Background on SIDS4
The 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), co-chaired by New Zealand and the Maldives, will take place from 27 to 30 May 2024 in Antigua and Barbuda under the theme “Charting the Course Towards Resilient Prosperity”. The conference aims to assess the ability of small island developing States (SIDS) to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals. Building on previous agreements for SIDS, such as the SAMOA Pathway (2014), the conference will result in an action-oriented political outcome document.
The ISC’s commitment to SIDS
SIDS are recognized by the UN as a specific priority group of countries. Their small size, remoteness and limited resource bases mean they tend to share a number of unique challenges for sustainable development. SIDS are also particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and to natural disasters, which are likely to become more frequent and more intense in the future.
Against this backdrop, the ISC, with support from the expertise of its SIDS Liaison Committee and its Regional Focal Points for Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean, sees its main role in providing evidence-based, politically independent, and actionable scientific guidance to decision-makers by drawing on the scientific community in Small Island Developing States.
At SIDS4, the ISC will work to mobilize the scientific community in SIDS and ensure that research on and from the SIDS is brought to the attention of global policy-makers. The Council will also emphasize the importance of science and technology for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs in these countries, and the leadership role that SIDS countries play in global environmental governance and sustainable development.
Interactive Dialogue themes at SIDS4
- Making Climate Finance work for SIDS: Building on the Outcomes of UNFCCC COP 28 – The discussions should explore ways to significantly increase the provision and mobilization of climate finance, addressing both adaptation and loss and damage and upscaling solutions to climate change. Engagement in this theme should strategize around the outcome of COP28 to fulfill the international community’s commitment to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, safeguarding our planet, its inhabitants, and its biodiversity, and preventing the breaching further irreversible tipping points and surpassing of planetary boundaries, in accordance with the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement.
- Enhancing Critical Forms of Financing and Aid Effectiveness through collaborative Partnerships: A Conversation – Encompass dialogues on global financial reform, utilizing MVI insights, and policy-making to improve financial stability, enable debt relief, and meet SDGs, with a focus on shared partnership and private sector collaboration.
- Levering Data and Digital Technologies and Building effective Institutions for a Resilient Future in SIDS – Explore strategies and actions to bridge data gaps and enhance technological and institutional capacities that empower evidence-based policymaking. The dialogue can explore tangible steps to implement and utilize the SIDS data hub and leverage recommendations from the Global Digital Compact to advance the adoption of digital technologies and infrastructure, building resilience and sustainable development in SIDS.
- Investing in human capital: addressing health crisis in SIDS and building the potential of youth in SIDS – This theme will facilitate focused discussions on developing actions to enhance social and human capital, addressing health, including mental health, and education as pivotal components for unlocking opportunities for youth.
- Revitalizing SIDS Economies for accelerated and sustainable growth – Considering the challenges faced by SIDS across the three dimensions of sustainable development as well as those caused by external shocks, climate change, sea-level rise, rapid coastal erosion, the discussion should identify collective action towards enhancing SIDS’ economic diversification, building resilience and disaster recovery, and propelling sustainable development through strategies, policies, and initiatives. This theme would focus on practical steps, partnerships, and policies, including to utilize the blue economy for SIDS’ sustainable growth, tourism, marine management, ocean industry expansion, renewable energy, and ecosystem conservation.
Registration
The ISC, as co-convenor of the Scientific and Technological Community Major Group at the UN, has been granted a number of spots for the conference to be used by representatives of science and academia. Should you be interested in attending the SIDS4 conference and securing a spot for yourself, please contact James Waddell (james.waddell@council.science) to express your interest by Wednesday 24 April. Please indicate your full name, and which ISC Member organization you are a part of.
Please note that the ISC can facilitate registration to the conference only, and that funding should be sought by each participant on an individual basis, whether through their institution or otherwise.
Contact
James Waddell (james.waddell@council.science)
ISC Science Officer, Political Affairs Liaison
Photo by Patrizia Berta on Unsplash