1
Demography
1.1 Population
Small Island Developing States
(SIDS)
Statistics
With regard to the size of their population SIDS are rather small countries.
Cuba is the most populated island with 11.3 million inhabitants and the least
populated country is Niue with 1,500 inhabitants. The SIDS have a combined
population of about 65 million, which is slightly less than one percent of the
world's population. The average annual population growth rate is 1.3 percent.
Most SIDS experience less than one percent or one to two percent population
growth per annum. However, there are significant differences among the
individual countries. For example, whereas Bahrain has a growth rate of
almost 5 percent annually, Niue experiences negative growth (-2.3 percent)
due to the high level of emigration to New Zealand.
(Coral Island Guyam, UN Photo)
2
1.2 Urban population growth rate1
2
Social Development
2.1 Population living below $1.25 a day2
There are no data on the percentage of population living in poverty for 35 out
of 52 SIDS. When looking at the remaining 17 countries on which the data are
available, it can be said that there are significant differences among the SIDS.
For example in Jamaica, Maldives and Seychelles less than two percent of the
population has to live with less than $1.25 a day. In stark contrast to this, in
Haiti there are almost 55 percent of people living below $1.25. In general, the
largest share of population living in poverty can be found in low-income and
lower-middle income countries.
SIDS with the highest share of population living under $1.25 a day
Haiti*
54.90%
Guinea-Bissau*
48.80%
Comoros*
46.10%
Timor-Leste*
37.40%
Papua New Guinea
35.80%
Average
26.5%
Dominican Republic
4.30%
Trinidad and Tobago
4.20%
Jamaica
<2.0%
Maldives
<2.0%
Seychelles
<2.0%
Urban population growth rates vary significantly across SIDS. Similarly as in
the case of general population growth, Bahrain dominates the urban
population growth Top 10 with almost 5 percent average annual growth.
Unfortunately, this high-income country is immediately followed by SIDS which
mostly belong to the least developed countries (LDCs) at the same time and
as such are the most vulnerable ones.
2
1
3
Data on 8 SIDS are missing.
Data on 35 SIDS are missing. Data are available on Belize, Cape Verde, Comoros*, Dominican Republic,
Federated States of Micronesia, Guinea-Bissau*, Guyana, Haiti*, Jamaica, Maldives*, Papua New Guinea, São
Tomé and Principe*, Seychelles, St. Lucia, Suriname, Timor-Leste*, Trinidad and Tobago.
4
2.2 Under-five mortality rate3
2.3 Official Development Assistance (ODA)4
The average under-five mortality rate for SIDS is 32.5 deaths per 1,000 births
and therefore, very high. Unsurprisingly, it is the least developed countries
among the SIDS that have the highest number of deaths. This considerably
increases the average for the whole group. In particular, Haiti and GuineaBissau have extremely high under-five mortality rates – 165 and 150,
respectively. By contrast, Singapore registered only 3 deaths per 1,000 births
In 2011, the SIDS received 160 million US$ in ODA on average, but, in reality,
most SIDS were far from getting such amount. The largest recipient of aid was
Haiti, one of the least developed countries among the SIDS. It received almost
1.7 billion, which constitutes 30 percent of what all SIDS received together.
Without Haiti, the country average would drop to about 110 million. Still,
neither this figure is telling as the differences in ODA received by individual
SIDS are huge. Anguilla, for example, received only 420 thousand US$. In
general, more than half (3.1 billion) of the overall amount of ODA that aimed at
SIDS (5.75 billion) went to the ten least developed countries** among the SIDS.
All SIDS together received only four percent of the overall ODA that went to
the developing states.
SIDS receiving the highest and the lowest ODA
Haiti*
1.698 million
Papua New Guinea
658 million
Solomon Islands*
338 million
Dominican Republic
288 million
Timor-Leste*
279 million
Average
140 million
Niue
21 million
St. Kitts and Nevis
20 million
Antigua and Barbuda
16 million
Grenada
15 million
Anguilla
0.42 million
4
3
5
Data on 12 SIDS are missing.
