Small Island Developing States Research Articles

Food security and nutritional vulnerability in Comoros: The impact of Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The Sustainable Development Goal 2 aims to eradicate hunger. However, many small island developing states (SIDS) face challenges in achieving this goal due to their reliance on the global market and susceptibility to crises. This paper focuses on Comoros, one of the least studied SIDS located in the Indian Ocean, to examine its food security and nutritional vulnerability. The findings reveal that Comoros experiences limited access to sufficient and nutritious diets, which are excessive in fat and deficient in key micronutrients. This situation is similar to other SIDS in the Pacific and the Caribbean, which also exhibit the convergence of the malnutrition triple burden. This paper further assesses the impact of changing food prices during the initial year of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on food security and nutrition in Comoros, serving as a case study for SIDS. Using microsimulations, we estimate the effects on food access, sufficiency, and adequacy at the household level. The results indicate a decline in food access and purchasing power for all households, particularly the poorer and rural. Additionally, food sufficiency has markedly decreased, leading to an additional 5,000 households (3.3% of all households) experiencing inadequate daily calorie intake. The study also highlights a reduction in the consumption of organ meats, fruits, and vegetables, resulting in decreased daily iron and folate intakes. This is particularly concerning given the high prevalence of anemia among women in Comoros and other SIDS. To address these challenges, policies promoting the consumption of fresh, nutrient-rich foods with low fat content are crucial to mitigate the malnutrition triple burden and curb the increasing trend of non-communicable diseases in these countries.

Augmented reality about Tropical Cyclones in the Dominican Republic: evaluation of learning and cognitive load

Abstract Introduction The Dominican Republic, due to its nature as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), faces several challenges in the face of extreme weather phenomena such as hurricanes. Therefore, integrating technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) in teaching these topics in class can influence student motivation and improve learning. Aim This article has three objectives: 1) to evaluate the learning results of the participating students using the pre-test and post-test methodology; 2) to find out the cognitive load it produces in the participating students and 3) to analyze the relationships between the different types of cognitive load. Methodology It has a quantitative approach, with a quasi-experimental design using the pre-test-post-test technique. It was carried out between May and July 2024 and consists of a non-probabilistic sample (N = 45). In addition, the student’s cognitive load was measured when interacting with the AR object, in its three types: internal, external, and relevant. Results When comparing the results of the pre-test and post-test, we obtained average values of 3.84 with a high level of variability and 4.75, with less dispersion in the answers. On the other hand, the cognitive load instrument shows high levels of internal consistency with 0.93 for the total instrument. The strongest correlation, 0.93, was obtained between external cognitive load and mental effort invested. Conclusions The hypothesis has been tested: participating students have better learning outcomes about hurricanes (tropical cyclones) after interacting with the learning object in AR format.

Financial Inclusion and Climate Resilience: The Role for an AI-Enhanced Digital Wallet in Caribbean SIDS

Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate change. Caribbean SIDS climate vulnerability is worsened by their high level of financial exclusion. Many people do not have bank accounts and access to electronic fund transfer (EFT). As such, they cannot electronically receive funds before or after a natural disaster to cope with the effects. The financial exclusion problem can be addressed through a digital wallet. A digital wallet is a financial transaction application that securely stores a user’s banking and payment information on a cloud interface and allows the user to perform a transaction while hiding their banking information from a vendor. The biggest concern of users with regards to the use of digital wallets are its convenience and security. While digital wallets offer outstanding convenience of purchasing goods and services, data privacy and fraud risks deter people from adopting mobile payment. Potential fraud risk to digital wallets can be identified with anomaly detection techniques. The research problem investigated in this study is how the implementation of an artificial intelligence (AI) enhanced digital wallet can facilitate financial inclusion in the Caribbean, particularly in the context of disaster preparedness and recovery. Since security is an important aspect of a digital wallet, a sub-objective of this study is to derive an appropriate model for anomaly detection in financial transactions in a digital wallet. This study modifies Liu et al. [1] Gated Transformer Networks (GTN) architecture to allow for univariate time series classification. The corresponding new model is referred to as the Univariate Gated Transformer Network (UGTN). The UGTN is used for anomaly detection in financial data from a digital wallet. This study also provides policy recommendations for the implementation of a digital wallet to facilitate financial inclusion and climate resilience in Caribbean SIDS.

