In the spirit of the Samoa Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the European Union (EU) and members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) look forward to working closely and constructively to implement the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS, a key outcome of the SIDS4 Conference, held in Antigua and Barbuda on 27-30 May 2024.
The Samoa Agreement provides a framework to drive global initiatives and build consensus on matters of global importance and shared interest. This enhanced cooperation covers key priorities for SIDS, including environmental sustainability, climate resilience, ocean governance, sustainable management of natural resources, and support for inclusive and sustainable blue and green economic growth, including through private sector development.
The OACPS and EU welcome the closer cooperation between SIDS, the EU’s Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories, who share some common characteristics and specificities.
The OACPS and the EU also look forward to working closely with SIDS ahead of upcoming multilateral events, including the upcoming UN Summit of the Future, the Rio Conventions’ Conferences of Parties, the 3rd UN Ocean Conference and the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.
The OACPS and the EU welcome the development of a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, recognising that many sustainable development challenges and vulnerabilities are insufficiently reflected in common national indexes such as GDP and GNI per capita. The OACPS and the EU encourage all development institutions to factor these vulnerabilities in their work. The OACPS and the EU support the international efforts to reform the International Financial Architecture and multilateral development banks to allow them to address global challenges more effectively, building on the roadmap of the Paris Pact for People and Planet, the Bridgetown Initiative, and work in other multilateral fora, including the G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group, International Financial Institutions and Multilateral Development Banks.
Background
Objectives of SIDS4 – The fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) was held from 27 to 30 May 2024 in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, under the overarching theme of “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity”. The Conference assessed SIDS’ progress towards the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, and resulted in an intergovernmentally agreed political outcome document, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS).
EU support to SIDS – The EU and its member states together constitute the largest donor to the SIDS, providing more than €1.2 billion in the form of bilateral Official Development Assistance, as well as contributions channelled through multilateral organisations, in 2022. Under the Global Gateway strategy, the EU and its member states, in a Team Europe approach, partner with SIDS through investments in digital, environment, climate and energy, transport, health, education and research. In addition, as of December 2022, the EU channels to the SIDS through the European Investment Bank €3.47 billion in the form of credit lines to local credit institutions. The EU also funds a €35 million programme of support for African, Caribbean and Pacific SIDS and coastal countries, including the Bio space programme in the Caribbean, the Bio space programme in the Pacific, and support to the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund in the Western Indian Ocean.