Data on 15 SIDS are missing.
** Least Developed Countries (LDCs) among SIDS are: Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Samoa, São
Tomé and Principe, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
6
2.4 Progress towards Millennium Development Goals
3 Economy & Business
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are to be achieved by 2015 and
consist of the following eight goals: Eradication of extreme poverty and
hunger, achievement of universal primary education, promotion of gender
equality and empowerment of women, reduction of child mortality,
improvement of maternal health, combat against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases, environmental sustainability and a global partnership for
development. Furthermore, these goals consist of sub-goals. For example,
goal 8 consists of six sub-goals with 8C being specifically targeted at
landlocked developing countries and SIDS. It states that the special needs of
the SIDS should be met through the implementation of the Program of Action
for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. It is a
challenging task to achieve all of these goals; however, many countries have
already made significant progress.
3.1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)5
GDP varies significantly among the SIDS. Singapore has the highest one
(222.7 billion) and Tuvalu has with only $31.4 million the lowest GDP. The
average GDP for the SIDS equals $13.7 billion, however only 7 countries have
a GDP higher than this amount. 81 percent of SIDS have their GDP lower than
$13.7 billion, 54 percent have it even lower than $1 billion.
Among the top 10 SIDS with regard to the GDP rates, we can find
predominantly the Caribbean states.
Caribbean Islands
Some countries have progressed tremendously, for example, Belize and Cuba
made gains in all eight goals. In contrast, Trinidad and Tobago stagnated in all
eight goals and certain countries even regressed. For example, the Dominican
Republic struggled with ensuring universal primary education and improving
maternal health. Haiti, the poorest Caribbean island, regressed in four of the
goals (e.g. reduction of child mortality).
Pacific Islands
SIDS with the highest and lowest GDP
Singapore
Puerto Rico
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Bahrain
Average
Anguilla
Palau
Marshall Islands
Kiribati*
Tuvalu*
Similar to the Caribbean islands, the pacific islands show large discrepancies
regarding the progress towards the MDG goals. The Cook Islands and Niue
saw significant improvements in all eight goals. In contrast, the Federated
States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati and the Solomon Islands fell back in
several points. The least progress has been made in Papua New Guinea: It fell
back completely.
AIMS
The AIMS group is very diverse. There is Singapore, a high income country in
the South China Sea, and poor islands such as Comoros. The latter belongs to
a group of fragile and conflict inflicted countries that have met one or more
goals. Bahrain has made progress as well and managed to eradicate extreme
poverty.
5
7
222.7 billion
96.3 billion
62.7 billion
51.6 billion
20.6 billion
13.7 billion
175.4 million
169.7 million
155 million
151.2 million
31.4 million
Data on 12 SIDS are missing.
8
3.2 Income group
3.3 Important industries
The SIDS are a highly diverse group. For analytical purposes it is also useful
to divide them into categories based on the gross national income (GNI).
Then, they can be classified as low-income, middle-income and high-income
economies. The middle-income category may be subdivided into uppermiddle-income and lower-middle-income. Most SIDS, 64 percent, fall into the
category of middle income countries. Thereby, 31 percent of SIDS can be
labelled as lower-middle-income and 33 percent as upper-middle-income
economies. 29 percent of SIDS are high-income economies and only 7
percent are classified as low-income countries.
