IISD Reporting Services (IISD RS) Coverage
IISD RS has provided daily web coverage of the Third International Conference on SIDS and Associated Meetings. To download our daily reports and summary and analysis from the conference kindly click the HTML and PDF icons below.


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Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) - ‘The Sustainable Development of SIDS Through Genuine and Durable Partnerships’

1-4 September 2014 | Apia, Samoa

Daily Web Coverage (Click on the Following Links to See our Daily Webpages)

Introduction - 28 August - 29 August - 30 August - 31 August
1 September - 2 September - 3 September - 4 September - Summary

Highlights for Wednesday, 3 September 2014

Adnan Amin, Director-General, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); Andrew Jacobs, Head, EU Delegation to the Pacific; and Elizabeth Thompson, Senior Advisor, Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL), share a moment before the opening of the Partnerships Dialogue on Sustainable Energy.

The Third International Conference on SIDS continued its plenary discussions with Member States presenting statements and announcing commitments and partnerships. Two multi-stakeholder partnership dialogues took place on: sustainable energy; and oceans, seas and biodiversity. Numerous side events took place through the day and into the evening, including several on renewable energy.

Countries and organizations announced SIDS-specific partnerships and initiatives, including many that are focused on promoting economic growth, strengthening regional and SIDS-SIDS cooperation, collaborating on marine conservation, and providing renewable energy.

General Debate

Majid Al Suwaidi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, United Arab Emirates

Petteri Taalas, Director General, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland

Freundel Jerome Stuart, Prime Minister, Barbados

Anna Lindstedt, Ambassador for Climate Change, Sweden

Amb. Ricardo Varela, Director, Ministry of Health, Uruguay

Manasvi Srisodapol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand

Tawfeeq Ahmed Al Mansoor, Ambassador to the UN, Bahrain

Partnerships Dialogue: Sustainable Energy

Panel (L-R): Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC; Naoko Ishii, Chief Executive Officer, Global Environment Facility; Adnan Amin, Director-General, IRENA; Andrew Jacobs, Head, EU Delegation to the Pacific; Simona-Mirela Miculescu, Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN in New York; Secretariat; Moderator Elizabeth Thompson, Senior Advisor, SE4ALL; and Zaheer Allam, Australian Urban Design Research Centre

Tony de Brum, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marshall Islands

Kenred Dorsett, Minister of the Environment and Housing, Bahamas

Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany

Hans Brattskar, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Norway

Craig Hawke, Deputy Secretary, International Development Group, New Zealand

Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister, Saint Kitts and Nevis

Jonathan Sinclair, British High Commissioner to New Zealand

John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, US

Solomone Fifita, Secretariat of the Pacific Community

Panel (L-R): Miguel de Serpa Soares, UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs; Amb. Angus Friday, Grenada; Tommy Remengesau Jr., President, Republic of Palau; Chair Milan Jaya Meetarbhan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mauritius to the UN in New York; Secretariat; Arvin Boolell, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius; Biliana Cicin-Sain, President, Global Ocean Forum; and Kate Brown, Coordinator, Global Island Partnership

Kate Brown, Coordinator, Global Island Partnership

Amb. Angus Friday, Grenada

Biliana Cicin-Sain, President, Global Ocean Forum

Jan Newton, University of Washington

Philip Weech, Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology Commission

Side event: High-level Side Event on a Comprehensive Approach to Debt Management in SIDS

This high-level side event addressed the issue of debt management in SIDS and how to manage the high levels of public debt faced by many SIDS. Specific concerns included how countries have addressed the issue in the past, and if a comprehensive approach is a long-term solution.

Panel (L-R): Zhu Min, Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF); Jean-Paul Adam, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seychelles; Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister, Grenada; Rachel Kyte, Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, World Bank Group; Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary General, DESA and Conference Secretary-General; Charles Abel, Minister for National Planning, Papua New Guinea; and Moderator Satu Kähkönen, World Bank

Rachel Kyte, Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, World Bank Group, said that the debt management problems in SIDS are mostly a result of exogenous shocks. She stated that the Bank uses holistic approaches to address this issue, saying that the World Bank has a special window for SIDS in the International Development Association-run debt reduction facility.

Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary General, DESA and Conference Secretary-General, said high external indebtedness has become a "drag" on the development of SIDS in recent years, noting that the remedy is to reduce vulnerability to external shocks and increase long-term growth prospects.

Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister, Grenada, underscored the devastating negative effects that natural disasters can have on SIDS, saying that Grenada had sustained damage equal to 200% of GDP, due to Hurricane Ivan.

Satu Kähkönen, World Bank, outlined three key messages for debt management in SIDS: there are challenging growth and debt dynamics in many SIDS; debt restructuring alone is not a panacea; and comprehensive long-term strategies to facilitate growth and reduce long-term debt are necessary.

Charles Abel, Minister for National Planning, Papua New Guinea, urged for coordination among development partners, saying that assistance in managing domestic resources was paramount.

