastal tourism, among others. Forward-looking, this could transform Cabo Verde Verde into a sustainable finance hub for Africa, SIDS, ECOWAS, PALOP, and any other country whose blue economy ambitions could benefit from the platform’s services. This innovative and sustainable blue finance platform aligns with UNDP’s SIDS Offer, where the blue economies’ prosperity is achieved through an integrated approach rooted in sustainable finance and development.
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The COVID-19 pandemic pummeled the economies of many SIDS, especially those nations that rely heavily on tourism. SIDS are known to be the first and worst affected by climate change and thus the first to adapt. And as early adaptors, SIDS are taking charge in moving forward the health crisis—building back better, stronger, and greener. With the support of UNDP, in the Eastern Caribbean, 10 countries are participating in the “FUT-Tourism: Rethinking Tourism and MSMEs in times of COVID-19” project to assist Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), that are directly or indirectly linked to the tourism sector, in sustainably recovering from the pandemic. The recent launch of this initiative tackled not only the new needs of new tourism at large, but also the focus on youth and women, and the increased access on digital platforms—ultimate achieving the “Blue Economy for Green Islands” vision. Across the world in the Maldives, the initiative to reimagine local tourism segment in Laamu Atoll was also launched, with the joint effort of the Government and UNDP. This approach is also innovative in such a way that local communities are empowered by engaging them in tourism planning and development—rethinking tourism beyond government and private sector partnerships. While SIDS are known to share common vulnerabilities, these nations can harness these initiatives to learn best practices in making tourism more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable.
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SIDS youth are no longer waiting on the sidelines as they come together not just to demand stronger climate ambitions from the international community and conduct grassroots-level actions. The Youth Co:Lab, the largest youth movement for empowerment, equality, social inclusion, and social justice in Asia and the Pacific, recently founded The Movers Programme. This program is a movement of volunteers who develop SDGs awareness, entrepreneurial mindsets, and 21st-century skills in youth by conducting localised training at a grassroots level. Employing the train-the-trainer approach, it works with community partners to especially target hard to reach groups and support Youth Co:Lab’s objective to leave no youth behind. This program gives youth the opportunity to: (1) Become future-ready by receiving training on hands-on tools, global issues and opportunities, relevant skills, and knowledge, and the accountability to lead this learning for others; (2) Be aware of the SDGs while developing a strong entrepreneurial mindset; (3) Be a part of and help build a strong community dedicated to mainstreaming youth social entrepreneurship and helping it achieve scale. To date, the Movers program has engaged more than 10,000 youth across 16 countries, through more than 300 workshops. In Singapore, the first workshop ran in July 2020 and since then there have been 7 workshops with over 250 youth. By 2023, the program plans to empower 4 million future-ready youth across Asia-Pacific with 21st century skills (including digital literacy, soft and global citizenship skills, and Climate Change awareness) and to be drivers of change. Acknowledged as “partners in sustainable small island development,” the role of SIDS youth through partnerships, volunteering, and activism is becoming more important in achieving the SAMOA Pathway.
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Calling UNDP colleagues in Pacific SIDS! Are you interested in running Movers workshops to empower your local youth community? Or would you like to get more information about this movement?
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Image: Fiji/ Alex Douglas/ Unsplash
Regional Pacific NDC Hub’s Strategy 2030: A vision for a green, blue, and sustainable future
The United Nations published the initial Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Synthesis Report in late February which alarmed the international community since climate commitments are not on track to meet Paris Agreement goals—indicating that some nations must redouble the climate efforts to reach the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. With the impacts of climate change, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting the Pacific region hard—the region builds up stronger policies that translate into action in building back better. “Climate action and the sustainable development agenda are inseparable; as we rebuild our economies from the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, climate investments present a unique opportunity for Pacific economies to build back better and ensure a green, blue, and inclusive recovery,” stated by Chair of the Pacific Small Island Developing States, and Fijian Prime Minister Hon. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama. And so earlier this month, the Regional Pacific NDC Hub laid out the “Strategy 2030”—a long-term game plan for more ambitious Pacific climate action through its Nationally Determined Contributions for the next decade. This 10-year strategy will guide Pacific countries from NDC planning to the acceleration of on-the-ground project/program implementation to monitoring and verification of action. The Strategy 2030 and the region’s exceptional commitment proves the Pacific Small Island Developing States’ (PSIDS) vision and dedication to achieve a sustainable, low-carbon and climate resilience Pacific. Through its Climate Promise, UNDP is also assisting 28 SIDS in updating their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of COP26.