Population exposure to flooding in Small Island Developing States under climate change

Abstract Estimates of current and future population exposure to both coastal and inland flooding do not exist consistently in all Small Island Developing States (SIDS), despite these being some of the places most at risk to climate change. This has primarily been due to a lack of suitable or complete data. In this paper, we utilise a ∼30 m global hydrodynamic flood model to estimate population exposure to coastal and inland flood hazard in all SIDS under present day, as well as under low, intermediate, and very high emissions climate change scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5). Our analysis shows that present day population exposure to flooding in SIDS is high (19.5% total population: 100 year flood hazard), varies widely depending on the location (3%–66%), and increases under all three climate scenarios—even if global temperatures remain below 2 °C warming (range in percentage change between present day and SSP1-2.6: −4.5%–44%). We find that levels of flood hazard and population exposure are not strongly linked, and that indirect measures of exposure in common vulnerability or risk indicators do not adequately capture the complex drivers of flood hazard and population exposure in SIDS. The most exposed places under the lowest climate change scenario (SSP1-2.6) continue to be the most exposed under the highest climate change scenario (SSP5-8.5), meaning investment in adaptation in these locations is likely robust to climate scenario uncertainty.

Are Neutrality Targets Alone Sufficient for Protecting Nature? Learning From Land Cover Change and Land Degradation Neutrality Targets in Mauritius

ABSTRACTLand degradation contributes to loss of land productivity, climate change, and biodiversity loss worldwide, making the monitoring of land cover change a fundamental component of sustainable land use planning. To facilitate this task, international research organizations publish increasingly high‐quality global land cover data, yet those are still proving too imprecise at the scale of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Mauritius. Though rapidly developing, Mauritius does not have a locally produced land cover map which is consistently updated and made available to the public in the scope of participatory planning processes. This study sought to bridge this gap by revising a 2010 land cover map of Mauritius island and producing a new map for 2020, which can serve as a basis for future updates through a consistent methodology that combines photointerpretation and semi‐automated classification from various datasets. These maps enabled the observation of key changes in the island's landscape, which are consistent with socio‐economic events, namely the decline of agricultural coverage (12.7%) due to the phasing out of preferential trade agreements for sugar, and the expansion of real estate (14.3% increase in built area) following new investment promotion policies. Considering the small size and high population density of the island, as is the case for SIDS, these developments and the Land Degradation Neutrality Targets of Mauritius bring the feasibility of area‐based land degradation neutrality into question and call for the analysis of land and ecosystem conditions through additional indicators.

Adaptive Capacity, Governance and Small Island Developing States: A Case Study of Sargassum Management in the Eastern Caribbean

Governance generally, and appropriate operational institutions specifically, are said to be crucial to increasing human adaptive capacity amidst environmental change. But existing conceptualizations tend to assume a universal model of governance will work for states of all sizes. This article questions this orthodoxy which disregards the lack of clarity on size-relevant institutional design and functioning. We do so by focusing on the role of governance in the adaptive capacity of small island developing states (SIDS) facing a new marine social-ecological threat. We draw on a unique dataset of capacity self-assessments undertaken by thirty-eight key agencies involved in the management of sargassum seaweed influx events in the Eastern Caribbean. We found support for the findings of public administration scholars who show that country size is a contextual factor affecting adaptive capacity beyond the control of managers. The implication is that the ability of SIDS to adapt to new or emergent environmental change is crucially inhibited by size-related governance constraints while solutions that mitigate these effects – informal networks and regional organizations – are not well captured by existing metrics. To ensure assessments of adaptive capacity are contextually appropriate we need a more nuanced appreciation of the impacts of state size on governance outcomes.