Important industries
Upper-middle income
Lower-middle income
High-income
Low-income
American Samoa
Belize
Aruba
Comoros
Antigua and Barbuda
Cape Verde
Bahamas
Guinea-Bissau
Cuba
Fiji
Bahrain
Haiti
Dominica
Guyana
Barbados
Dominican Republic
Kiribati
French Polynesia
Grenada
Marshall Islands
Guam
Jamaica
FSM
New Caledonia
Maldives
Papua New Guinea
Puerto Rico
Mauritius
Samoa
Singapore
Palau
São Tomé and Principe
St. Kitts and Nevis
Seychelles
Solomon Islands
Trinidad and Tobago
St. Lucia
Timor-Leste
U.S. Virgin Islands
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Tonga
Suriname
Vanuatu
The tourism industry has greatly contributed to the development of many
SIDS. The contribution of the travel and tourism industry to GDP and
employment is indicative of the industry’s importance. For instance, in 2012
Aruba’s travel and tourism industry made a total contribution of 26.5 percent to
GDP and if the total contribution (direct and induced)6 is taken into account,
the contribution amounts to 83.8 percent. Similarly, Antigua and Barbuda, the
UK Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Seychelles and Vanuatu are heavily dependent on
the travel and tourism industry (total contribution higher than 50%). Regarding
employment, in 2012 the UK Virgin Islands topped the list with a direct
contribution to employment of 32.8 percent and a total contribution (direct and
7
induced) of 89.3 percent. In contrast, the travel and tourism industry in Haiti,
Suriname and Papua New Guinea makes relatively small contributions to GDP
and employment.
Tuvalu
6
Total contribution: GDP generated directly by the Travel & Tourism industry plus its indirect and
induced impacts.
Indirect contribution: Capital investment, government collective spending and supply chain effects
Induced contribution: The broader contribution to GDP and employment of spending by those who
are directly or indirectly employed by Travel & Tourism
7
The number of jobs generated directly in the Travel & Tourism industry plus the indirect and
induced contributions.
9
10
3.3 External debt9
The overall external debt stock that 23 Small Island Developing States
accumulated was 55.8 billion US$ in 2011. On average, every country is
responsible for about 2.4 billion US$. However, there are significant
differences in indebtedness across SIDS. The Dominican Republic, Jamaica
and Papua New Guinea, whose debts are higher than 10 billion US$, owe in
comparison to other SIDS an extraordinary high amount of money. Namely,
the external debt of almost half of all SIDS for which the data are available
does not exceed a half billion US$. The least indebted country is Tonga that
owes only 190 million US$. Yet, even the three most indebted SIDS owe a
rather lower sum when compared for example with the BRICS. India’s 227
billion US$ debt is for instance four times higher than the 23 SIDS' overall debt
stock.
Other important industries are fisheries and mining. Depending on the island
the industries may be more or less relevant. For example, fisheries contributed
only 0.07 percent to the GDP of Trinidad and Tobago in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
On the other hand, for Tuvalu the contribution amounted to 7.2 percent in 2011
and for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) it was 10.1 percent in 2010.
When it comes to mining, Trinidad and Tobago’s mining industry contributed
45.8 percent to the island’s GDP in 2008. Many other islands have less
significant mining industries, with contributions below 1 percent (e.g.
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, according to data from 2007). The island of
Nauru used to be highly dependent on mining; however, it exploited virtually all
of its phosphate reserves.
Similarly, the importance of the agricultural sector varies across countries.
For example, Papua New Guinea had a contribution of 36 percent to GDP in
2012, whereas the Bahamas and Puerto Rico had a dependence of 2 percent
and 1 percent, respectively. Agriculture includes forestry, hunting and fishing,
cultivation of crops and livestock production. 8
8
Agriculture, Value added (% of GDP), World Bank
11
SIDS with the highest and lowest external debt
Dominican Republic
15.4 billion
Jamaica
14.3 billion
Papua New Guinea
12.6 billion
Average
2.4 bilion
Guyana
1.8 billion
Seychelles
1.8 billion
Solomon Islands*
255.5 million
São Tomé and Principe*
231.0 million
St. Kitts and Nevis
202.7 million
Vanuatu*
201.8 million
Tonga
190.6 million
9
Data on 29 SIDS are missing.
