Friday, May 24, 2024
Side Event to the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4).
Small island developing states (SIDS) are currently threatened by a range of climate-related hazards, including submergence, coastal flooding and erosion, and increasingly frequent and destructive hurricanes and typhoons. Due to existing social inequalities such as gender roles and discrimination, women and other vulnerable groups are disproportionately impacted by climate change, and their losses are not explicitly economic. Non-economic losses and damage (NELD) may include various dimensions of human mobility—namely, displacement, loss of territory, loss of cultural heritage, or loss of local knowledge, as acknowledged in the 2013 UNFCCC Technical Paper on Non-economic Losses. In order to leave no one behind, adaptation initiatives that give due consideration to non-economic losses constitute a more effective approach to responding to the societal and ecological impacts of climate change in SIDS. This side event convened a panel of experts to discuss what data and action is needed for the international community to properly address the needs of the most vulnerable in SIDS, and how NELD can be meaningfully considered in an equitable distribution of the loss and damage fund.
featuring
Moderated by Carla Koppell, Managing Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
What is SIDS4?
The 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), co-chaired by New Zealand and the Maldives, will take place from 27 to 30 May 2024 in Antigua and Barbuda under the theme “Charting the Course Towards Resilient Prosperity.” The conference aims to assess the ability of small island developing States (SIDS) to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals. Building on previous agreements for SIDS, such as the SAMOA Pathway (2014), the conference will result in an action-oriented political outcome document.