Staying Small and Beautiful: Enhancing Sustainability in the Small Island Developing States

Spread over the ocean regions of the Caribbean, the Pacific and Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the South China Sea, the small island developing states (SIDS) are a distinct group of developing countries often known for their rich biological diversity, oceans, tourism, and fisheries. The pressures on these and other natural resources is most immediate in the islands where the high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, limited land and water resources, often unsustainable natural resource use, and other particular economic vulnerabilities are disrupting livelihoods. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the SIDS economies and livelihoods. Over the past 25 years the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has supported interventions in SIDS through $578 million in financing, in critical areas such as biodiversity protection, climate resilience, and energy access through renewable energy. But how effective and sustainable have these interventions been? What factors influencing the sustainability of GEF interventions can provide insights for future project design and implementation? This chapter draws on findings from a recent country cluster evaluation on SIDS conducted by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the GEF. It presents the main environmental challenges in SIDS, the evidence on the relevance and effectiveness of GEF interventions in addressing these challenges, and the main risks to sustainability of outcomes. Important contextual factors that affect sustainability in SIDS include good policies and legal and regulatory frameworks, national ownership of projects, environmental awareness, institutional capacity, and strategic institutional partnerships. Project-related factors including good project design and adaptive project management, scaling-up and replication based on lessons learned, and a good exit strategy are also important for sustainability.

Linking ecosystem services and the Sustainable Development Goals in Small Island Developing States: the case of Aruba

The economy and well-being in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other Subnational Island Jurisdictions (SNIJ) highly rely on marine and coastal ecosystem services (ESS). Moreover, SIDS and SNIJ share common challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building a fact-based solution to demonstrate the link between ESS and SDGs is essential for nature conservation and sustainable development in SIDS and SNIJ. In this study, we developed a 5-step approach to capture the contribution of ESS to the achievement of SDGs in Aruba by means of a shortlist of indicators, with the aim to provide information for optimal policy investments to implement the Aruba 2030 roadmap. The results numerically and spatially demonstrate the contribution of fisheries, nature-based tourism and local cultural recreational ESS to achieve SDG targets 14.7 (increase SIDS' economic benefits from sustainable use of marine resources), 8.9 (devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism) and 3.4 (promote mental health and well-being); and how investing in these key ESS could lead to multiplying co-benefits for other SDGs. This paper also discusses how the 5-step approach and the outcomes can be used to assist other SIDS and SNIJ in their ambitions to meet the SDGs.

The diffusion of renewable electricity technologies in Small Island Developing States: The case of the Maldives

<p>Globally, the production of electricity has been heavily reliant on non-renewable resources. The situation in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is no exception. Most SIDS, such as the Maldives, are highly dependent on imported oil for electricity production. However, renewable electricity technologies (RETs) have the potential to decrease the cost of electricity, reduce vulnerability to external economic shocks, improve access to electricity in remote areas, increase energy security, and decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The existing literature fails to explain adequately the mechanisms through which the diffusion of RETs takes place, not least in SIDS. This study aims to improve our understanding of diffusion processes and thus explain why the diffusion of RETs in SIDS, such as the Maldives, has been so slow. The study draws on, and adapts, a systems approach, namely the technological innovation system (TIS) approach, in order to better understand the process of diffusion of RETs in SIDS. This study focuses on the Maldives. It applies a mixed methods approach and draws on qualitative and quantitative data from semi-structured interviews and a self-administered survey questionnaire. A six-step analytical process using the adapted TIS framework was applied to analyse the research findings. The study reveals five main findings. Firstly, the distinct features of the Maldives impede their capacity for energy transformation. These include the geographical dispersion of islands over a large area, and the limited space available to install some of the mature RETs, such as solar PV and onshore wind turbines. Moreover, the lack of a renewable resource base, also contribute to these challenges. Secondly, the government and international development partners have been the most significant actors driving the diffusion of RETs in the Maldives. Thirdly, it is political and economic factors that mainly contribute to the slow diffusion of RETs in the Maldives, rather than technical constraints. There are too few policy measures in place to support the diffusion of RETs. Fourthly, the lack of information about the economic feasibility of RETs continues to be a barrier to the diffusion of RETs in the Maldives. Fifthly, the study improved the understanding of the dynamics of TIS functions in the Maldives.</p>

The diffusion of renewable electricity technologies in Small Island Developing States: The case of the Maldives

