Speakers
Roland Rajah, Director Indo-Pacific Development Center at the Lowy Institute
Melanie Pill, Research Fellow at the Indo-Pacific Development Center at the Lowy Institute
Nemia Dawai, Advisor to World Bank Executive Director and former Head of Fiji’s Treasury
Chair
Victoria Dimond, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Global Development
Small island states (SIDS) have been at the forefront of recent calls to reform the international development finance architecture, largely due to their vulnerability to climate change. Examples include the Bridgetown Initiative led by Barbados and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ urgent call for swifter climate action at the August 2024 Pacific Island Forum. Small states have contributed negligible carbon emissions to the global total, yet are at the forefront of experiencing the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather, ocean acidification, and rising sea levels. These impacts threaten livelihoods and economies. This conversation discusses why SIDS warrant exceptional treatment for international development finance and how this changing as climate vulnerability is increasingly understood, what SIDS use this finance for when they have access to it, and what challenges and opportunities SIDS face in accessing and using international finance going forward.
This event is co-hosted with the Lowly Insitute.
