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© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    Showing 9 of 260 news items in Policy & Governance
    African islands under threat: what to do about Trump’s withdrawal from climate change agreement
    Policy & GovernanceMay 26, 2025

    African islands under threat: what to do about Trump’s withdrawal from climate change agreement

    President Donald Trump’s [executive order withdrawing](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/putting-america-first-in-international-environmental-agreements/) the US from the [Paris Agreement](https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement) raises the question of the implications for small African Indian Ocean island states. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It entered into [force](https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement#:%7E:text=The%20Paris%20Agreement%20is%20a,force%20on%204%20November%202016.) in November 2016 and aims to limit global temperature rises below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. The executive order, “[Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/putting-america-first-in-international-environmental-agreements/)”, signifies the intention of the US to withdraw from this agreement.

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    The Cabildo de Gran Canaria (the island’s government) presented its work on climate change mitigation and adaptation in Poland
    Policy & GovernanceMay 26, 2025

    The Cabildo de Gran Canaria (the island’s government) presented its work on climate change mitigation and adaptation in Poland

    Through the Department of Environment, Climate, Energy and Knowledge, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria has presented at the fourth Forum of the European Union’s Climate Change Adaptation Mission, being held these days in the Polish city of Wrocław, the work that the island corporation and the Gran Canaria Island Energy Council (Consejo Insular de la Energía (CIEGC) in Spanish) are carrying out to advance climate change mitigation and adaptation and their associated risks. The meeting was attended by the Environment, Climate, Energy and Knowledge Councilor of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Raúl García Brink, invited by the European Union along with the island Energy Director, Alexis Lozano, and he shared with attendees the projects being developed on the Island through European programs such as Natalie or Life Costa Adapta, as well as the technical assistance that has been received from the Climate Change Adaptation Mission.

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    UN court backs Equatorial Guinea in Gabon dispute over islands in oil-rich waters
    Policy & GovernanceMay 26, 2025

    UN court backs Equatorial Guinea in Gabon dispute over islands in oil-rich waters

    The United Nation’s top court has sided with Equatorial Guinea in a row with Gabon over three islands in potentially oil-rich waters. The two Central African countries have been arguing over the isles – Conga, Mbanié and Cocoteros – since the early 1970s. The islands are virtually uninhabited but are in a maritime zone thought to contain significant oil deposits. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Equatorial Guinea’s claim – based on a 1900 treaty dividing up French and Spanish colonial assets – should be honoured. The court dismissed Gabon’s central argument – that a more recent treaty, the 1974 Bata convention, had switched the islands’ sovereignty in its favour. In a final and binding ruling, the ICJ said Conga, Mbanié and Cocoteros were held by Spain, and then passed to its former colony Equatorial Guinea at independence in 1968.

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    Bahrain Must Rethink Its Stand on the SIDS Classification
    Policy & GovernanceMay 20, 2025

    Bahrain Must Rethink Its Stand on the SIDS Classification

    **The UN and SIDS** The Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) of 1994, a policy document that emerged from a conference mandated by the UN General Assembly, was one of the first steps towards recognising that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have their own peculiar vulnerabilities and characteristics. UN Support for this group of states comes through the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS). The office mobilises international support and raises awareness about the economic, social and environmental characteristics of these countries. **Bahrain Opting Out** Notably, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Bahrain was removed from the UN SIDS classification in April 2023 at its own request. The reasons behind this request were not communicated, neither domestically nor on the global stage, despite the potential negative implications for the country. In essence, Bahrain has opted out of the special considerations it had, by acknowledgement of its own Supreme Council for Environment, despite the increased vulnerabilities that it faces and the relatively limited capacities that it has.

