Small states require debt relief, climate finance, international acknowledgement of their vulnerabilities and capacity building initiatives to achieve globally agreed development goals.
Small states will need debt relief, climate finance, international acknowledgement of their vulnerabilities and capacity building initiatives to achieve globally agreed development goals, said Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Deodat Maharaj.
Mr Maharaj was addressing delegates at a Small States Forum in Lima, Peru last week. He made four proposals to support small states in financing the Sustainable Development Goals agreed at a UN summit in New York in September.
“These proposals reflect the burning concerns our members, raised at a small states meeting in the run-up to the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa this July,” said the Deputy Secretary-General.
The first proposal was to address debt sustainability using debt swaps for climate change adaptation and mitigation and counter-cyclical loans to mitigate against debt accumulation and growth challenges. This idea arose as a response to calls from our membership for assistance with their debt burdens, which continues to stifle their growth and development. It asks donors to facilitate the write-down of debt with their climate finance pledges, in exchange for debtors’ domestic investment in climate change. The Commonwealth is working with the office of the UN Secretary General to advance this initiative.
The second proposal was to increase climate finance flows to small states. While, debt swaps can provide some resources the current and growing needs in this area point to much more being required if small states are to effectively cope with the impact of climate change. Indeed, to achieve sustainable development, small and vulnerable countries need financing to implement actions to address climate risk and to move towards low-carbon, climate resilient economies. The Commonwealth called on the international community to ensure that COP21 becomes a turning point in agreeing to an ambitious climate change agenda but also in effectively delivering resources to those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The third proposal is for the international acknowledgement of the vulnerabilities of small states. Small states asserted that a vulnerability index should be used to complement the existing per capita GDP criteria in accessing concessional resources.
Mr Maharaj said: “While many small states are middle income countries, they are significantly different from larger middle income countries by virtue of their disproportionate vulnerability to shocks. Both vulnerability and capacity for resilience must be considered as criteria for accessing concessional resources.”
Lastly, capacity building. Recognizing capacity gaps, the Commonwealth called for initiatives targeted towards infrastructure development, risk management and support for policy and institutional development to help bolster economic growth and achieve human development.
The Commonwealth noted that that these four issues were crucial for Small States if they are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The Small States Forum was held on October 10, 2015 in the margins of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru.
At the Forum, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon highlighted the importance of the Commonwealth initiatives.
He said: “I encourage all stakeholders to build on the outcomes of the high-level meeting organised by the Secretariat of the Commonwealth and my Climate Change Support Team here in Lima on identifying possible policy solutions to address the debt and climate challenges faced by small and vulnerable states.”