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| View UNDP's 20 Insights from NDCs in 2020 here. |
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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many SIDS’ economies were weakened due to three major factors: low economic diversification, disproportionate impacts from climate extremes and disasters, and exposure to public debt distress. The external indebtedness of SIDS is significantly higher than that of other developing countries. In 2019, the external debt of SIDS accounted for 62% of GDP on average, which pales in comparison to the 29% for all developing countries and economies in transition. But what causes this susceptibleness to debt distress in SIDS? A mix of high public debt rate, high current account deficit, and a high debt service rate. If a country pays out a huge amount of public revenues to debt repayments, this limits building infrastructure to improve resilience or provide service to the public, preventing long-term sustainability — which then inclines the country’s debt to pile up. To address these issues, this blog calls for assistance focusing on debt relief and debt sustainability focusing on two areas: (1) More comprehensive measures which take into account SIDS that are considered middle-income or with relatively high per capita income levels, allowing them to benefit equally from debt standstills; (2) Reevaluation of the long-term sustainability of SIDS to align debt repayments in compatible with the restoration and maintenance of a sustainable and inclusive growth. Calls for addressing persisting and intensifying debt issues were reiterated by the UN Secretary-General during the opening of the 2021 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development earlier this week. Among efforts to accommodate this, is the UN systems work to develop a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, to which UNDP contributed with a discussion paper, Towards a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, which considers SIDS’ unique context and can facilitate the reassessment of eligibility for concessional financing
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Can we still make 2021 the "super year" for the ocean? Despite the postponement of pivotal events related to ocean protection in 2020, the threats to the ocean were not put on hold. In fact, due to the pandemic, masks and gloves are washing up on the shorelines and littering the seabed—sparking a surge in ocean pollution. The urgency to tackle the degradation of the ocean has increased and the global community must make bold decisions for protecting the ocean. This is crucial to SIDS as their economies and resilience rely on healthy oceans. The document “Blue Food for Thought,” presents some out-of-the-box ideas for the future of the ocean: (1) "Marine exploitable areas" is a mechanism that makes marine life and habitat protection the rule rather than the exception, at least in the high seas. (2) Numerical management of large fish populations is an idea of a fundamental reform of the management and conservation of large fish species and populations by switching to setting quotas by the number of individual fish instead of weight-based catch limits. This has the potential to maintain population sizes and control the size and age of the fish caught. (3) Implementing Subsidies Elimination Agreements (SEAs) can finance sustainability and replenishment of marine life as this promotes bilateral or/and regional “fleet disarmament” agreements to decrease the intensity of fishing nation’s operations on vulnerable fish stock. (4) Replicating the operational management of radioactive wastes by isolating plastic wastes from the biosphere to avoid their dispersion and dilution in the environment in the form of micro-particles. Stepping into the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, pivotal actions must be taken to maintain momentum in creating a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient ocean.