Using Spatial Literacy for Disaster Management in Coastal Communities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS): A Case Study from Lavongai, Papua New Guinea

This study investigates the use of participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) for hazard assessment in small island developing states (SIDS), with a focus on spatial literacy and community-based disaster management. By partnering with the Lavongai community on Papua New Guinea, this research aimed to empower community members through skill development in geodata processing. The program leveraged local knowledge and the global positioning system to create participatory maps, enhancing both community capacity and researcher data quality. Workshops and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to assess the community’s understanding of spatial concepts related to disaster risks. The core objective was a preliminary assessment of the community’s social and economic vulnerability to coastal disasters, using household data and GIS analysis. The results showed varied vulnerability levels within the community, highlighting the need for targeted disaster mitigation training and nature-based solutions. High-resolution satellite imagery and a simple bathtub model simulated sea level rise, identifying land-uses at risk. The program concluded with a community presentation of thematic maps, fostering collaboration and transparency. Future projects will address environmental challenges identified by local leaders and prioritize skill development, social data collection, and water resource mapping.

Modelling a low-head seawater-pumped hydro storage system's impeller for energy production within a small island developing state

ABSTRACT The proposed seawater pumped hydro storage (SPHS) is one option for providing a buffered energy storage system that will surely be required in the future. Given the fact that most small island developing states (SIDS) are isolated and surrounded by large bodies of water, the medium of seawater becomes an infinite supply. However, SIDS are also low lying and therefore only low heads will be available at high flows to maximize the energy efficiency of the system. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, ANSYS Fluent, was used to simulate this SPHS pump turbine impeller at low heads and high flows. This pump turbine impeller was simulated to function as both a pump and as a turbine at various revolutions per minute (rpm). The performance of the system was evaluated based on the pressure and velocity distributions of the pump turbine impeller at varying rpm. It was found that there were less energy losses within the turbine mode compared to the pump mode. Furthermore, this study showcases that the CFD model ANSYS Fluent is an economical, efficient, and easily diagnosable technique for analysing an impeller in both pump and turbine modes.

Filtering ‘3–2’ industrial symbiosis networks at a carbon-intensive cluster in a small island developing state to reuse CO2 and water

Small island developing states (SIDS) face internal and external pressures for more sustainable manufacturing e.g., economic and ecological water provision, and anti-carbon leakage tariffs. As SIDS have special developmental challenges, locally appropriate strategies are needed. In one of these SIDS, Trinidad and Tobago, is a carbon-intensive industrial cluster of global standing, the Point Lisas Industrial Estate (PLIE). So, to investigate ‘3–2’ industrial symbiosis (IS) on the PLIE, a simple enterprise input-output MILP model of a representative IS network was developed. Different quality wastewater streams and high-purity process CO2 from ammonia processes were selected as materials to be reused in: existing petrochemical plants, a mineral carbonate factory and a propylene carbonate plant. To filter the IS relations, economic and environmental objectives were set for each material. Combining economic objectives left a tri-objective problem, which was resolved with ε-constraint optimization and multi-criteria decision-making methods. Kleinberg's hub and authority scores were found to give beneficial insight into the solved IS networks. Potential revenue-generating opportunities were uncovered for sharing and reusing water and process CO2. The results suggest adding two proposed carbonate factories could increase the mass of CO2 reused in the cluster by 10.4 % and mitigate releasing 5 Tg/y of rejected desalination brine.

The fallacy of uti possidetis juris: transboundary fishing in disputed maritime boundaries as a threat to Africa’s peace and security

ABSTRACT Africa’s oceans and seas and their resources are crucial for the economic and food security of Coastal States and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). However, sustaining these contributions is undermined by depleting resources and other security threats at sea. Given the transboundary nature of oceans resources and the threats that pervade them, maritime boundary disputes further complicate the situation, by making maritime security cooperation difficult for African countries, especially against illegal fishing. Our transdisciplinary paper draws evidence from legal, security, and development literature, policy documents, and expert insights to highlight the impact of maritime boundary disputes on maritime cooperation and security. Our argument is threefold: first, the principle of uti possidetis juris has resulted in artificial boundaries, propelling maritime boundary tensions and, arguably, in some cases, inflaming them. Second, delimitation exercises, often the outcome of applying the uti possidetis juris principle, limit opportunities for cooperation in managing shared resources and security. Third, irrespective of boundary disputes, the ambulatory nature of fish forces fishers to encroach into neighbouring waters. This paper concludes that addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach to oceans governance, acknowledging the transboundary nature of threats and promoting joint management arrangements as a mechanism for settling boundary disputes.