12
3.4 Major Trading Partners10
3.5 Remittances11
In general, SIDS trade with a wide variety of countries. If we count up only the
top five trading partners of the individual SIDS, we will find that SIDS as a
group exchange goods and services with at least 40 various partners. Among
the most important trading partners for vastly more than half of all SIDS are
the EU, the United States and China.
The amount of money sent home by immigrants varies strongly across SIDS.
On average, every country received about 356 million US$ in 2011, yet, when
looking at individual SIDS, it becomes evident most SIDS receive a
significantly smaller amount of money. 45 percent, for instance, do not get
more than 50 million US$, and another 21 percent cannot expect more than
100 million. In 2011, the most remittances went to the three large Caribbean
states – the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti. It is these three SIDS that
are behind the high average for SIDS. Without them, it would be only about
117 million US$. The Dominican Republic as the largest recipient of
remittances among SIDS received over 3.6 million US$. By contrast, the
Solomon Islands got only 2 million US$.
Looking directly at the regions, the most common trading partner in the top five
of the Caribbean SIDS’ is the US. For nine out of 17 Caribbean states it is the
largest trading partner and with the exception of Cuba, it never ranks lower
than as a third major trading partner. Similarly, the EU occurs in the top five of
15 Caribbean SIDS; yet, mostly in the second or fourth place. Also, the EU is
one of the major trade partners for the AIMS'† SIDS. For five of them, it is even
the largest trading partner. Further, China and the US are very frequent
country names in the top fives of the AIMS’ SIDS. The most common
important trading partner for Pacific SIDS is then Singapore and Australia.
The most common top 5 trading partners
EU (27x), US (23x), China (21x),Singapore (12x)
33 SIDS
17 Caribbean SIDS US (16x), EU (15x), Trinidad and Tobago (8x), Venezuela (4x), Canada (3x)
9 AIMS SIDS
7 Pacific SIDS
EU (9x), China (5x), US (5x), India (4x)
Australia (6x), Singapore (6x), Japan (4x), New Zealand (3x)
SIDS receiving the most and the least remittances
Dominican Republic
3,628 million
Jamaica
2,123 million
Haiti*
1,551 million
French Polynesia
700 million
New Caledonia
552 million
Average
356 million
Papua New Guinea
11 million
São Tomé and Principe*
7 million
Suriname
4 million
Maldives
3 million
Solomon Islands*
2 million
10
†
Data on 19 SIDS are missing; 6 on Caribbean SIDS, 13 on Pacific SIDS.
AIMS stands for Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea.
11
13
Data on 23 SIDS are missing.
14
3.6 Foreign direct investment (FDI)12
3.7 Ease of doing business13
Net FDI inflows vary across the SIDS, too. For example in Timor-Leste and in
the Seychelles they make almost 40 percent of their GDP, but Cuba’s net
inflows equal zero and that of Suriname are even in negative numbers.
Average net FDI inflows value for SIDS is 8.4 percent, and despite 70 percent
of them do not receive so much FDI, the vast majority of SIDS still have higher
net FDI inflows than the average middle-income or high-income countries that
receive only 2.7 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. On the one hand it is
very good for SIDS, especially for the least developed ones such as TimorLeste or the Solomon’s, to attract high levels of FDI, but on the other hand it is
necessary to make sure that these investments are useful and do not cause
additional problems in countries that are already facing many challenges.
With regard to the ease of doing business economies are ranked from 1 to
183, and as usually the SIDS are characterized by an enormous diversity.
There are both countries with very high and very low scores. So, in contrast to
Singapore which seized the first place worldwide, Guinea-Bissau for example
ended up with 176. It is usually the most developed SIDS that achieve the best
scores, whereas the least developed ones have the worst results. As the
regulatory environment in these countries is less conducive to the starting and
operation of a local firm, it presents a considerable constraint to the
development of these most vulnerable SIDS.
12
13
Data on 15 SIDS are missing.
