Launch of SIDS Coalition for Nature at COP15

In view of the Global Biodiversity Framework' adoption and implementation, several SIDS agreed to form a SIDS Coalition for Nature. Co-led by Cabo Verde, Samoa and Seychelles, the objective of the Coalition is to advocate as ONE for agreed common SIDS priorities and needs, including the needs for greater means of implementing biodiversity objectives in SIDS.  Indeed, within this Decade of Action, greater and more urgent ambition requires larger and more targeted means of implementation.

The current members of SIDS Coalition for Nature are (by alphabetic order):  Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Guinea Bissau, Kiribati, Samoa, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. As of December 14th ,the Friends of the SIDS Coalition for Nature are (by alphabetical order): Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom.

The Coalition will also be a way to: (i) Underline how SIDS are, globally, home to a large portion of World biodiversity; (ii) Showcase how SIDS have been leading by example and been frontrunners in nature-based solutions, and; therefore, (iii) Highlight how enhancing SIDS’ means of implementation, will be strategic and a priority to save the Planet.

Planned to be launched at high-level during COP15 (December 15th at 12:15pm in Montreal) with a Call for Action, the Coalition will call for “the development of a capacity development plan for SIDS to support the implementation of the global biodiversity framework (GBF)". Such a plan will be a strategic vehicle to catalyze technical and financial support for SIDS’ national implementation of the GBF by enhancing priority means of implementation for SIDS.

Key priorities of the Call for Action are : Increasing SIDS’ access to concessional finance and mobilizing private investment and financing solutions for biodiversity conservation ; Supporting SIDS’ technical cooperation, technological transfer, data management capacities ; Accelerating biodiversity mainstreaming across sectors and synergies amid Conventions. A 2022 assessment report on "Gaps, Challenges and Constraints in Means of Implementing Biodiversity Objectives in SIDS", developed in consultation with CBD National Focal points from all the SIDS regions provides further details.

The SIDS Coalition will also be a platform to strategically disseminate SIDS’ best practices in nature conservation via advocacy. It will promote the development of SIDS-SIDS peer learning and cooperation and pave the way for the uptake and expansion of innovative solutions by SIDS and for SIDS.

Technical and financial partners -Friends of the Coalition- can support the Coalition in any of the 3 following way: (i) By adding their “voice of support” to the messages formulated by the Coalition; (ii) By supporting the implementation of the SIDS Call for Action; (iii) By contributing to the lean virtual secretariat support for the sustained operation of the Coalition.