O potencial da Guiné-Bissau para a economia azul: o caso das Ilhas Bijagós

According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA, 2014)¹, the importance of ocean and coastal areas is fundamental for the six African states considered by the United Nations to be Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mauritius and the Seychelles.Guinea-Bissau is a country with a total coastline of 28,120 square kilometres and an estimated 80 islands located in its coastal waters, making it a key player in leading the transition to the blue economy on the African continent. Of the six African states considered as SIDS, Guinea-Bissau has the largest population, of around 1.6 million inhabitants, and the largest geographical area.The aim of this paper is to analyse the various sectors of the Blue Economy in Guinea-Bissau, developing a diagnosis of needs and a set of recommendations to promote the optimisation of maritime resources.Firstly, a geographical overview of Guinea-Bissau will be presented. Secondly, an argument will be developed to defend Guinea-Bissau's potential as one of Africa's main players in the area of the Blue Economy. This will be followed by a needs assessment of Guinea-Bissau's various Blue Economy sectors, namely: (1) the state of maritime transport; (2) tourism and Guinea-Bissau's natural capital; (3) fisheries; (4) fossil maritime energy; and (5) renewable energies.Following this diagnosis of the needs of Guinea-Bissau in general, the case of the Bijagós Archipelago, a group of islands in Guinea-Bissau considered a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve protected area since 1996, will be analysed in greater detail.¹ UNECA, 2014.

Exploring a cost-effective and straightforward mechanism for uninterrupted in situ maximum wave runup measurements.

Wave runup, the excess water level above mean sea level, has been measured using different techniques with varying degrees of precision and associated practical limitations. This critical parameter, typically included in coastal assessment studies, varies temporally and spatially and depends on variables that include beach characteristics and nearshore hydrodynamics. Access to continuous datasets, using efficient mechanisms can assist resource-limited regions, such as Caribbean small-island developing states (SIDS), in overcoming coastal resilience obstacles. Experiments were conducted at University College London (UCL) and the University of the West Indies (UWI), which were designed to explore the temporal behaviour of the water surface within the bed during runup events. The experiments encompassed linear waves impacting a static porous bed (UCL) and a moveable granular beach (UWI), with pressure sensors buried at the base of each beach. The analyses showed that the averaged values of the time-varying water elevations within the bed, when spatially presented, produced a quadratic or cubic polynomial fit, where the curves' stationary points were accurate indicators of the location of the maximum runup position at the surface of the bed. In this way, an arrangement of buried pressure sensors can be used as an efficient means to accurately produce a continuous time series of maximum runup positions.This article is part of the theme issue 'Celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Royal Society Newton International Fellowship'.

Managing technology-critical elements from electronic waste in Small Developing Island States: a burden or an opportunity?

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face profound challenges from pollution, exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and resource limitations. This paper examines the longstanding pollution issues plaguing SIDS, highlighting their vulnerability to environmental degradation due to underdeveloped waste management systems and unique oceanographic conditions. The case study of Eleuthera Island in The Bahamas illustrates these challenges vividly, showcasing the island’s struggle with e-waste management. This example reinforces the urgency of integrated strategies to enhance environmental resilience and sustainable development in SIDS. Emerging concerns include the proliferation of technology-critical elements (TCEs) in e-waste, driven by rapid urbanization and tourism growth. Despite their crucial role in technological advancement, TCEs pose significant recycling and management difficulties, particularly in the context of limited waste infrastructure. The paper also highlights the imperative for comprehensive regulatory frameworks and sustainable practices to mitigate pollution impacts and safeguard ocean and human health, particularly by shedding light on legislative gaps and opportunities for enhancing pollution control measures in The Bahamas.

