Small Island Developing States at a Crossroads: The socio-economics of transitioning to renewables

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) account for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and yet they are home to some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable populations, making action to mitigate global heating urgent.

Renewables hold substantial promise for SIDS. Beyond carbon emissions reductions, they are clean, cost-effective sources of energy that make energy systems more resilient in the face of extreme weather events and other disruptions. Renewables like solar PV are scalable and highly adaptable to the specific geographies of SIDS. They also allow countries to lower their dependence on costly fuel imports.

The deployment of renewable energy has the potential to create jobs in construction and installation, operation and maintenance, and productive uses. Renewables can translate directly into better quality of life and services. They also fit well within the socio-cultural context of SIDS, whose populations’ welfare is closely tied to the health of the land and the oceans that surround them. All of these benefits can unfold if the right technical, capacity and financial support is provided.

Small Island Developing States at a Crossroads: The socio-economics of transitioning to renewables focuses on contexts where near-universal access to electricity has been achieved (though with varying quality, reliability and affordability), and where countries are still relying heavily on imported fossil fuels.

A growing number of SIDS are adopting targets and policies to incorporate substantial amounts of renewable energy into their electricity supply mix and to use them for energy generation in agriculture, fisheries, and maritime transport. SIDS will require greater financial and human resources to implement renewable energy systematically in the coming decade. Arrangements for sustainable finance, technology transfer, institutional capacity- building and local skills building will be key.