Lifeline for small islands facing challenges of climate change

A package worth almost 40 million U.S. dollars to help small island members of the Commonwealth tackle climate change was announced Saturday by British prime minister David Cameron.

With days to go before world leaders gather in Paris, Cameron set out the package ahead of a session on climate change later today at the two-day Commonwealth Summit in Malta which ends Sunday.

There are 31 members of the Commonwealth with populations of 1.5 million or less, many of them small islands in the Pacific and Caribbean regions.

Cameron said in a statement issued by 10 Downing Street: "We have a real opportunity to get the small island states that are so vulnerable to climate change on board for an ambitious global climate change deal in Paris.

"Britain is firmly committed to helping these countries deal with the effects of climate change and that's why we're announcing new support to help protect them from the risks of climate change and to make the most of their natural maritime advantages which are so vital to their economies."

The multi-million dollar package of support to small island countries aims to preserve their marine environments and tap into maritime resources to catalyse economic development in a sustainable way across Commonwealth countries.

Cameron said the maritime economy is often a primary source of income for the small island countries, with untapped potential in their tourism, shipping and fisheries industries.

The British government is to provide almost 8.5 million U.S. dollars next year from its overseas aid budget to target developing maritime economy plans. Additional funding will be on offer for future years to help the islands to implement their plans.

Britain also announced new initiatives to help countries protect themselves from the risks of climate change and to access more global climate finance.

The package includes 22.5 million U.S. dollars to help extend an international disaster risk insurance fund to Pacific Islands. It will help them access rapid finance in the event of natural disasters or reduce the worst affects of a slow onset disaster such as drought.

A further 7.5 million U.S. dollars will be used to establish a global Disaster Risk Financing Facility to provide technical assistance to help low income countries manage risk and put disaster contingency plans in place.

The package also includes 1.5 million U.S. dollars to provide technical expertise to Small island Developing Countries to help identify ways for them to better access finance to invest in critical development and infrastructure projects.

Cameron also said a working group within the Commonwealth will be established to identify ways to lever more private sector investment for green projects in vulnerable countries.

In his statement Saturday Cameron also welcomed the announcement from insurance giants Lloyds of London that eight Lloyd's syndicates are joining forces and committing 400 million U.S. dollars to develop new solutions to help developing economies tackle underinsurance and improve their resilience against the economic impact of natural catastrophes. Endit