Virtual Island Summit 2024: Summary
The Virtual Island Summit provides an open-access inclusive conference to address the challenges faced by small island communities. The 2024 VIS highlighted both challenges and sustainable solutions across multiple sectors and industries.
by Vincent Diringer
Outside of yearly UNFCCC COPs and UN General Assemblies or once-a-decade events like the International Conference on Small Island Developing States, there are few opportunities for island stakeholders to meet and exchange knowledge on key developments. Once you factor in the prohibitive travel costs and the distances that delegations need to travel to reach these summits, the historic lack of inclusivity in international policy and science, and you realize that the ability for all relevant stakeholders to be present at summits is far from guaranteed [1,2,3].
What is the Virtual Island Summit?
Since the inaugural event in 2018, the Virtual Island Summit (VIS) has been one of the largest virtual events catered to island communities. An open-access online conference with a five-day agenda that caters for global time zones, the VIS promotes public participation and an understanding of the challenges faced by island communities as well as the sustainable solutions they are developing.
The Summit features expert speakers from civil society, academia, the private sector as well as government officials who discuss topics such as sustainable tourism, the blue economy, climate adaptation, and financing. Every year, VIS draws over 10,000 participants from over 500 islands. Endorsed by leading figures including Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and Permanent Representative of Samoa to the UN Fatumanava-o-Upolu III Dr. Pa’olelei Luteru, the VIS provides a rare and unique insight into the developments happening across the world’s islands [4,5].
What was discussed at VIS 2024?
With 22 different sessions on the agenda, the Summit showcased the determination and resilience of island communities, along with their innovation and potential in developing workable sustainable solutions.
The outsized impacts that islands have was best exemplified by Marianne Teoh, Head of Marine Management at the UK’s Marine Management Organisation who noted during a session on fisheries [6]: “The UK Overseas Territories make up 0.0035% of the world’s people, but are responsible for sustainably managing more than 1% of the planet’s oceans. That is the equivalent of a small town in the UK managing an ocean larger than the size of France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Poland and the UK combined.” Teoh continued, “Small islands are pushing well above their weight and it is critical that we do all we can to support them.”
The need for more collaborative climate action was a recurring talking point throughout the Summit. As Tumasie Blair, Deputy Permanent Representative of Antigua & Barbuda at the UN, pointed out in a conversation on the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) which happened earlier this year, long-term policy frameworks need “strong political buy-in and strong political push behind it” [7].
> UN 2024 SIDS Conference: What Are the Results?
“Of course, with any implementation it has to have the finance behind it – not just in terms of monetary, but also capacity-building and technical support that will ensure that we are successful in the implementation of [the ten-year framework unveiled at SIDS4],” Blair pointed out. A recurring pain point in international climate discussions, climate finance is expected to be at the top of the negotiations agenda once again in Baku (at COP29) as the operationalization of Loss & Damage and ensuing negotiations around the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) take place.
Some highlights of the VIS 2024
In a session focused on COP29, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister for Energy and COP29 CEO Elnur Soltanov expressed support for island communities. Specifically, he highlighted the Presidency’s commitment to the NCQG and the finalization of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (Cooperative Implementation) [8].
The NCQG is a mechanism established under the Paris Agreement to create funding pathways for developing countries to support their climate mitigation and adaptation activities (it is not to be confused with the Loss & Damage fund). It is meant to build on the $100 billion yearly funding target that was set in 2009 by developed countries for similar purposes. However, the target was only met in 2022, two years past its initial due date [9]. Climate finance has continued to be a divisive topic at successive COPs, and the NCQG is expected to be no different [10].
During the same session on COP29, members of the Caribbean Climate Justice Leaders Academy, Whitney Mélinard from Dominica, and Jevron Sands from the Bahamas, contrasted the technical discussions on climate finance with their lived experiences of the impacts of climate change on their communities, and how it led them to become active in advocacy and policy [8]. Underlining the need for concerted action on climate change, both Mélinard and Sands highlighted the positive developments happening within their communities, and how much larger efforts were needed from major economies capable of scaling change.
What Next? The Global Sustainable Island Summit 2025
During the opening ceremony of the VIS, Island Innovation CEO James Ellsmoor announced on behalf of the Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis, that the next Global Sustainable Island Summit (GSIS) would be held in St. Kitts & Nevis in May 2025.
The GSIS is an event dedicated to advancing sustainable development on islands around the world. It is held in a different region every year under a different theme highlighting regional excellence. In 2023, it was held in Madeira, where the focus was on the Blue Economy, and in 2024, Prince Edward Island hosted the summit where the focus was on the transition to Net Zero (2024). The 2025 GSIS in St. Kitts and Nevis will have several thematic focus areas, including the water sustainability & energy nexus, agricultural resilience & climate adaptation, climate-health interactions and geothermal energy.
References:
[1] Nazareth, A., Kim, D., & Shawoo, Z. (2024). External power dynamics and international climate governance in a crises-constrained world. Climate and Development, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2024.2330984[2] A. Heckwolf, and E. Soubeyran, December 7, 2023. “Unpacking inclusive climate action”, The London School of Economics and Political Science: Grantham Institute.
[3] J. Allan, E. Kosopalova, J. Templeton, and L. Wagner, 2024. “The State of Global Environmental Governance 2023”, International Institute for Sustainable Development.
[4] Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley keynote speech – Virtual Island Summit 2022. Available at: https://youtu.be/if2hXoqoV1c?si=-QfaMKo-_sDJDuky
[5] Opening Session – Virtual Island Summit 2023. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/live/gHXKoX7PCNM?si=JGqijmztgy-nZkld
[6] Thriving Blue: Unlocking the Potential of Fisheries for the Sustainable Ocean Economy – Virtual Island Summit 2024. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/live/DO54HEcAQ0Q?si=yIJYgoPGy0cEOSuV
[7] Beyond SIDS4: Implementing the Antigua and Barbuda Accords – Virtual Island Summit 2024. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/live/YqqLfKlN7xI?si=M14Qizt_5fjJsrPb
[8] The Road to COP29: Island Priorities for Baku – Virtual Island Summit 2024. Available at https://www.youtube.com/live/BEkEcVJscOs?si=9Jk2euab-2kCos11
[9] N. Alayza, G. Larsen, and D. Waskow, May 29, 2024. “What Could the New Climate Finance Goal Look Like? 7 Elements Under Negotiation”, World Resources Institute.
[10] S. Fillion, September 16, 2024. “COP 29 presidency ‘committed’ to agree on climate finance goal, CEO says”, Devex.