15
Ease of doing business (best and worst results)
Singapore
1
Mauritius
23
Bahrain
38
Puerto Rico
43
St. Lucia
52
Average
94
Suriname
158
São Tomé and Principe*
163
Timor-Leste*
168
Haiti*
174
Guinea-Bissau*
176
Data on 17 SIDS are missing.
16
4 Climate change & Environmental vulnerability
4.2 Population living below 5 meters above sea level15
4.1 Land area below 5 meters above sea level14
On average, in every small island developing state there is almost 30 percent
of population living below 5 meters above sea level. But in reality the share of
population living in these areas varies across the SIDS. In many SIDS with
higher share of land area below 5m above sea level, there is also a higher
percentage of population living below this altitude. Similarly, in many countries
with lower shares of land area below 5 meters, less people are so close to the
rising sea level. So, it is again the Maldives and Tuvalu where even 100
percent of population is living below 5 meters and Papua New Guinea where
only 2 percent of population live in these areas.
On average, SIDS have 26 percent of their land area 5 meters or even less
above sea level. However, there are considerable differences among these
countries. Whereas the Maldives and Tuvalu have 100 percent of their total
land area below 5 meters and the rising sea level threatens their very survival,
other SIDS, such as for example Papua New Guinea, which has only 1.8
percent of its terrestrial area below 5 meters, are not in such a great danger.
Two thirds of SIDS have less than one quarter of their total land area below
this level. Yet, in 33 percent of SIDS much larger terrestrial areas may be
endangered.
The highest and the lowest share of land below 5 m
Maldives, Tuvalu*
100%
Marshall Islands
99%
Kiribati*
96,70%
Cook Islands
87,90%
Bahamas
72%
Average
26,20%
Haiti*
3,90%
Suriname
3,40%
Timor-Leste*
2,90%
Guyana
2,70%
Papua New Guinea
1,80%
14
The highest and the lowest share of population
below 5m
Maldives, Tuvalu*
100%
Marshall Islands
99,40%
Kiribati*
95,20%
Suriname
68,20%
Average
29,30%
Mauritius
5,60%
Haiti*
5,40%
Timor-Leste*
4,40%
Dominican Republic
3%
Papua New Guinea
2%
Data on 4 SIDS are missing.
15
17
Data on 4 SIDS are missing.
18
4.3 Length of coastlines
4.4 Exclusive Economic Zones’ (EEZs) size
The length of coastlines varies among the SIDS. On the one hand, there are
countries with extremely short coastlines; on the other hand, there are SIDS
with very long ones. Tuvalu has with only 24 km the shortest coastline and
Micronesia with over 6,000 km the longest one. The average length of
coastlines in SIDS is slightly more than 1,000 km, however the most common
length in these countries is between 100 km and 500 km. Almost 50 percent of
all SIDS fit into this category.
With regard to their land area size, most SIDS are relatively small countries.
For illustration, New Caledonia, which is with slightly less than 20,000 square
kilometre (km2) the tenth largest country among SIDS, is only the size of New
Jersey.
SIDS with the longest and the shortest coastlines
FSM
6,112 km
Cuba
5,746 km
Solomon Islands*
5,313 km
Papua New Guinea
5,152 km
Bahamas
3,542 km
Average
1,002 km
Niue
64 km
Anguilla
61 km
Montserrat
40 km
Nauru
30 km
Tuvalu*
24 km
SIDS with the largest and the smallest land area
462,840 km2
Papua New Guinea
214,970 km2
Guyana
163,270 km2
Suriname
110,860 km2
Cuba
48,380 km2
Dominican Republic
24,111 km2
Average
153 km2
British Virgin Islands
102 km2
Anguilla, Montserrat
26 km2
Tuvalu*
21 km2
Nauru
Yet, if we take into account the size of SIDS’ Exclusive Economic Zones, it
turns out that – in fact – SIDS have quite large territories. Namely, SIDS’ EEZs
are usually in comparison to their terrestrial areas very extensive, so they
considerably increase the overall territorial scope of individual SIDS. Indeed,
with the exception of two Caribbean countries – Suriname and Guyana – the
EEZ of each small island developing state is larger than its terrestrial area.
