VIS 2026VIS 2026 — Virtual Island Summit|Also: GSIS 2027GSIS 2027
Island Innovation Logo
About
Services
The Network
Events
Content Library
Contact Us

Subscribe to our newsletter. By submitting, you agree to our Privacy Policy.

Island Innovation

Island Innovation works with governments, institutions, and partners worldwide to support island-led sustainable economic development.

We Support The UN Development Goals

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureSDG 11: Sustainable Cities and CommunitiesSDG 12: Responsible Consumption and ProductionSDG 13: Climate ActionSDG 14: Life Below WaterSDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Explore

AboutServicesNetworkEvents

Content

ArticlesNewsCareers

Ready to Connect?

Join the island innovation community

Get in Touch

About

  • About us
  • Case Studies
  • FAQs
  • Press
  • Careers
  • Contact

Services

  • Services Overview
  • Public & Media Relations
  • Strategic Communications

Network

  • The Island Network
  • Academic Council
  • Newsletter

Events

  • Our Events
  • Watch Past Events

Content

  • All Content Library
  • Videos
  • Articles
  • News
Privacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContact

© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

    Filter by Core Theme

    All ThemesCircular EconomyClimate ActionConnectivity & DigitizationCulture & CommunityEnergy & TransportGreen Finance & EconomyOcean & BiodiversityPolicy & GovernanceTourism & Remote WorkWater & Food
    Showing 9 of 86 news items in Green Finance & Economy
    Pacific Farmers head to COP30 in Brazil to discuss direct access to climate finance
    Green Finance & EconomyNovember 16, 2025

    Pacific Farmers head to COP30 in Brazil to discuss direct access to climate finance

    Excerpt from islandsbusiness.com A DELEGATION of farmer-leaders from the Pacific Farmer Organisations will travel to Belém, Brazil, for the UN Climate Summit (COP30) to deliver an urgent message: climate finance must go directly to the farmers and communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. The delegation’s advocacy is backed by new research revealing a shocking gap in funding. Pacific small-scale farmers require an estimated US$77 million every year to adapt their food systems to climate change, yet they are currently receiving only 1.47% of that amount. This gap in funding is leaving the region’s food security, culture, and livelihoods dangerously exposed. Ilisapeci Vakacegu, Programs Manager for Policy and Advocacy at Pacific Farmer Organisations says “The main factor causing this breakdown is accessibility. It takes money just to be able to access a pocket of funding. The system just ends up serving institutions and not farmers.” Throughout the two-week summit, the delegation will advocate for “direct and fair finance,” urging global leaders to bypass complex intermediaries and channel funds through more agile, farmer-led mechanisms, such as Pacific Farmer Organisations Climate Resilient Farming Framework and the proposed Global Farmer’s Resilience and Empowerment Fund.

    12345678910
    Read more
    ’New money’: UWI researchers to design new islands climate finance framework
    Green Finance & EconomyNovember 1, 2025

    ’New money’: UWI researchers to design new islands climate finance framework

    Excerpt from barbadostoday.bb Two University of the West Indies researchers are fronting a bold new funding mechanism to channel concessional climate finance to small developing states, including Barbados, under a One Health climate-resilience framework. Director of the Centre for Biosecurity Studies at the UWI Cave Hill, Dr Kirk Douglas, is partnering with climate-finance economist at the St Augustine Campus in Trinidad, Dr Preeya Mohan, to design and deliver a climate-finance architecture for concessional funding to support One Health climate resilience for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and SIDS, in the spirit of the Bridgetown Initiative.

    Read more
    Wetland ecosystem welcomed at Tasmanian sheep farm after 20-year restoration effort
    Green Finance & EconomyOctober 17, 2025

    Wetland ecosystem welcomed at Tasmanian sheep farm after 20-year restoration effort

    Excerpt from abc.net.au In short: Sheep farmer Will Eddington is taking part in a global push to restore ecologically important wetlands that have been described as "the Earth's kidneys". His property, Richmond Park Estate, hosts a wetland that was once abundant in wildlife and used regularly by Aboriginal people before colonial farming practices degraded the landscape.