From Debt to Sustainability: Advancing Wastewater Projects in Developing Countries through Innovative Financing Mechanisms—The Role of Debt-for-Climate Swaps

Developing countries, including Small Island Developing States (SIDSs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), are exceptionally vulnerable to climate change due to their distinct geographical and environmental characteristics. Escalating sea levels and heightened salinity levels imperil freshwater reserves, while warmer ocean temperatures and acidification disrupt water demand, tourism, health services, and fisheries. Concurrently, these countries bear the brunt of water shortages, flooding, and declining water quality. However, significant barriers such as limited financing capacities to fund water security initiatives, exacerbated by a growing debt crisis marked by escalating interest rates and inflation, hinder developmental progress and investments in climate adaptation and mitigation endeavors. Consequently, there arises a critical necessity to harness innovative financial mechanisms to transform these debts into opportunities that support effective climate action. This paper explores the potential of debt-for-climate swaps as a catalyst for advancing transformative wastewater projects, focusing on their strategic deployment to underpin critical initiatives. Through case studies and empirical evidence, the paper elucidates how debt-for-climate swaps can enhance sustainable wastewater management systems in developing countries and delineates best practices for leveraging these mechanisms and the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, including governments, policymakers, the private sector, communities, and climate financial institutions. Combining theoretical insights with tangible examples, this paper furnishes a comprehensive framework for harnessing debt-for-climate swaps to enhance water security and resilience in developing countries. It offers actionable strategies for policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders to navigate the complex terrain of climate change and engender sustainable development.

Blue Economy Financing Solutions for the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sectors of Caribbean Island States

This study reviews various financing solutions available for fisheries and aquaculture development in Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS) and Barbados, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Previously identified financing needs within the fisheries and aquaculture sectors have been matched with the most suitable financing mechanisms. However, the use of blue levies is recommended and applicable in almost every scenario, as they allow these sectors to drive their own development in financing research and conservation projects to their own benefit. The use of “blue tokens” with sufficiently low repayment coupons allows development projects to gather public support for fisheries, thereby increasing the likelihood of the project being successful through community buy-in. The possibility of natural capital being traded as public equities as “Natural Asset Companies” provides the opportunity for development projects to fund themselves. The review concludes that natural capital can be leveraged as the base through which public-private partnerships (PPPs) can facilitate optimal delivery of ecosystem services, benefit multiple stakeholders, and provide numerous development opportunities. An enabling environment for debt and lending with low-interest loan repayments is also applicable to almost every scenario, as it facilitates access to capital finance for infrastructure development and the acquisition of increasingly sustainable fishing equipment. Steps towards generating an enabling environment for financing fisheries and aquaculture in the Caribbean region are also discussed. The establishment of dedicated financing institutions, PPPs, and sufficient data reporting infrastructure for the fisheries and aquaculture industry are essential for driving development in these sectors. Likely, the largest limiting factor in financing Caribbean fisheries and aquaculture industries is a lack of awareness of the range of finance and financing mechanisms available to stakeholders, as well as an enabling environment for financing blue Economy sectors. This review is thus intended to aid financing institutions, Blue Economy developers, and specifically Caribbean fisheries and aquaculture stakeholders and Caribbean governments by raising awareness of the financing mechanisms available, encourage the incorporation of their use in the fisheries and aquaculture industries in the Caribbean, and encourage policymakers to create an enabling environment for financing development in these crucial sectors.

Medical Students' Brief Overview of Climate Change Policies Implemented by Developed Countries: Their Application to Small Islands and Low-Lying Developing States

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are disproportionately impacted by climate change. SIDS emit less than 2.42% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet they are the most affected. This article discusses the impact of climate change on SIDS, the strategies implemented by developed countries that can be adapted for SIDS and the challenges that must be overcome to combat climate change in SIDS.

