COP15 Montreal: ‘Coalition for Nature’ formed by Small Island Developing States

Subject: Environment

Context:

A number of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have agreed to form a ‘Coalition for Nature’ for the implementation and adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

About coalition for nature:

The coalition is being led by Cabo Verde, Samoa and Seychelles.
objective: Enhancing means of implementing ambitious objectives for nature in SIDS under the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
The goal of the coalition is to advocate for agreed common SIDS priorities and needs such as greater means of implementing biodiversity objectives in these places by putting up a unified front.
The purpose of the SIDS Coalition is to underline how SIDS are home to a large portion of the world’s biodiversity and show that they have been using nature-based solutions and leading the world by example. It will also highlight how enhancing the means of implementation of SIDS will be strategic to save the planet.

Members:

Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Guinea Bissau, Kiribati, Samoa, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are the current members of the coalition.
Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom as Friends of the SIDS Coalition.

Global support to the coalition:

The SIDS Coalition will be supported by the Friends of the Coalition in the form of ‘voice of support’.
The UK committed to doubling climate finance through a $500 million Blue Planet Fund to help SIDS develop blue economies.

Why small island developing states (SIDS) are demanding this?

SIDS hosts 19 per cent of the world’s coral reefs and their geographic isolation safeguards an array of endemic plants and animals found nowhere else on earth.
The island states are responsible for an ocean area 28 times the size of their land mass.
small land mass, small population, geographic isolation, limited resource base, and the vulnerability of low-lying areas puts small island states at a disproportionate risk of external shocks.