    Read more
    Small islands face outsized climate impacts and require US$12 billion a year in climate finance to cope
    Green Finance & EconomyOctober 17, 2025

    Small islands face outsized climate impacts and require US$12 billion a year in climate finance to cope

    Excerpt from gca.org Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 7 October 2025 – The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) today launched State and Trends in Adaptation 2025: Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the most comprehensive assessment to date of climate risks, macro-economic impacts and practical solutions for the world’s 39 island economies. The report shows that, without accelerated adaptation, cumulative climate damages across SIDS could reach as high as US$476 billion by 2050—equivalent to several years of national output in some countries—yet current international public adaptation finance to SIDS averages just over US$2 billion a year, or 0.2% of global climate finance. GCA calls for a step-change to at least US$12 billion annually, a level SIDS themselves identify in their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), noting this represents only around 1.2% of global climate finance and about 4% of global Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).

    Read more
    Cabo Verde : from island vulnerability to economic resilience
    Green Finance & EconomySeptember 30, 2025

    Cabo Verde : from island vulnerability to economic resilience

    Excerpt from africa-news-agency.com By Bylkiss Mentari At independence in 1975, Cabo Verde faced multiple challenges: geographic isolation, limited natural resources, and an economy dominated by subsistence agriculture. With one of the lowest GNI per capita in Africa, the archipelago seemed destined for economic marginalization. However, political stability and a series of ambitious economic reforms allowed the country to gradually diversify its activities and build a more resilient economy. “An increase of 16.8% in gross national income per capita between 2023 and 2024 reflects the country’s economic evolution. As of today, July 1, 2025, Cabo Verde will be classified as an upper-middle-income country according to World Bank criteria,” the institution stated in a press release. Tourism: the engine of growth In 2024, Cabo Verde’s GDP reached $2.77 billion, with an annual growth rate of 7.3%. Tourism, the main growth driver, increased by 16.5% and now accounts for nearly 25% of GDP and 55% of exports, according to Coface. The archipelago successfully attracted European markets, particularly Portugal, France, and the UK, and the arrival of low-cost airlines further boosted its appeal. “Cabo Verde’s recovery is a testament to the resilience of its people and institutions. But to transform this rebound into lasting and inclusive prosperity, bold reforms are needed – particularly to improve SOE governance, support women’s economic participation, and diversify the economy,” said Indira Campos, World Bank Resident Representative for Cabo Verde.

    Read more
    Australia's Climate Resilience Investment Imperative: Opportunities in Pacific Infrastructure and Domestic Adaptation Markets
    Green Finance & EconomySeptember 24, 2025

    Australia's Climate Resilience Investment Imperative: Opportunities in Pacific Infrastructure and Domestic Adaptation Markets

    Excerpt from ainvest.com Australia's strategic investments in climate resilience have increasingly focused on the Indo-Pacific, particularly the Pacific Islands, where rising sea levels, intensifying cyclones, and droughts threaten infrastructure, food security, and economic stability. From 2020 to 2025, the Australian government has committed $3 billion in climate finance, with $1.3 billion explicitly directed toward adaptation efforts in the regionDelivering on our climate finance commitments[1]. This funding prioritizes “hard” infrastructure projects such as coastal protection, flood alleviation, and climate-resilient transport networks, delivered through mechanisms like the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) and its dedicated climate window, the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership (PCIFP)How to scale up Australia's investment in Pacific climate adaptation[3]. These initiatives aim to address the acute vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where climate risks are existential. Pacific Infrastructure: A High-Risk, High-Reward Frontier The Pacific Islands represent a critical frontier for adaptation finance. Australia's $350 million contribution to the PCIFP has already funded projects like the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project, which includes $38 million for land reclamation and seawalls to protect critical infrastructure such as hospitals and schoolsCounting Australia's climate finance[4]. Similarly, the AIFFP has supported renewable energy systems in remote communities and upgraded port facilities to withstand extreme weather eventsHow to scale up Australia's investment in Pacific climate adaptation[3]. These investments align with the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific, which emphasizes integrated approaches to climate and disaster risk managementPacific regional – climate change and resilience[2].