<p>Globally, the production of electricity has been heavily reliant on non-renewable resources. The situation in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is no exception. Most SIDS, such as the Maldives, are highly dependent on imported oil for electricity production. However, renewable electricity technologies (RETs) have the potential to decrease the cost of electricity, reduce vulnerability to external economic shocks, improve access to electricity in remote areas, increase energy security, and decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The existing literature fails to explain adequately the mechanisms through which the diffusion of RETs takes place, not least in SIDS. This study aims to improve our understanding of diffusion processes and thus explain why the diffusion of RETs in SIDS, such as the Maldives, has been so slow. The study draws on, and adapts, a systems approach, namely the technological innovation system (TIS) approach, in order to better understand the process of diffusion of RETs in SIDS. This study focuses on the Maldives. It applies a mixed methods approach and draws on qualitative and quantitative data from semi-structured interviews and a self-administered survey questionnaire. A six-step analytical process using the adapted TIS framework was applied to analyse the research findings. The study reveals five main findings. Firstly, the distinct features of the Maldives impede their capacity for energy transformation. These include the geographical dispersion of islands over a large area, and the limited space available to install some of the mature RETs, such as solar PV and onshore wind turbines. Moreover, the lack of a renewable resource base, also contribute to these challenges. Secondly, the government and international development partners have been the most significant actors driving the diffusion of RETs in the Maldives. Thirdly, it is political and economic factors that mainly contribute to the slow diffusion of RETs in the Maldives, rather than technical constraints. There are too few policy measures in place to support the diffusion of RETs. Fourthly, the lack of information about the economic feasibility of RETs continues to be a barrier to the diffusion of RETs in the Maldives. Fifthly, the study improved the understanding of the dynamics of TIS functions in the Maldives.</p>

Economics of Disaster Risk and Resilience in Small Island Developing States

<p>The four essays investigate the impacts and implications of climate change and disasters in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific by examining disaster risk, resilience, response, and recovery in Tuvalu. The first chapter starts with a survey on the conceptual framework of disaster risk which relies on its associated components of hazard, vulnerability and exposure. It is an introductory literature review that sets the scene for the other chapters. It is not intended to make an original contribution nor a critical review of the literature justified to be publishable. How we measure these risks depends on how we define disaster risk and its components. Though there are diverse views on these definitions in different disciplines, we can capitalise on their commonalities to frame disaster risk models. The second chapter investigates the vulnerability of households to climatic disasters in Tuvalu. Small Island Developing States, particularly the atoll islands, are considered to be the most vulnerable to climatic change, and in particular to sea-level rise and its associated risks. From the Tuvalu Statistics Department household survey, we construct poverty and hardship profiles for households on the different islands of Tuvalu, and combine these with geographic and topographic information to assess the exposure differentials among different groups using spatial econometric models. Besides the observation that households in hardship are more vulnerable to negative shocks because they lack the resources to respond, we also find that they are also more likely to reside in highly exposed areas to disasters (closer to the coasts and at lower elevation) and have less ability to migrate (between and within the islands). The third chapter examines cyclones. The intensity of cyclones in the Pacific is predicted to increase and sea levels are predicted to rise, so an atoll nation like Tuvalu can serve as the `canary in the coal mine' pointing to the new risks that are emerging because of climatic change. Based on a household survey we conducted in Tuvalu, we quantify the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Pam (March 2015) on households, and the determinants of these impacts in terms of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and responsiveness. Households experienced significant damage due to the storm surge caused by the cyclone, even though the cyclone itself passed very far away (about a 1,000 km). This risk of distant cyclones has been overlooked in the literature, and ignoring it leads to significant under-estimation of the disaster risk facing low-lying atoll islands. Lastly, we constructed hypothetical policy scenarios, and calculated the estimated loss and damage they would have been associated with { a first step in building careful assessments of the feasibility of various disaster risk reduction policies. The fourth chapter examines the financing of disaster risk management. Future climate and disaster risks are likely to impose increasing financial pressure on the governments of low-lying atoll nations. The aftermath of a disaster such as a cyclone requires financial means for quick response and recovery. Hence, we quantify appropriate levels of financial support for expected disasters in Tuvalu and Kiribati by building on the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI) calculated likely costs for disasters. To these, we add estimates of the potential effects of distant cyclones, droughts, sea level rise and climate change as they are predicted to affect low-lying atoll islands. There are several potential financial instruments available for disaster risk management in the Pacific Islands. We focus on the potential contribution of the sovereign wealth funds (SWF) of Tuvalu and Kiribati in reducing reliance on foreign aid for both ex-ante and ex-post disaster risk management. We forecast the future size of the SWF using Monte Carlo simulations and an Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average model. We examine the long-term sustainability of the SWF, and the feasibility of extending their mandate to cover and pay for at least some climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.</p>