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Image: Digital Future of Development Dialogue, New York, USA/ UNDP
The maximum benefits of digitalization in SIDS have yet to be realized but are already projected to be crucial in building forward better and achieving long-term sustainability. Through its SIDS Offer, UNDP is committed to supporting SIDS in harnessing digital transformation in bridging the persistent digital divide and taking advantage of the opportunities of the digital age. And while digitalization has the potential to bring advantages to SIDS, such as economic diversification and improved disaster preparedness, among others, it is critical to be aware of the main challenges for governing digitalization—as this is a matter of national and global security as well as social peace and progress. The World Economic Forum published this article listing three challenges, in particular. First, business models that undermine human values (e.g. privacy) and polarize societies must be scrutinized and challenged. Losing privacy is not the only issue of seemingly “free” services but it could also be used in creating engagement based on extremities as this has the potential to create traffic through the algorithms—which may result in social polarization. Secondly, it must be ensured that digital platforms are based on openness, interoperability, decentralization, and sharing data in order to foster innovation and make the economic benefits of digitalization spread evenly across societies. Such an example is UNDP Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development Singapore (GCTISD)’s enabling cross-border data flow to drive economic and social development by leveraging the potential of emerging technologies, for example artificial intelligence (AI). And speaking of AI, the third challenge is reiterating that, with this technology, humans—and not machines—are ultimately responsible and one must not turn a blind eye to. Transparency is still key and society must scrutinize how groundbreaking technologies are used in different contexts. Given that digitalization is driving the global community in a fast-paced manner, governance must always put values into practice—"encouraging all stakeholders in making sure technology is used in a socially responsible way.”
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| Image: Rodrigues/ UNDP Mauritius
Analysis calls for stable, low-cost finance and debt restructuring to ensure long-term prosperity of developing countries
The external debt stocks of SIDS increased 70 percentage points from 2009 to 2019, resulting in external debt to GDP ratio of 61.7 % on average in 2019. The drastic socio-economic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these pressures. Both at the recent High-Level Meeting as part of the Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond Initiative, hosted by the governments of Canada and Jamaica and during this week’s 2021 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development, we heard leaders calling for urgent action on addressing the impending debt crisis facing many developing countries. This is exactly what a new report published by UNDP calls for. In analyzing the debt vulnerability of 120 low- and middle-income countries it finds that two-thirds of external ‘debt service at risk’ is not covered by current relief initiatives. Significantly, the analysis identified a risk of a prolonged debt crisis which threatens years of progress on poverty and the future resources needed to deal with climate change. The analysis identified 72 countries as “vulnerable” and among these 19 as “severely vulnerable”. The study estimates that a minimum of US$598 billion of external public debt service payments are at risk across the 72 countries from 2021-2025, with US$311 billion owed to private creditors. Of the minimum estimated $598 billon of “debt service at risk” low-income countries account for 6 percent and middle-income countries 94 percent. The report finds that while the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), adopted by the G20 last year has been necessary, it is not sufficient, "Indebted developing economies need access to stable, low-cost finance, preceded for some by debt restructuring". To ensure long-term prosperity and the ability to regain decades of progress towards ending poverty and addressing the climate crisis, redirecting of expenditures, increased spending efficiency, and boosting domestic revenue collection are essential.
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The financial vulnerability of SIDS has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and the international community is increasingly recognizing that addressing issues of debt distress are of paramount importance in green recovery. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) organized this High-Level Side Event for the Financing for Development Forum to shed light on how to advance the implementation of debt-for-climate swaps in SIDS. Supporting SIDS in addressing this pressing issue and creating fiscal space is crucial to build better, ensure green recovery, and foster resilience to climate change.
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Hard-fought progress on Tuberculosis in Kiribati at risk due to COVID-19
The theme of this year's World Tuberculosis Day – The Clock is Ticking – conveys the urgency to step up efforts and act on commitments to end TB, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. This article features Dr Innocent Nyandwi (Rwanda), a UN Volunteer TB/HIV Medical Officer serving with the UNDP Kiribati as he shares his experience of the disruption caused by COVID-19 that threatens to reverse hard-fought progress on TB.
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Seagrasses Turn Back the Clock on Ocean Acidification
A study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, found that seagrass ecosystems or so-called "marine forests" can alleviate up to 30% of the local acidity of oceans for extended periods of time; showing that seagrasses can buffer ocean acidification. This provides implications for aquaculture management, climate change mitigation, and conservation efforts.
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What Is The Blue Economy And How Can It Help My Island?
Here are some important numbers when thinking of the Blue Economy framework: the worldwide ocean is said to be worth US$1.5 trillion per year, 80% of global trade by volume is carried by sea, aquaculture is said to be the fastest-growing food sector and provides 50% of fish for human consumption, and 350 million jobs are linked to fisheries. Eager to learn how we could maximize these? Then read on the Island Innovation's piece here.