    Read more
    How debt swaps and fossil fuel levies can help small islands survive climate change
    Green Finance & EconomySeptember 24, 2025

    How debt swaps and fossil fuel levies can help small islands survive climate change

    Excerpt from reuters.com September 16 - Over the past year, the world has become more unstable. Amid mounting political and economic crises the focus on climate has taken a step back. We saw this in the failures to achieve a just and fair finance deal at COP29 in Baku, in national governments dragging their feet on climate commitments, and in fossil fuel companies insidiously disinvesting in clean energy to focus on squeezing every drop of oil from a scorched earth. And scorched it is. Just this year the city of Los Angeles and regions in Canada and France burned. Mountain villages in India and Europe were wiped off the map, hundreds of people died in flooding in Pakistan, and more than a million were displaced. In Antigua and Barbuda, we’re anxiously scanning the horizon as hurricane season is upon us, while our coasts wash away and sea levels rise. As I head to Climate Week NYC and the U.N. General Assembly, my people, and millions of others on small islands developing states (SIDS), stand to lose their homelands. Not parts of it; all of it. If global warming is not contained, small island states like ours will face a future where survival means leaving our shores behind. The choice for small island states will no longer be how to adapt, but whether our people can remain on their islands at all.

    Read more
    £1.3m package of support for Islands innovation
    Green Finance & EconomySeptember 10, 2025

    £1.3m package of support for Islands innovation

    Excerpt from hw.ac.uk This £1.3m programme is funded by the Scottish and UK Governments through the £100 million Islands Growth Deal and offers innovation funding and dedicated support to help island organisations turn ideas into reality. This project is part of the wider TalEntEd Islands Programme, delivered in collaboration with the University of the Highlands & Islands, which leads on the development of work-based learning and Robert Gordon University, which leads on the growth of entrepreneurship. The Heriot-Watt team will focus on supporting innovators and enterprises to develop or adopt new products, services and processes that could strengthen local economies, bring lasting benefits to island communities and help realise the ambition for the islands to be among the first places in the UK to achieve net zero.

    Read more
    Promoting sustainable intra-African export growth for Cabo Verde’s small and medium-sized enterprises through the blue economy
    Green Finance & EconomySeptember 3, 2025

    Promoting sustainable intra-African export growth for Cabo Verde’s small and medium-sized enterprises through the blue economy

    Excerpt from unctad.org Cabo Verde — a small island economy subject to a fragile ecological system, natural hazards and the looming threat of climate change — can best safeguard and extend its social development progress by integrating it growth into a trade-based economy that respects the ecological boundaries of its islands. Given its small domestic market size and structural trade deficit that marks the country’s external trade, expansion of exports, on both the intensive and extensive margins, will play a vital role. In this regard, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers unique opportunities, particularly since Cabo Verde’s trade with the African region, especially ECOWAS, is very modest. Additionally, global supply chains are experiencing headwinds following the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the Middle East, and rising geopolitical tensions between the United States of America and China. This report examines the economic and ecological challenges facing Cabo Verde in increasing goods exports, particularly from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the Africa region. It analyzes the country’s dependence on tourism and fish (tuna) exports, highlighting the vulnerability of these sectors to a fragile environment, climate change and global economic shocks. The report also explores the potential for expanding exports to other African countries through regional value chains, as well as developing a sustainable Blue Economy that leverages the country’s marine resources while protecting the environment and strengthening trade with other African countries.

    Read more