Jean-Paul Adam, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seychelles, said that the Seychelles’ success in debt management was due to strong political leadership, his country “owning” their policies, and ensuring that there were complementary growth and development policies in place.

Zhu Min, Deputy Managing Director, IMF, said steps for effective debt reform include: collaboration between partners; ensuring fiscal discipline while maintaining fiscal flexibility; strong, local leadership; and clear borrowing policies defining where, when and how financing is going to be accessed.

Side event: Establishment and Launch of the SIDS Sustainable Energy Partnership

This event was the culmination of several related initiatives organized by the SIDS DOCK Secretariat, to present how SIDS DOCK will work for sustainable energy in SIDS and how development partners, funding institutions and expert agencies can support these efforts. Case studies from all three SIDS regions were presented, followed by statements by partner countries and organizations.

Panel (L-R): António Baptista, Director General for Energy, Cape Verde; Clayton Burgin, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment, Saint Vincent and Grenadines; Moderator David Sheppard, SPREP Director General; Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC; and Sione Foliaki, Ministry of Finance, Samoa

Kosi Latu, Deputy Director-General, SPREP, provided an overview of the Pacific Islands Greenhouse Gas Abatement through Renewable Energy Project (PIGGAREP), and provided an overview of SPREP’s renewable energy-related work.

Event moderator David Sheppard, SPREP Director General, said 15 countries have signed the SIDS DOCK, including eight heads of government. He said this side event was a “demonstration of partnership in action.”

Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, said nowhere is the shift to renewable energy more urgent than in SIDS. She urged them to “take the lead, do it together and challenge the world.”

Sione Foliaki, Ministry of Finance, Samoa, noted that achieving his country’s target of 100% renewable energy by 2017 will require integrated and collaborative partnerships.

António Baptista, Director General for Energy, Cape Verde, discussed a wind energy project in his country, noting 25% of his country’s energy use was solar or wind. He noted Cape Verde’s goal of achieving 100% renewable energy use by 2020, and emphasized links between renewable energy and water security.

Clayton Burgin, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, presented a water supply pilot project. Noting that water desalinization is the only solution to providing freshwater in his country, he discussed saltwater osmosis through the use of solar energy.

Al Binger, Energy Science Advisor, Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, challenged the world to: make the world’s ocean a dominant source of energy for SIDS; and convert debt into loans for investments in renewable energy. He also urged converting waste into fuels.

Martin Krause, UNDP, said sustainable energy work must not be left to engineers and technicians, and said UNDP could help SIDS access finance and formulate good project proposals.

Renato Mele, EU, discussed the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility, a multi-agency coordination mechanism aimed at improving the delivery of development assistance to the infrastructure sector in the Pacific region.

Scenes from around the venue

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC, addresses Major Groups in the morning coordination meeting.

Art students from the National University of Samoa paint lava-lavas

Funding for coverage of this conference has been provided by the
UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Bank

Daily Web Coverage (Click on the Following Links to See our Daily Webpages)

Introduction - 28 August - 29 August - 30 August - 31 August
1 September - 2 September - 3 September - 4 September - Summary

Related Links

Conference resources

Conference Website	Draft Organization of Work	SAMOA Pathway document
Side Events	Multi-stakeholder Partnership Dialogues	Parallel Events
General Assembly Resolutions	Barbados Programme of Action	Mauritius Strategy of Implementation
International Year of SIDS Website	SIDSnet	Host Country Website

IISD RS resources

IISD RS report on SAMOA Pathway

IISD RS summary and analysis of the Inter-Regional Preparatory Meeting (IPM) for the Third International Conference on SIDS, 26-28 August 2013, Bridgetown, Barbados (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)

IISD RS summary and analysis of the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and South China Sea (AIMS) Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 2014 Third International Conference on SIDS, 17-19 July 2013, Baie Lazare, Seychelles (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)

IISD RS summary and analysis of the Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 2014 Third International Conference on SIDS, 10-12 July 2013, Nadi, Fiji (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)

IISD RS summary and analysis of the Caribbean Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 2014 Third International Conference on SIDS, 2-4 July 2013, Kingston, Jamaica (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)

IISD RS coverage of the High-level Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (MSI+5), 24-25 September 2010, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America

IISD RS coverage of the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, 10-14 January 2005, Port Louis, Mauritius

IISD RS coverage of the SIDS Preparatory Meeting for the 10-Year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action, 14-16 April 2004, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America

IISD RS coverage of the Inter-regional Preparatory Meeting for the 10-year Review of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, 26-30 January 2004, Nassau, Bahamas

IISD RS coverage of the Twenty-second Special Session of the General Assembly for the Review and Appraisal of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA+5), 27-28 September 1999, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America

IISD RS summary report of the Barbados Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS, 25 April - 6 May 1994, Bridgetown, Barbados (HTML - PDF)

SIDS-L - A mailing list for news on SIDS policy

SIDS Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of UN and Intergovernmental Activities Addressing SIDS

Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news


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