Tuvalu’s EEZ that has slightly more than 750,000 km2 is almost 30,000
times larger than its land area. Whereas SIDS’ average land area is about
24 thousand km2, their average EEZ size is about 666 thousand km2
SIDS with the largest and the smallest EEZ area
4,767,242 km2
French Polynesia
3,437,345 km2
Kiribati*
2,992,597 km2
FSM
2,396,214 km2
Papua New Guinea
1,992,232 km2
Marshall Islands
666,110 km2
Average
15,484 km2
St. Lucia
10,201 km2
St. Kitts and Nevis
8,884 km2
Bahrain
7,582 km2
Montserrat
823 km2
Singapore
19
20
4.5 Marine Protected Areas16
4.6 Nationally protected terrestrial area17
On average, SIDS protect about 5.3 percent of their territorial waters. Yet, this
is a very optimistic figure. In fact, 63 percent of them protect less than one
percent of their marine areas. Aruba, Cape Verde, Grenada, Guyana and Haiti
do not even protect a bit of them. There are several SIDS though which are
much more concerned about the state of their territorial waters. For instance,
Guinea-Bissau, despite being one of the least developed countries among
SIDS, tries to protect almost 46 percent of its marine areas which makes it the
most protective country of all SIDS.
In 52 percent of SIDS there is less than 5 percent of terrestrial area that is
designated as nationally protected. Actually, 20 percent of SIDS protect less
than 1 percent of their total land area. Comoros, for example, does not even
have a single square kilometre of its territory protected so that the ecosystems
are totally exposed to the threats presented both by global climate change and
local factors. Most SIDS, 63 percent, do not exceed the SIDS' average of 9.2
percent of terrestrial area under protection. However, there are some highly
protective countries such as the Seychelles that protects more than 40 percent
of its land area.
SIDS with the highest and the lowest share of marine protected areas
Guinea-Bissau*
45,80%
Dominican Republic
30,40%
Suriname
22,90%
Kiribati*
22,60%
New Caledonia
17,70%
Average
5,30%
Bahamas
0,40%
Mauritius, Papua New Guinea
0,30%
Tuvalu*
0,20%
Barbados, Dominica, Fiji, French
Polynesia, Solomon Islands*, St. Lucia,
Vanuatu*
0,10%
Aruba, Cape Verde, Grenada, Guyana,
Haiti*
0%
16
Data on 12 SIDS are missing.
21
SIDS with the largest and smallest terrestrial
protected areas
Seychelles
42%
Trinidad and Tobago
31,20%
Belize
27,90%
Guam
26,40%
Niue
22,20%
Average
9,20%
Cook Islands
0,80%
French Polynesia, Tuvalu*
0,40%
American Samoa, Haiti*
0,30%
Aruba, Barbados, Solomon Islands*
0,10%
Comoros*
0%
17
Data on 17 SIDS are missing.
22
4.7 Disaster risk reduction progress score
5 GHG Emissions & Energy use
Disaster risk reduction progress scores are available only for 17 out of 52
SIDS. Still, the existing data indicate that the degree to which these countries
have prioritized disaster risk reduction and the strengthening of relevant
institution significantly varies among the SIDS. Some countries, such as the
high-income Barbados that assessed its progress with a second best grade
possible, show much greater preparedness to successfully face natural
disasters than the others. It can be assumed that, in contrast to the developed
countries, the least developed countries have rather low disaster risk reduction
progress scores and are the most vulnerable ones as they lack the resources.