Tourism Development in Sri Lanka: A Case Study of Sustainable Practices in a Small Island Developing State (SIDS)

Summary This case study investigates the influence of geopolitics on sustainable tourism development in Sri Lanka, emphasizing the complexities arising from global power struggles. It explores how political factors such as competition for maritime dominance, unrest, and regional development shape economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. By analyzing stakeholder’s perspectives and integrating political factors into the Triple Bottom Line framework, the study offers insights into navigating challenges and harnessing opportunities for sustainable tourism amidst geopolitical dynamics. Information © The Authors 2024

A vertical index of direct competition in international trade: The case of CHINDIA and CARICOM

This paper assesses the genealogy of competitive indices in international trade and theoretically develops a measure of export threat which estimates direct competition in vertical market segments. We identify the assumption of homogeneity in these export threat measures as a weakness that undermines accuracy. Hence, we develop a new measure of export threat, the direct intra-market threat (DIMT), which incorporates relative vertical and market share changes over time to accurately estimate a country’s direct threat to other exporters in a third market. We argue that the market segmentation method applied in complement to the DIMT estimate provides an all-encompassing methodology in the estimation of export threat, which we argue is superior to the Dynamic Index of Competitive Threat (DICT) and Direct Threat methodologies. The paper uses the case of China and India (CHINDIA) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to assess the empirical estimates of the DIMT relative to DICT and Direct Threat over the period 2000–2021. Our study is motivated by a research gap in the estimation of the competitive threat posed by a large, diversified exporter on Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Climate justice and Pacific Island countries – a case study on grassroots advocacy

ABSTRACT Many Commonwealth member states face the brunt of the climate crisis. In the Pacific Island states and the wider Pacific region, the frequency of severe weather events has increased. For instance, in 2023 the island of Vanuatu was impacted by cyclones Judy and Kevin in March and afterwards by cyclone Lola. According to Vanuatu officials, more than 10,000 homes were destroyed and the storms caused massive destruction to Vanuatu’s infrastructure and economy. Facing the likelihood that the global temperatures will reach or surpass the 1.5 degrees Celsius target between 2021 and 2040, a grassroots student movement was launched at the University of the South Pacific (USP) based on Emalus Campus, Vanuatu, which ended with a United Nations General Assembly resolution on climate justice and Pacific Island states. Even so, the situation remains alarming for many Commonwealth Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific and there are important questions as to how these states will adapt to and mitigate climate change and also address the climate justice issues they face. This article provides a case study on climate justice and Commonwealth member states and looks at measures currently being considered or implemented by political leaders and other stakeholders.

The human dimension of plastic pollution in the Caribbean SIDS of Trinidad and Tobago

The development of effective interventions tackling plastic pollution should consider the human dimension behind the issue. To ensure that solutions are tailored to the Global South, specifically the realities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), we recommend assessing location-specific behavioural drivers. This study (i) assesses the current behaviours of Trinbagonians related to their use and disposal of plastics, (ii) explores the drivers of behaviour (plastic usage and disposal), policy support and behavioural intentions to reduce plastic consumption and, (iii) makes suggestions in order to foster evidence-based interventions. A co-created online questionnaire designed to collect information from Trinbagonians relating to plastics was conducted over 15 weeks (May to August 2022). We find that the frequency of single-use plastic use was driven by individual and systemic factors, with the latter limiting recycling behaviours. Participants were supportive of policies to reduce plastic pollution and somewhat intended to reduce their own consumption. A complex pattern of socio-psychological, systemic and perception-based factors predicted participants’ behaviour, behavioural intentions and policy support. The present study demonstrates that community perceptions can inform policy-making at two entry points: the consumption and the disposal of plastics. Based on our findings, we also point towards a suite of policy instruments that can be utilized in order foster more sustainable consumption patterns, reduce single-use plastics and promote recycling to reduce recyclables in landfills. Understanding the human dimension of environmental issues is crucial for designing targeted and effective interventions that resonate with specific local realities.