ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres Tuesday praised the efforts of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders in seeking to change the global financial landscape, noting that international financing is the fuel for sustainable development.
Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, addressing SIDS conference in AntiguaAddressing the second day of the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Guterres said however that for small island states they are “running on empty” drowning in debt and rising sea levels due to climate change and through no fault of their own.
The 39 states known collectively as SIDS have been uniquely vulnerable to the trifecta of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which crippled the tourism many rely on, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and “battered by a climate catastrophe they did not create”, said Guterres.
He said SIDS are paying more to service their own debt than they invest in healthcare and education, leaving these nations unable to make the investments they need to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He said many of them are classified as middle-Income, shutting them out of the debt support reserved for the poorest nations.
“SIDS are doing everything they can”, Guterres said, pointing to the advocacy of the host Prime Minister, Gaston Brown, who was elected President of the SIDS4 conference, to develop a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index that “truly reflects” the needs of SIDS.
In addition, Guterres said Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has also spearheaded the Bridgetown Initiative to transform lending and provide inclusive and resilient finance.
He said the Pacific nation of Samoa has led the Alliance of Small Island States’ initiative to operationalize the Loss and Damage Fund and fairly compensate vulnerable nations for the impact of corrosive climate change.
“You are leading by example, but too often you are facing closed doors from institutions and systems that you had no hand in creating,” Guterres told the conference as he outlined the vital action on three fronts that is needed from international financial institutions, in addition to an immediate SDG Stimulus for SID.
He said these were relieve from the debt burden by providing access to effective relief mechanisms, including pauses in payments during times of economic volatility, transforming lending practices by changing the rules on concessional finance to lower borrowing costs.
Guterres said the UN’s Multidimensional Vulnerability Index could play an important role in this and he is also advocating for greater inclusivity across international financial institutions, with SIDS holding a seat “at every table.”
Guterres said today’s global financial architecture fails to deliver for developing countries in general , particularly SIDS, noting that noting that September’s Summit of the Future in New York, could offer a rare opportunity for world leaders to advance the SIDS agenda for action.
“It is time to turn the tide and create a global financial future that leaves no island nation behind”, he said.
In her address to the meeting, the Prime Minister of Samoa and Chair of the Alliance of small island States (AOSIS), Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa said regarding resource mobilization “ he longer the crisis, the greater the impact on national responses, with implications for sustained harmful effect.
“The bare truth is, there is just not enough money to take us far enough. What we access is insufficient and too costly at best…The window of opportunity we so often talk about is not closing – it is nearly shut.”
She said bold rhetoric and promises from developed nations have failed to materialize in the form of relief, adding that SIDS need “tailored solutions” which must be “inclusive, fair and responsive”.
The European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, welcomed the proposed UN vulnerability index saying, “and we hope it will be endorsed for all development institutions to use it.”
She said under the Global Gateway Strategy, EU States and institutions aimed to mobilize Euro 300 billion (One Euro=US$1.29 cents) in public and private investments by 2027 for vulnerable countries as a whole – with many initiatives already underway in SIDS.
She said Europe was also leading the way with a Euro 400 million commitment to the Loss and Damage Fund agreed at United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai last year..
“We need to make the international financial architecture fit for purpose. It is key to ensure a more stable, equal and affordable access to liquidity,” she added.
