Leaders from small island developing States worldwide will converge on the shores of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean this weekend to deliver a bold new plan of action to build resilience on the road to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) will bring together governments, the UN, civil society, the private sector and leading youth voices to turn new ideas into action, raise new pledges of support and discuss the key challenges that lie ahead for the vulnerable group of nations.
Living on the edge
There are 39 SIDS, from conference hosts Antigua and Barbuda, to Vanuatu in the South Pacific, which were recognised as a special case for support during the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the game changing first Earth Summit.
They are located in some of the world's most disaster-prone regions, acutely vulnerable to sea level rise, climate shocks and natural disasters. SIDS have small domestic markets and are vulnerable to economic shocks and downturns.
Other challenges include rapid population growth putting pressure on basic services and job availability, while they are literally on the frontline of climate change and prone to environmental fragility.
Many SIDS lack sufficient resilience to deal with the rising incidence of natural disasters, something which the people of Antigua and Barbuda are all too aware of having suffered the devasting impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria which barrelled across the Caribbean in 2017.
Survival at stake
In an interview with UN News the country's Prime Minister Gaston Browne said they were among the worst of the external shocks "literally decimating our economies and damaging our infrastructure, our buildings, our homes."
He insisted that global collaboration to drive down global warming was essential if small island States are to survive the decades ahead:
