Less Division, More Ambition: High-Level Dialogue on Loss and Damage in Small Island Developing States

Loss and damage is already happening. And the world’s Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are on the frontline of a climate emergency where weather and climate extremes are on the rise, pushing people and ecosystems beyond the limits of what they can adapt to.  

While their needs are great, a fragmented international development and climate finance architecture that has proven slow, inefficient and siloed, is ill equipped to grasp SIDS’ realities and needs.  

In 2017–2018, around half of the climate finance received by SIDS was non-concessional, with nearly 50% of public finance coming through loans or non-grant mechanisms, while only 3% was bilateral climate finance. 

Over the past 50 years, SIDS lost $153 billion due to weather, climate and water related hazards (UNDRR). That is billions of dollars which island nations could have spent on education, health, infrastructure, socio-economic development etc. 

SIDS are caught in a catch-22 as they are forced to redirect limited budgets earmarked for sustainable development, climate adaptation, and disaster risk reduction to service their rising debt. Climate change and disasters exacerbate SIDS’ debt struggles and lower their credit ratings, adding an average of 24% to debt to GDP ratios. Environmental shocks cause a spiralling debt trajectory, as SIDS borrow additional money to aid recovery, leading to higher debt servicing costs.  

While SIDS predominantly receive concessional Official Development Assistance (ODA) after disasters, due to ad-hoc exceptions to ODA requirements, ad-hoc exceptions fail to address the compounding and systemic issues faced by SIDS.   

As climate-related risks rise, the level of climate finance received by SIDS decreased from US$2.1 billion to US$1.5 billion in 2019. The US$1.5 billion mobilized for SIDS in 2019 is not proportional to their needs, as their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are worth around $92 billion. 

As a response SIDS are having to grapple with servicing loans to recover from extreme climate disasters and slow-onset impacts, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has proposed the operationalisation of a Loss and Damage Finance Facility to recover from extreme climate disasters and slow-onset impacts. Similarly, AOSIS is calling for loss and damage finance to be adopted as an official agenda item at COP27. 

This event will focus on the impacts of loss and damage on SIDS, the state of play regarding resourcing loss and damage and take into account the Multi-dimensional Vulnerability Index for SIDS currently being developed. It will be a frank discussion on both challenges and opportunities to continue building momentum to ensure that the international community concretely supports the needs of SIDS on loss and damage.