Endangered Islands Campaign Begins to Gather Momentum As Mauritius Conference Approaches

The upcoming January 10-14, 2005 Mauritius Conference on Sustainable Development is likely not only to be the largest gathering of island nation leaders in a decade but also the occasion in which a nascent Endangered Islands Campaign may come into full bloom. To date this initiative has evolved on very limited resources from efforts of about a dozen NGOs and private firms, a few foundations and several international organizations, particularly the Organization of American States (OAS) the World Bank and UNIDO. It has had three objectives: 1) in interested island nations to develop comprehensive approaches to climate change that encompass clean energy transformation, coastal protection, improved building design and siting, emergency preparedness and anticipatory climate adaptation to protect fragile ecosystems, 2) building of partnerships between participating island nations and coastal cities of more populous countries sharing similar vulnerabilities to climate change and sea level rise and 3) leveraging these partnerships to motivate the public in populous, heavy greenhouse gas emitting nations to insist on energy changes of the scope needed to save many small island states from extinction.

Drawing on threads from several disparate but sometimes overlapping efforts, the Climate Institute has begun with partners to cobble together a more comprehensive approach. Although resources have been quite piecemeal, in part due to the tendency of most OECD governments to focus climate protection funds on a handful of populous developing countries, this may change once the Kyoto Protocol comes into force on Feb. 16, 2005. Island nations, many of which are the most vulnerable countries to climate change, may get increased funding for climate adaptation measures from a number of bilateral and multilateral aid agencies. Many of these agencies may be represented at Mauritius. At the Conference Endangered Islands Campaign proponents hope to build broader funding and technical participation in this effort and to gather stronger island state government participation in this effort. The nascent campaign has largely focused to date on several enterprising Caribbean nations; after Mauritius it is expected that the effort can be broadened to the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

With current increasing emissions of greenhouse gases raising atmospheric concentrations and contributing significantly to global warming, many small island states may be imperiled. The impacts of global warming, particularly sea level rise and an increase in severe weather conditions e.g., fiercer storms and hurricanes, may completely inundate or devastate many of these small island nations if mitigation and adaptation methods are not immediately undertaken. Even before some island nations are submerged, salt water intrusion into their fresh water supplies may make them uninhabitable. Other island nations may find that the damage caused by increasingly severe storms may wreak havoc on their buildings making it quite difficult for residents to make a living. Many island nations with dwellings well above sea level have much of their economic activity at the beach and vulnerable to storm damage and inundation. In discussing this initiative Climate Institute President John Topping commented:

“Regrettably, the Endangered Islands Campaign terminology is no public relations hype. The cold facts are that a business as usual energy policy by larger nations may within this century doom such nations as Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and the Maldives to submersion or loss of fresh water supplies and several Caribbean nations may succumb to super hurricanes if the warming continues unabated.”

Because island nations are most vulnerable both to the impacts of climate change and to the ongoing stress of weather related disruptions, they are stepping up and playing an active role in building international interest in climate change and advocating global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A number of island nations, for example, have been eager to move toward much greater use of renewable energy to show larger industrialized nations that they are willing to set an example. Three Caribbean nations- St. Lucia, Dominica and Grenada- are participating in a Global Sustainable Energy Islands Initiative (GSEII) designed to transform their economies to a renewable power base and several other island nations are considering taking this path. One affluent island nation- Iceland- is seeking to leverage its geothermal and hydropower energy base to have a hydrogen- based energy economy by 2030.

Although island nations are actively promoting clean energy and building international awareness on climate change, international commitment and cooperation are essential in effectively developing mitigation and adaptation strategies to address potential impacts of future climate change. Without cooperative international efforts, many small island nations could ultimately become mere remnants in the sea. Even before then island nations and populations may be severely affected by storms such as the those that caused great havoc in 2004 in Grenada, the Cayman Islands and Haiti and the two typhoons that ravaged the US Territory of Guam in 2002.

Working with its partners in the GSEII, and groups skilled in climate adaptation, coastal protection and emergency preparedness such as the International Hurricane Research Center, Island Resources Foundation, James Lee Witt Associates, the International Code Council Foundation, the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, in Chennai, India, the Climate Institute is working to develop an Endangered Islands Campaign. This nascent and promising initiative will be announced at the January 10-14, 2005 meeting in Mauritius of heads of government of small island states. Representing the Climate Institute will be The Hon. Tom Roper, an Australian who leads the GSEII energy transformation effort, and Nasir Khattak, Director of Global Environmental Programs of the Climate Institute, and a national of Pakistan.

