Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are on the frontline of the climate emergency, being faced with relentless ocean warming and rising sea levels. With most of the Bahamas and the Maldives expected to be underwater by 2050, ocean warming is also harming coral reefs, algae, turtles and fish. As COP26 kicked off, the Prime Minister of Antigua Gaston Browne urged the most polluting nations to provide financial compensation for SIDS. One of the top issues on the COP26 agenda consisted of elaboration on a coherent plan to help poorer countries pay for the adaptation to climate damage and its externalities. 

The question of “loss and damage” has been a thorn in the side of COP negotiations. SIDS have long called for richer nations to be held accountable for their responsibility towards the current climate emergency. While the world’s 47 Least Developed Countries have contributed the least to historical emissions, they are at a disproportionately high risk of facing negative consequences of global warming. Furthermore, almost 70% of worldwide deaths caused by climate-related disasters over the last half a century were in LDCs.

This year, SIDS asked for the establishment of a concrete financial mechanism for loss and damage. On November 2nd, the British and Indian Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi launched the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) facility, providing technical and financial services to improve SIDS’ infrastructural resilience to climate change and extreme natural events. In addition, more finance was pledged to climate adaptation and resilience, and in the Glasgow Climate Pact, there was mention of strengthened technical support and a dialogue process. However, many SIDS think this is severely insufficient: without enough compensation and without enough ambition, their countries could be at risk of disappearing under the waves.