James Hospedales meets Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda at SIDS4 Conference
The UN fourth decennial conference on Small Island and low-lying Developing States (SIDS) occurred in Antigua and Barbuda, 27-30 May 2024. There are some 40 SIDS like Jamaica and Samoa, and 16 associates like Puerto Rico and French Polynesia, with some 65 million people. SIDS are uniquely vulnerable to climate change based on small size, geographic location, and narrow resource base.
Climate change is having multiple adverse health impacts on SIDS with more intense hurricanes and cyclones, floods and landslides, accelerating sea level rise, extreme heat, warming oceans, and drought causing increased injuries and deaths, heat-related illness, vector borne diseases, mental health disorders, non-communicable diseases, and population displacement and migration.
SIDS4 packed in a lot: over 3,000 participants,100+ speeches from Heads of State and others, 200 side events, including youth and CSO forums, private sector and digital dialogues. The main outcome document “Charting the course to resilient prosperity” is here SIDS4 – Co-Chairs FINAL.pdf (un.org)
Sessions I attended included Fostering Resilience: An Intergenerational Dialogue on Health and Climate in Small Island Developing States – Commonwealth Foundation and an Interactive dialogue on human development, with emphasis on health and education, and a side event on Climate-SMART Health facilities, hosted by the Pan American/World Health Organization. The Smart Hospitals Initiative – PAHO/WHO | Pan American Health Organization is a promising practice combining safe, green and resilient measures, which is needed in all SIDS given the unrelenting climate impacts.
As if to underline the changing climate, the weather was very hot and the AC systems failed at times, leaving delegates in some events to open the doors and fan themselves! Pacific colleagues seemed better prepared for that eventuality, and I wondered why we still adhere to dress codes of suits and ties with heat indices over 40 degrees C or 100 degrees F!
There were many calls for ambitious climate action and reduction of SIDS’ debt burdens, full operationalisation of the climate Loss and Damage Fund, leveraging data and digital technologies, addressing health crises in SIDS and building the potential of youth in SIDS.
Intergenerational dialogue on climate and health panel participants at SIDS4
But in the corridors, there was palpable worry expressed for the future of SIDS given a sick “patient Earth” due to accelerating climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. At the same time, there was a feeling that “our smallness will not hold us back anymore” expressed by the Maldives.
I took hope from the global leadership that SIDS are providing to move the climate action agenda into international law, such as the May 21, 2024, Advisory Opinion of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on Climate Change and International Law which deemed greenhouse gas emission to be pollutants C31_Adv_Op_21.05.2024_orig.pdf (itlos.org). Also, the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change & nbsp; (icj-cij.org) which is in process. SIDS are also leaders in The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative (fossilfueltreaty.org) the launch of which I had the privilege of attending.
By: Dr. C James Hospedales, Founder and Executive Director, EarthMedic and EarthNurse
