Cape Verde has identified climate resilience as the biggest challenge facing the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which want to have a common position on priorities, an official source said on Thursday August 24.
“The great challenge for SIDS is above all climate resilience, coping with climate change. SIDS are at the forefront of the fight against climate change, with impacts on their development process,” said Cape Verde’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
Myriam Vieira was speaking at a press conference in Praia to announce the interregional meeting of the 4th international SIDS conference, which will take place in Cape Verde from August 30 to September 1.
According to the minister, the meeting, which will be attended by various international partners, will discuss issues such as debt sustainability and financing climate resilience.
“It’s also a particular moment to draw up elements or lines and guidelines for the next cooperation program or the SIDS action program,” added the Secretary of State.
During the meeting, the SIDS want to formulate a common position on their priorities that will serve as the basis for the final document of the 4th international conference to be held in Antigua and Barbuda from May 27 to 30, 2024.
“It will also be a special moment to discuss the weaknesses of financing climate action in Small Island Developing States, which continues to be the biggest development challenge if countries are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, defined by the United Nations, said the same source.
Stressing that estimates show that, between 1970 and 2020, small island States will have to pay around 153 billion dollars to recover from natural disasters and the effects of climate change, she said that this reflects what has been the “enormous challenge” for the development of these countries.
In the particular case of Cape Verde, she said that the concern is to make a sustainable energy transition, invest in the blue economy and combat climate change, with a focus on issues such as drought, desertification and land degradation, which do not occur in many other countries in this group.
“The entire United Nations system will be in a position to come up with a document that will, in fact, respond to the real development needs of the SIDS,” said Vieira.