Hit by COVID and Climate Change, Island States Battle Debt Crisis

Briona Baker via UNSPLASH

In a system of unequal power, the climate crisis has the capacity to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.

This Monday, ahead of the UN General Assembly, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) called on donor governments and development banks to help them avert a looming crisis through debt relief and climate finance for 44 small island and low-lying coastal developing states.

Lois Young, Belize’s Permanent Representative to the UN and chair of the AOSIS, said “SIDS (small island developing states) are sinking, and it’s not due to just the sea level rise and climate change. We are actually sinking in debt.”

She added these nations were already burdened by unsustainably high debt, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, which has now made things worse.

The alliance released a statement indicating many of its members’ economies, heavily reliant on tourism, were in a “freefall,” which could reverse development “by decades” and bring on a “protracted debt crisis.”

A Caribbean economist who advises governments and central banks in the region, said the reasons for the debt varied but do include the costly impacts of natural disasters increasingly hitting island states.

Many island states in the Caribbean, the Pacific and beyond do not qualify for the debt suspension programs catered to nations during the COVID-19 pandemic because they are considered middle-income countries.

They argue islands should get similar help since they face growing threats extreme weather brings, and face the additional burden of adaptation.

The climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, Tina Eonemto Stege, said global warming was already causing "loss and damage", with schools and hospitals having to close due to weather, rising seas and salt water intrusion.

"We refuse to be swept away by the tide," she said. "We know what we all need to do to prevent this crisis."

Stege called on governments, especially carbon-emitting nations, to deliver on Paris Agreement promises, including the pledge of $100 billion a year from 2020 for development, which she called a “minimum”, but yet to be delivered.

She called for “creative measures” for SIDS and a “comprehensive plan” that looks deeply at the vulnerabilities of small island developing states. (Reuters)

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A Note About debt Relief

Debt relief has been offered by the IMF during the COVID-19 crisis for certain countries.

Civil society waged a strong debt relief campaign in the early 2000’s for low income countries, many of whom were also battling national AIDS crises, notably due to the onerous terms and negative development impacts of the structural adjustment programs that accompanied many loans.

Now some of those same civil society organizations are calling for debt relief when climate disasters strike as well.

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At UN Security Council Debate, Climate Emergency ‘a Danger to Peace’

Daryan Shamkhali via UNSPLASH

At Friday’s open debate on climate and security, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, Miroslav Jenča said the climate emergency is exacerbating existing risk to international peace and security while creating new ones, calling on security actors to play a role in implementing the Paris Agreement. While impacts of climate change varied across regions, he said fragile and conflict-affected countries were most exposed and least able to cope with the effects, noting that seven of the 10 most vulnerable and least equipped, were supported by a UN peacekeeping operation or special political mission within its borders. He said failure to act on the growing impacts of climate change would undermine existing conflict prevention, peacemaking and peacebuilding work, while also trapping vulnerable countries in a vicious cycle of climate disaster and conflict. 

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates, (presumably speaking on behalf of regional groups, likely the Middle East or regional bloc) suggested a new approach, calling on the Security Council to work in partnership with development and humanitarian actors to curtail the likelihood of conflict in climate-vulnerable countries. 

The UAE said the link between climate change and security is now well-recognized in ample evidence around the world of how droughts, extreme weather, desertification and others impacts, including in the Middle East, lead to social unrest, competition over natural resources and displacement, all of which contribute significantly to conflict and violence. 

They went even further to suggest the Security Council operationalize the climate-security nexus within its scope of work with targeted trainings for UN staff in conflict settings where climate change impacts are prevalent. 

Vietnam, a member of the Security Council through 2021 with climate change as a policy priority, reminded members that sea level rise and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta are threats to Vietnam’s sustainable development. 

Vietnam urged the Security Council to address the root causes of conflicts such as poverty, injustice, militarism and disregard for international law, calling for security analysis to now also include considerations of climate change impacts. (UN News, Emirates News Agency, Nhan Dan)

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