5.1 CO2 emissions per capita18
Disaster risk reduction progress score (1-5 scale, 5=best)
Barbados
Jamaica
Cape Verde, Cook Islands, Mauritius, Samoa*, St. Kitts and
Nevis
St. Lucia
Dominican Republic
Antigua and Barbuda, Fiji
Maldives
Solomon Islands*, Vanuatu*
Comoros*, Marshall Islands
Guinea-Bissau*
The highest CO2 emissions per capita among the SIDS can be attributed to
high-income countries. These are immediately followed by upper-middleincome economies. Trinidad and Tobago is with 37.4 metric tons (mt) CO2 the
largest emitter and significantly exceeds the SIDS average of 4.9 mt. With
regard to this average value, it is necessary to notice that in 76 percent of
SIDS the per capita CO2 emissions are below this threshold. In general, it is
the low-income and lower-middle-income SIDS which are responsible for the
lowest CO2 emissions. For example, in the least developed countries such as
Comoros, Timor-Leste or Guinea Bissau, only 0.2 mt CO2 per capita are
recorded.
4
3,8
SIDS with the most and the least CO2 emissions per
capita
Trinidad and Tobago
37,4
Aruba
21,7
Bahrain
21,4
Nauru
13,9
New Caledonia
12,8
Average
4,9
São Tomé and Principe*
0,8
Cape Verde, FSM
0,6
Solomon Islands*, Vanuatu*
0,4
Haiti*, Kiribati*, Papua New Guinea
0,3
Comoros*, Guinea-Bissau*, Timor-Leste*
0,2
3,5
3,3
3
2,8
2,3
2
1,8
1
18
23
Data on 10 SIDS are missing.
24
5.2 CO2 emissions total19
5.3 Energy use per capita20
The average value for CO2 emissions in SIDS is 4.7 mega tons (Mt).
Nevertheless, the vast majority of SIDS, 86 percent, does not exceed this
amount. Kiribati and Niue, for example, do not even contribute to the global
GHG emissions at all as their country-level emissions equal zero. There are
only 6 high-income and upper-middle-income SIDS that produce more than 5
Mt CO2. It is Trinidad and Tobago that is with almost 50 Mt the largest emitter
in the SIDS group. Yet, in comparison to the 13,258 Mt produced on average
by other high-income countries, Trinidad and Tobago still emits a rather
negligible amount of CO2.Together, the SIDS account for less than 1 percent
of global GHG emissions, but they are the ones who are most severely
affected by global climate change.
The SIDS are a very heterogeneous group also with regard to the energy use
per capita. Again, Trinidad and Tobago has with over 15 tons of oil equivalent
the highest rate of all SIDS and at the same time one of the highest rates
worldwide. By contrast, the energy use per capita in Timor-Leste, which is one
of the least developed SIDS, is only 58 kg of oil equivalent. The average
energy use per capita for SIDS is 1,520 kg, but only 7 countries surpass this
value. Most SIDS do not come very close to this value. Also, the SIDS average
energy use per capita is still markedly lower than the average for middleincome and high-income countries which is 1,848 kg and 4,944 kg,
respectively.
Overall, the SIDS are highly dependent on imported fossil fuels for
transportation and electricity. Therefore, they are constantly exposed to oilprice fluctuations, leaving their economies vulnerable. In order to increase
access
to
renewable
energy,
several
SIDS
adopted
the
“Barbados Declaration”. With the adoption of the declaration the islands
voluntarily committed themselves to achieve certain energy targets with the
support of developed nations and the UN. For instance, Cape Verde
committed itself to decrease fossil fuel imports for the production of energy by
30 percent until 2020. The Cook Islands’ aim is to increase renewable energy
consumption to 100 percent for its inhabited islands by 2020.
An initiative called “SIDS DOCK” aims to connect the energy sectors of the
SIDS with the global finance market, sustainable energy technologies and
carbon markets in the EU and US to enable emissions trading.
19
Data on 10 SIDS are missing.
20
25
Data on 18 SIDS are missing.
26