Delegation of the European Union to Russia

09/19/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/19/2024 09:10

UNCTAD Trade and Development Board - EU Statement on the Strategy for Small Island Developing States

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

Trade and Development Board
Seventy-first session

16 - 27 September 2024

EU Statement

Agenda Item 10: UNCTAD strategy for small island developing States

Dear President, Secretary General, Excellencies, distinguished Delegates,

On behalf of the European Union and its Member States, I would like to express our appreciation to UNCTAD for elaborating the strategy for small island developing States. As well as to the representatives of the SIDS in Geneva that worked closely with UNCTAD to complete this work.

Small island developing states occupy a crucial position in multilateral affairs. Being small means that any shock may have disproportionate, even existential consequences for their societies. Being islands, often low lying and remote, means particular exposure to extreme weather events, as well as to slow onset events associated with climate change. Despite SIDS being at the forefront, these are challenges and responsibilities for the entire UN membership.

The EU is committed to supporting multilateral work in this direction and have closely partnered with SIDS in highlighting the need for immediate, urgent and accelerated action, as emphasised by the reports of the IPCC. That is why we very much support this UNCTAD's strategy for SIDS and its due coordination with the rest of the development community.

Indeed, the EU and its Member States are greatly invested in SIDS, as elaborated through the very recently signed Samoa Agreement. Our financial commitment exceeded 1.2 billion Euro in 2022, and we supported the SIDS4 conference in May with more than 2 million Euro. Worth noting, three out of the four non-SIDS UN Member States in the SIDS4 Prep. Com. were EU Member States. In addition, as of December 2022, 3.5 billion Euro were channelled to SIDS through the European Investment Bank to local credit institutions.

In the spirit of the Samoa Agreement, the 2030 Agenda, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the EU and its Member States 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 in May this year.

As for UNCTAD's strategy for SIDS, we share the goal of enhancing SIDS' insertion into the global trading system. Due to their small size, SIDS may be faced with a trade-off between economies of scale and diversifying their economies. UNCTAD will have to carefully seek the right balance when providing advice.

Concretely, we would like to highlight three aspects of the presented strategy.

First, given the expectations of tomorrow's global economy and the characteristics of SIDS, digitalisation should be a key aspect of UNCTAD's support to SIDS. Digitalisation in SIDS must become affordable and accessible, with a particular attention to women and girls, so they can harness their economic potential and effectively integrate into regional and global value chains.

Important to underscore - to ensure resilience and sustainability, all pursued policies and actions must take into account the threats posed by climate change.

Second, we would invite UNCTAD to regularly report on the implementation of this strategy. This will be relevant for SIDS to provide feedback and guide the focus of the work, as well as for the rest of the membership to be aware of the potential synergies and best practices.

And third, we would invite UNCTAD to support the strategy with relevant resources. Some EU Member States have already committed resources to this strategy. However, the strategy and the witnessed membership support for it, should also be an invitation for relevant resource re-focusing inside UNCTAD.

In conclusion, let me again reiterate our support and partnership with SIDS. And while we are coming to the end of 2024 that has been designated as the International Year of SIDS, our work and commitment with small island developing States does not end with this year.

Thank you.