The Endangered Islands Campaign would enhance the capacity of island nations to respond to climate change by changing their energy systems toward renewable and indigenous energy sources, developing anticipatory coastal and emergency preparedness measures to lessen damage to people, structures, and fragile ecosystems, and improve building codes and land use planning to ensure resiliency from storms and use of natural resources such as passive solar. The World Bank is now managing $ two million US of Global Environment Facility Funds to implement specific climate adaptation measures in three Caribbean nations- St. Lucia, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. [World Bank Caribbean adaptation] The Climate Institute is partnering in this effort, seeking to attract other institutions such as those listed above to help these three nations develop an anticipatory strategy. Once the Endangered Islands Initiative has been fully solidified, the Climate Institute will seek to build partnerships between Caribbean island nations and US and Canadian coastal cities such as Miami, New Orleans, Charleston, Boston and Halifax to work on issues such as common vulnerabilities, improved building design and sustainable energy. Ultimately similar links might be forged among US cities such as Honolulu and San Francisco, Australian cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns, New Zealand cities such as Wellington and Auckland and Pacific and Indian Ocean small island nations.

In its role as Executive Secretariat of this initiative the Climate Institute is taking the following steps to move the initiative toward a comprehensive worldwide effort.

1) Developing a web site to reach individuals and institutions, especially in the Americas and the Asia Pacific region, to make them aware of the vulnerability of island states to climate change and gain their support for adaptation and mitigation measures.

2) Building on the activities it is now undertaking in the post-hurricane recovery efforts in Grenada and the Cayman Islands to ensure that energy system resiliency and pro-active emergency planning become the norm in future island state planning.

3) Working with multilateral and bilateral development agencies to ensure that application procedures are streamlined to make it possible for island state projects to compete for resources.

4) Working with the International Hurricane Research Center in Miami to ensure that state of the art techniques for storm surge and wind resistance planning in South Florida are adapted for use in island states.

5) Working with the International Code Council Foundation and James Lee Witt Associates to ensure that island state governments have a state of the art understanding of ways building codes and pre-disaster planning can limit damage from even the most severe storms.

6) Drawing on the deliberations and findings of the Mauritius Conference to make this initiative truly global.

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ADDITONAL REPORTS AND ARTICLES

Maldives: State of the Environment 2002
The islands of Maldives are situated on the equator southwest of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. With 75% of the land area less than a meter above average sea level, the Maldives is among the most susceptible to impacts of climate change. Studies project sea level rise of 0.09m to 0.88m for 1990 to 2100 and complete inundation of the islands by 2100. Presently, many of the islands are experiencing severe shoreline erosion and submersion as a result of their low elevation. The freshwater resources of the islands are also being threatened because of salt-water intrusion, another adverse impact of increasing sea level.

View report (PDF)

Smithsonian Magazine - Will Tuvalu Disappear Beneath the Sea?
The islands of Tuvalu, located in the Pacific Ocean and no more than 15 feet above sea level, is one of the many small island states that are in danger of being washed away as a result of sea level rise, the inevitable consequence of global warming. Flooding from extreme high tides has increased, and big swells and freak waves are washing over the island more frequently. In addition to rising sea levels, Tuvalu has been experiencing more extreme weather conditions such as cyclones and tropical storms since the 1980s. The gravity of the situation has reached the point where the nation’s leaders have asked its neighboring countries, Australia and New Zealand, to accept Tuvaluans as environmental refugees.

Despite the increasing evidence of global warming and its consequential effects on small island states, some scientists strongly state that low-lying islands like Tuvalu will not be submerged.
A few even suggest that instead of vanishing, these islands may actually grow in size and change shape as a result of the islands’ non-static and dynamic nature.

View article (PDF)

ORGANIZATIONS

Small Island Developing States Network (SIDSnet)
SIDSnet is an organization founded as a direct follow-up to the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA). Its main gold is to utilize information and communication technologies to link 43 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific, Caribbean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and African island nations in supporting the implementation of the sustainable development objectives of the BPoA. The SIDSnet website provides information on important island themes such as climate change, biodiversity, and renewable energy as well as related future and past meetings and conferences.
Related website

Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is a coalition of 43 small island and low-lying coastal countries from Africa, the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Pacific and South China Sea that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system.

Global Policy Forum (GPF)
The GPF is a non-profit organization founded in 1993 by an international group of concerned citizens. Its main goals include “monitor[ing] policy making at the United Nations, promot[ing] accountability of global decisions, educat[ing] and mobiliz[ing] for global citizen participation, and advocat[ing] on vital issues of international peace and justice.” The GPF website provides information on the social, economic, and environmental problems affecting microstates and small island states.

United Nations Division for Sustainable Development
The Division for Sustainable Development acts as a lead and an authoritative source of expertise within the UN system on sustainable development. Some if its goals include the integration of the social, economic and environmental sectors of sustainable development in policy-making at international, regional and national levels and the wide-spread adoption of an integrated, cross-sectoral and broadly participatory approach to sustainable development. The United Nations Division for Sustainable Development website provides information on sustainable development issues and SIDS as well as publications, news/media, and documents related to these issues.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – Sustainable Living in Small Island Developing States
The UNESCO is an organization actively involved in advocating environmental sustainability, eradicating poverty and hunger, promoting gender equality and empower women and among other ambitious goals. The UNESCO website provides information on sustainable living in small island developing states, climate change and sea-level rise, as well as links to projects, events, publications and websites associated with the impacts of global warming and change on small island states.