Small Islands, Big Impact

Salaheddine Mezouar, president of the UN climate treaties conference COP22, says the event, which takes place in Morocco in November, will allow “the voices of the most vulnerable countries to climate change [to be] heard, in particular African countries and island states.” So we are taking this opportunity to add to those voices - by talking about what the European Investment Bank is doing on some of the islands most vulnerable to climate change, to help them adapt to climate change, and to mitigate its effects. But first, why invest in climate adaptation or mitigation measures on small islands at all? It isn’t only because of rising sea levels. There’s an economic development angle, too. Listen to Katrin Bock, Business Analyst in the EIB Pacific Regional Office who points out that most of the islands rely on diesel shipped in on barges for energy. “Small-island developing states are often constrained by small and dispersed populations with no economies of scale. They have low bargaining power with oil suppliers and overall inefficient oil transport infrastructure.” Island projects are mostly small-scale and may thus be overlooked by international investors. So the EIB has taken special care to support the impact of climate projects on the islands.

Full Article: http://www.eib.org/infocentre/blog/all/small-island-climate-change.htm