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    One Voice for Europe’s Islands: the 2025 General Assembly of the CPMR Islands Commission sets the tone for a resilient future – New Perspectives for European Islands
    Policy & GovernanceMay 20, 2025

    One Voice for Europe’s Islands: the 2025 General Assembly of the CPMR Islands Commission sets the tone for a resilient future – New Perspectives for European Islands

    Photo credit: © CPMR Islands Commission Singularities, opportunities, sustainability – three crucial topics that shaped two days of lively debate during the 2025 General Assembly of the Islands Commission. The event brought together regional, national and international representatives in the historical atmosphere of the Museo Insular in Santa Cruz de La Palma (Canary Islands). The Assembly opened with the welcome speech of Mr. Fernando Clavijo Batlle, President of the Regional Government of the Canary Islands, who emphasized the need to defend EU’s core values of diversity and respect for singularities, especially in the current unstable geopolitical context. Mr. Filip Reinhag, Regional Commissioner of Gotland and President of the CPMR joined him and reaffirmed the Islands Commission’s missions: amplifying the voice of islands in European policies, securing fairer opportunities and fostering sustainable development. Mr. Artur Lima, Vice-President of the Regional Government of the Azores underlined the importance of the IC General Assembly as a key moment for the collective representation and empowerment of island territories.

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    Advancing Sustainable Development for Islands Worldwide
    Policy & GovernanceMay 20, 2025

    Advancing Sustainable Development for Islands Worldwide

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    Small Islands, Big Challenges: SIDS Rally for Stronger Chemicals and Waste Management
    Policy & GovernanceMay 19, 2025

    Small Islands, Big Challenges: SIDS Rally for Stronger Chemicals and Waste Management

    Over 50 representatives from Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are gathering at the Palais des Nations in Geneva for the first in-person ISLANDS Forum to strengthen sound management of chemicals and waste in these uniquely vulnerable nations. In the wake of the 2025 Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (2025 BRS COPs), the two-day forum opens dedicated space for SIDS-to-SIDS exchange. It will showcase emerging solutions and demonstrated strategies for targeted action on chemicals and waste. “Small island states are on the frontline of pollution and waste challenges — and they are also leading the charge in innovation,” said Anil Sookdeo, Chemicals and Waste Focal Area Coordinator at the Global Environment Facility (GEF). “Through ISLANDS, we are fostering SIDS-to-SIDS cooperation, building lasting capacity, scaling solutions, and ensuring that the knowledge created today drives sustainable progress for years to come.” The ISLANDS Forum will focus on priority areas crucial to SIDS: stronger policies, technical solutions, public-private partnerships and sustainable financing. Experts will share best practices for managing e-waste and end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), controlling hazardous waste flows, and attracting private investment for long-term waste management solutions.

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    After an historic election, now an historic opportunity to host COP31 for Australia and the Pacific
    Policy & GovernanceMay 13, 2025

    After an historic election, now an historic opportunity to host COP31 for Australia and the Pacific

    Photo credit: Image from [The Fifth Estate](https://i0.wp.com/thefifthestate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cop29.jpg?resize=780%2C514&ssl=1) Australia’s federal election has delivered momentum, not just at home, but for global leadership – as the Bonn Climate Conference and the crucial COP31 host decision draws near. Adelaide is on the cusp of something historic. If Australia secures the bid to host the conference, the prime minister has backed it to host the summit. That means South Australia has an Australian first opportunity to welcome the world to its capital and showcase its leadership in renewable energy and climate innovation, alongside Pacific nations.

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    Caribbean Nations need funding to recover after disasters, but where is it?!
    Policy & GovernanceMay 6, 2025

    Caribbean Nations need funding to recover after disasters, but where is it?!

    Whitney Mélinard remembers when Hurricane Maria’s winds tore through Dominica in 2017. As lightning flashed outside her window, she realized the neighboring house had completely vanished. “I questioned, was the house there? Was it further behind? There was not a structure. There was nothing,” she recounts. “I remember seeing the door of our kitchen being flown off and then minutes later the roof peeled away,” she recalls. Whitney and her mother huddled together in their bathroom, with a basin over Whitney’s head for protection. When the eye of the storm brought temporary calm, they ran barefoot to a neighbour’s house, searching for shelter as her home lay in ruins behind her. The Caribbean’s Shared Reality Her story is far from unique. Across the Caribbean, people grapple with the immediate effects of climate disasters and the struggle that follows when recovery funds fall short or financial systems fail to deliver when needed most. In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, lawyer and founder of Equal Rights, Access and Opportunities SVG Inc., Jeshua Bardoo, has witnessed a similar pattern of inadequate recovery, most recently after Hurricane Beryl in 2024 and the La Soufrière volcanic eruption in 2021.

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