UK Small Island Developing States Strategy

Report and Government response published The House of Commons International Development Committee calls for the FCDO urgently to make a long-term commitment to SIDS. It says the UK Government must not allow funding or political support for SIDS to be de-prioritised, even in an era of multiple and growing global crises. The Committee calls out … Show more

Report and Government response published The House of Commons International Development Committee calls for the FCDO urgently to make a long-term commitment to SIDS. It says the UK Government must not allow funding or political support for SIDS to be de-prioritised, even in an era of multiple and growing global crises. The Committee calls out the domestic environmental policies it says are threatening the UK’s reputation as a serious partner to the SIDS. The UK is not on track to meet its own net zero targets, and the UK SIDS Strategy lacks concrete commitments or measurable objectives. The UK should use its senior roles and influence in global development finance institutions – including its current co-chairship of the Green Climate Fund with the Dominican Republic - to improve SIDS access to climate finance, and to push for money from the new Loss and Damage Fund to be disbursed as grants, not loans. SIDS are already heavily indebted and the impact on them of external shocks – whether extreme weather events, pandemics, or global economic volatility - is larger and the recovery process slower. In 2017, Hurricane Maria wiped out the equivalent of 226% of Dominica’s GDP overnight. It is yet to fully recover. Despite being so vulnerable to the effects of climate change, to which they have contributed so little, some SIDS are classified as too high-income to access Official Development Assistance. Applications for climate finance are prohibitively lengthy and onerous for small states with limited administrative capacity and can consume up to 5% of the total value of a project before it is even implemented. Read the Report : UK Small Island Developing States Strategy Show less