Hilda Heine, Patrick Verkooijen: Small islands risk extinction

Hilda Heine is President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Professor Patrick Verkooijen is CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation. 

The 39 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that 65 million people call home are on the brink of climate extinction.

Rising seas are swallowing up the very land on which they live. A single typhoon can wipe out decades of economic and social progress. The reality SIDS are facing is stark and unforgiving, yet the world hardly seems to care.

For these nations, climate justice is not a slogan - it is their only hope of survival. Global leaders must acknowledge that those who have contributed the least to climate change are paying the highest price, and then do something about it. 

As we approach COP29, small island states are demanding the resources and partnerships that will enable them to adapt to climate impacts and secure their future.

A fragile future demands leadership

In the Marshall Islands, sea-level rise is destroying people’s livelihoods and centuries of heritage, culture, and tradition. All small island nations are staring at the same fate. 

The costs - both economic and human - are staggering in relation to the size of their populations and economies. Every time a climate disaster strikes one of these small island nations, 18% of the population, on average, is affected, compared to 6% in non-island nations. 

SIDS endure a 2.1% annual loss in gross domestic product (GDP) from these disasters, compared to just 0.3% in other countries. 

Only climate justice can remedy this disproportionate burden.

For the Marshall Islands, as for all small island nations, adaptation is a matter of survival, but the cost is unaffordable. The government estimates that elevating and protecting atolls to keep the islands safe from sea-level rise will cost $35 billion, or around 135 times the country’s GDP.           

Right now the chances of finding $35 billion look vanishingly small. International funds for climate adaptation are still far too limited. 

SIDS have been allocated just $1.5 billion out of $100 billion in annual climate finance pledged (but still not disbursed) to developing countries.

The equation is similarly skewed against all climate-vulnerable nations: all of Africa receives just 3% of global climate finance.      

The path to resilience

That is why at the United Nations, the Marshall Islands is fighting for a global system that holds the world accountable for the harm done to vulnerable nations. 

It wants the principles of climate justice to guide the allocation of climate finance, and it is petitioning for a seat on the Human Rights Council to strengthen the Council’s work on climate impacts. 

In doing so, the country is building on the legacy of its previous term, when it spearheaded the creation of a UN Special Rapporteur for climate change.    

Adaptation is not a luxury. Without the infrastructure to withstand climate impacts and without financial safety nets, island nations will disappear.

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) has shown that adaptation is possible and that it works. The math is simple: investment in adaptation yields returns, with every dollar spent saving six dollars in future losses.

What small island states need is a climate finance scheme similar to the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), spearheaded by the GCA and its partners on the continent. 

The AAAP has put adaptation at the heart of over $10 billion of investments across 41 countries since its launch in 2021. 

Small islands need a similar acceleration programme. This requires financial commitments that match the scale of the challenge. 

At COP29, the international community must acknowledge its moral and financial obligations and provide fair and equitable finance. The fragile economies of small island nations cannot take on more debt to fight climate change.

What is needed is grant-based and sustainable financing that is sufficient, accessible, and responsive to needs. 

Building a more resilient future

Global climate negotiations are often framed as debates over fairness, equity, and responsibility. Yet, for those on the frontlines of climate change, this is not a talking shop - it is an existential struggle.

At COP29, global leaders must agree to a far higher annual climate finance target than the $100 billion a year agreed in 2019. 

And far more finance for climate adaptation must be earmarked for the most climate-vulnerable nations. Adaptation finance must become more accessible and more aligned to each nation’s sustainable development goals.     

To raise the necessary funding, the Marshall Islands, along with other SIDS, has proposed a universal greenhouse gas levy on international shipping as an incentive to speed up the decarbonisation of the sector. 

The revenue from this levy, which could potentially add up to tens of billions of dollars a year, would go toward building resilience in climate-vulnerable developing nations.

This is not charity; it is justice. 

Small island states are asking for the resources they need to protect their homes, their people, and their futures. The solutions exist - it is the political will that is missing. 

Every day of procrastination brings disaster closer to millions of people. Let this be the summit where action finally rises to meet the scale of the crisis.