In a system of unequal power, the climate crisis has the capacity to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.

This Monday, ahead of the UN General Assembly, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) called on donor governments and development banks to help them avert a looming crisis through debt relief and climate finance for 44 small island and low-lying coastal developing states.

Lois Young, Belize’s Permanent Representative to the UN and chair of the AOSIS, said “SIDS (small island developing states) are sinking, and it’s not due to just the sea level rise and climate change. We are actually sinking in debt.”

She added these nations were already burdened by unsustainably high debt, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, which has now made things worse.

The alliance released a statement indicating many of its members’ economies, heavily reliant on tourism, were in a “freefall,” which could reverse development “by decades” and bring on a “protracted debt crisis.”

A Caribbean economist who advises governments and central banks in the region, said the reasons for the debt varied but do include the costly impacts of natural disasters increasingly hitting island states.

Many island states in the Caribbean, the Pacific and beyond do not qualify for the debt suspension programs catered to nations during the COVID-19 pandemic because they are considered middle-income countries.

They argue islands should get similar help since they face growing threats extreme weather brings, and face the additional burden of adaptation.

The climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, Tina Eonemto Stege, said global warming was already causing "loss and damage", with schools and hospitals having to close due to weather, rising seas and salt water intrusion.

"We refuse to be swept away by the tide," she said. "We know what we all need to do to prevent this crisis."

Stege called on governments, especially carbon-emitting nations, to deliver on Paris Agreement promises, including the pledge of $100 billion a year from 2020 for development, which she called a “minimum”, but yet to be delivered.

She called for “creative measures” for SIDS and a “comprehensive plan” that looks deeply at the vulnerabilities of small island developing states. (Reuters)

A Note About debt Relief

Debt relief has been offered by the IMF during the COVID-19 crisis for certain countries.

Civil society waged a strong debt relief campaign in the early 2000’s for low income countries, many of whom were also battling national AIDS crises, notably due to the onerous terms and negative development impacts of the structural adjustment programs that accompanied many loans.

Now some of those same civil society organizations are calling for debt relief when climate disasters strike as well.