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3 ways the CDO’s ‘digital help desk’ delivered impact in response to COVID-19
As the global community rises to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, UNDP's Chief Digital Office (CDO) launched rapid digital solutions to problems facing country offices. As a global digital helpdesk, this service provides stakeholders solutions to local challenges. Read how the service creates positive impacts in Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, and Georgia.
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"The energy transition is taking place, and it is unstoppable." Produced by IRENA and built on its REmap (Renewable Energy Roadmap) approach, this preview of the World Energy Transitions Outlook outlines the vision of the world's energy landscape aligned with the Paris Agreement goals by presenting high-level insights on remarkable advances on renewable technologies, relative socio-economic contexts and the necessary investments towards a sustainable future.
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This article touches on the progress of the joint United Nations-Government of Jamaica project with support from the UN Human Security Trust Fund. Three years after the launch of the program, this initiative is now showing positive returns in water security, climate-smart agriculture components. The human security approach is also planned to be mainstreamed and incorporated in local policies and programs.
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| Upcoming Opportunities and Events |
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The 2021 ECOSOC FfD Forum will provide an inclusive platform to advance an action-oriented dialogue on the solutions on financing the COVID-19 recovery and sustainable development on the path to 2030. It will be geared to build momentum for urgent global action to tackle challenges to the achievement of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda across all its seven action areas in the context of COVID-19 and beyond.
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WCEF+Climate is the opportunity to join other leaders in paving the way for bold steps towards a circular economy by 2050, a necessity for climate neutrality. Join the discussion in the virtual conference venue built on the latest creative thinking on how to provide the full conference experience in a digital fashion: networking and interaction will remain a major component.
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Aquaculture has been around for a long time now but innovations are needed in order to meet the demands of the world while preventing overexploitation of marine resources. This three-part Aquaculture Innovation Webinar gathers aquaculture experts from Norway, Israel, and Singapore to share trends and opportunities for aquaculture in order to explore various methods in sustainable farming.
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The theme for this year's meeting is 'Collaboration for Resilient and Green Recovery' as leaders look beyond the COVID-19 pandemic when reviving the economies. This meeting is not only timely and relevant but essential as we move forward toward a green future.
When: May 3-5, 2021
Registration opens: April 5
REGISTER
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Do you have any innovative ideas focusing on the theme, 'Sustainable Fisheries,' specifically SDG targets 14.4, 14.7, 14.b? Then make sure the 'Ocean Innovation Challenge' does not miss it! Project proponents are allowed to include governments, private companies (even start-ups!), NGO/CSO, UN entities, academic institutions, and intergovernmental organizations. Submit your preliminary proposal online on or before May 9, 2021 23:59 CET. If successful, applicants shortlisted will need to submit a more detailed proposal and by late 2021, UNDP's final 2021 Ocean Innovators will be announced.
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Island Finance Forum 2021
This virtual event will give the audience a clear idea of the unique financial challenges faced by global island communities. The Island Finance Forum 2021 will also share solutions for sustainable economic recovery and discuss how inclusive growth in a post-pandemic world could be achieved. The forum aims to: (1) bridge the gap between sustainable development practitioners and financial stakeholders; (2) help island stakeholders access expert knowledge and financial opportunities available to them; (3) showcase the economic opportunities available from investing in the sustainability sector on islands--such as impact investing and ESG.
When: April 13-16, 2021
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We should build a long-term global system to support small island developing countries ，Because small island countries are most affected by the climate and environment, especially by the climate and environment, it is very important to establish and protect small island developing States 。
I suggest that the Alliance for the harmonious development of small island developing States be established through this platform, and it is necessary to establish the Development Bank of the alliance of small island developing States as a support for the development of island countries 。
To promote global poverty reduction, we should actively promote the economic development of small island countries. At the same time, it is very important for small island countries to participate in global cultural and artistic exchanges。
The way to change the tourism mode of small island countries is to transform from a single tourism mode to an industrial mode combining culture and tourism。
The establishment of a Alliance for the harmonious development of small island developing States should therefore be considered but only if it is under the leadership of the United Nations.。
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